With five days to go before the opening of the Republican primary in Iowa, the field of contenders is narrowing. Former New Jersey governor Chris Christie announced his withdrawal on Wednesday, January 10. At a final public meeting in Windham, New Hampshire, in a solemn speech stripped of his usual humorous traits, the Republican acknowledged that there was no "path" ahead of him to secure the nomination.

His decision was announced to his supporters just a few hours before a final televised debate on CNN, held in Des Moines, Iowa, between former governor and ambassador Nikki Haley and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. It was a debate once again ignored by primary favorite Donald Trump, interviewed meanwhile on Fox News.

For Christie, the failure had been clear for months. "My goal has never been simply to be a voice against the hatred and division and selfishness that our party has achieved under Donald Trump," he explained, despite evidence to the contrary. The former governor had entered the race precisely to fight against Trump, not for an improbable victory. He constantly called out Republicans, without fear of being booed, on the party's identity drift and the cult of personality fostered around the former president.

But the face of the Grand Old Party has changed under Trump. Its base is now dominated by the MAGA ("Make America Great Again") movement, impervious to ethical admonitions and mired in mass disinformation. On Wednesday, Christie once again called Trump into question, whom he has known "for 22 years." In 2016, after withdrawing from the Republican primaries, he had endorsed the entrepreneur before advising him during his 2020 presidential campaign.

Trump's falsehoods about imaginary electoral fraud, followed by his supporters' January 6, 2021 assault on the Capitol in Washington, have convinced Christie of his noxiousness. On Tuesday, the former governor used a phrase favored by Joe Biden, speaking of a "battle for the soul of America," beyond that of the Republican Party.

Before Christie went on stage, a microphone inadvertently picked up a few sentences during an aside. They were less solemn than his speech to follow. Obviously referring to Haley, he predicted a stinging defeat at the hands of Trump. "She's going to get smoked," he said.

Christie's bitterness is also fueled by his political analysis of the situation: neither of Trump's two main rivals seems in a position to beat him. But the former governor didn't want to be held responsible for splitting votes by maintaining his candidacy.

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