Christie: 'Now is not my time'
(CNN) - Republican Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey announced Tuesday he will not run for president in 2012.
The first-term governor said the pressure he received over the past few months caused him to consider throwing his hat in the ring - after repeatedly shooting down rumors - but that ultimately he is committed to his position in the Garden State.
"Now is not my time. I have a commitment to New Jersey that I simply will not abandon," Christie said at a press conference in Trenton. "That's the promise I made to the people of this state when I took office."
Christie fielded recent calls to run for president and spent time discussing the possibility of a White House bid with his family, friends and operatives. Now, having decided against a bid, Christie said he does not "feel any sense of regret at all."
"I felt like it was my obligation as I said before given the seriousness and the amount of people who were coming to me and asking me to reconsider to reconsider and I did," Christie said. "In the end I came back to the same place I was in the whole year."
He pushed back against reports that his family was skeptical throughout the process, saying they supported him, whether he decided to run for president or not.
When asked about the rest of the GOP presidential field, Christie said his decision was not affected by the strength or weakness of the pool.
"None of them were a factor," he said before adding that he was not prepared to make an endorsement.
He also brushed aside suggestions, in his typically brash fashion that he would serve in the No. 2 spot on the Republican ticket.
“Listen, I don’t imagine I’m going to be asked. I don’t think I have the personality to be asked,” Christie said. “I mean, seriously, can you imagine? You know, the guy would probably want to get a food taster. I don’t know, seriously, I don’t see it.”
The newly minted vice chair of the Republican Governors Association said he is now focused on making sure President Barack Obama only serves one term as president.
"He's failed the American people because he's failed that absolute litmus test to be President of the United States and that's to know how to lead and how to decide," Christie said.
Christie light heartedly addressed the coverage of his weight that escalated in recent weeks, particularly among comedians. As long as the jokes are funny, he is OK with the coverage, he said.
"For me, their job is to be funny. And if one of the things they want to make fun of is my weight, it's fair game," Christie said. "I'm a public figure … All I care about is that they actually are funny so that I can at least laugh about it while they are mocking me."
Crap. I thought he was going to leave New Jersey once and for all.
Ifind it so strange the amount of hatefulness for this President. No other President have face such adversity. All you so Democratic must stick with President and fight
Oh wait. For the last 6 months or so he has always said there's no way he's running. So why the need for a huge news announcement? Tired of publicity stunts. Hit the gym and do something good for your state.
Why is it news that some guy that most people haven't heard of is nto running for president. Who cares! Why waste good space on webpage for this????
breaking: I won't run either. How is this news?
Ok- so why do the press conference at 1PM..its already news that he is not running......that's enough I suspect. It's all over cable news
Hooray! We need him in NJ to kick some more butt and make sure the Dems don't give away the candy store. Good decision.
Carol, you are right. Our congressmen should follow, hopefully what their moms taught them, and practice respect even in disagreements-apparently not. The disrespect shown our president from adults is reprehensible. and embarrassing. To hear grown old white haired men and women act like middle schoolers is painful to watch. As an educator who had thrown in her face after talking about the value of respect for others and self respond, "So you don't watch the news?" The discussion that followed was very interesting. Wish I had recorded it.
While not detracting from CNN's horrible misuse of the "Breaking News" banner, I think Christie's starting to have fun with this. He can say no in every way he wants to from jovial to sarcastic and the media laps it up. It's sort of entertaining to watch the news outlets fall all over each other to report old news.
Duh. Why was the media hyping this up so bad, when he constantly said he's not running!? He said time and time again he won't run. I watched Pierce Morgan the other night and Christie stated "I'm 100% certain I'm not going to run" when Pierce asked him to look into his eyes and be honest with him. They even discussed how New Jersians are straight-talkers, and if Christie ran he would most likely use that straight-talk as his backbone, which would be even more confusing if he pulled one on all of us. Seems the only people who didn't want to believe him was the media!
Wonder how many skeletons are in his closet.....I know some people here are saying that this is not news because he's been saying NO to a presidential run for a while. But if you lived in NJ, you'd know that this is big news: A) Because of his huge, oversized ego and B) because he has a history of lying.
Of course he isn`t running.
He wants Obama to have to fix GWB`s mess and that will take a while. The only reason Huntsman is running is for 2016. Christie will eye that contest too.
This is SHOCKING! Oh wait.... Just as he's been saying all along.
From 2014 when he loses his current job he will have time to think about 2016.
This is not news for anyone who knows the guys name. He has never said he would run. It's not breaking news that he will not run. FIND SOME NEWS!
He is smart. He knows that his 15 minutes of fame is till he joins the race. Once he joins he will be behind perry and bachhman. Better as governor with voter support and money in hand than a pawn to GW bush and a failed presidency bid.
Wow, I guess next week the big story will be that Chris Christy is not running for President. How many times do we have to read this headline for people to figure out that Christy is not running?
Really....this is breaking news?...
Did FoxNews give him permission to not run?
I admire this guy for his decision not run for President, and I will vote for him next time as NJ Governor although I did not vote for him the first time.
Maybe he'll run four years from now. He's probably the best or second best candidate now, but it's not worth it for him–as a sensible moderate–to get torn to shreds in the current hysterical environment.
He must of gotten word from Palins camp that she is definitely running. Doug.
By the way, everybody. I am not running for President. I'll look into anyone's eyes and tell them that. So now, do I get my headline banner on CNN? Awww, come on!!!
We need leadership that doesn't have to ask corporate america what to do. Here's an idea. How about Americans building products for Americans. I know we can get it cheaper from China. That's great for the Chinese but bad for America. How about a tariff on all imports from China. How about a 15% flat tax on corporations that sell American made goods. That same tax will escalate based on the % of imported goods they sell in the US. You want a low corporate tax- sell american made goods in America. Hire people in this country to build them.
I'm not surprised Christie won't run. He is just too liberal for the hard line, far right wing GOP/tea party. Heck, Ronald Reagan would be considered a flaming liberal today compared to the current crop of extrme way far right GOP Hopefulls. Also, Christie has some compassion some of his past actions, something the GOP/tea baggers definately do not. Consider their actions – booing an American Soldier, screaming let them die to a poor person without insurance, and cheering some 200 executions in Texas during the GOP/tea party recent debates.