No Labels was ‘this/close’ to a Christie-led ticket

Former 2024 presidential candidate Chris Christie (R) signaled to the political organization No Labels that he would run on a split ticket if the group could find a “unity candidate” to be his Democratic running mate, according to a new report.

Dan Webb — the lawyer responsible for the No Labels presidential candidate vetting process — said Christie “suddenly signaled late last month that he would run if we secured him a Democrat as his running mate,” in a interview with the Chicago Sun-Times columnist Michael Sneed.

“The fine came so close to reality weeks ago,” Webb said in the interview.

Ultimately, No Labels was unable to find a Democratic running mate for Christie, according to the report. After months of speculation, No Labels recently announced that it would not feature a third-party ticket.

“We needed a Republican at the top of the ticket to beat Trump! So Chris [Christie] signaled he was ready to run on ONE condition,” Webb said, according to the Sun-Times report. “Find a Democrat to run as Christie’s ‘unity’ vice president.”

“But it did not work. We failed. We didn’t make it. We needed a unity ticket and no Democrat would run because they were afraid of leaving the party and never returning! When that hung up, Chris hung up. He felt he would not be able to capture the attention of the American public without a unity ticket.”

“By then, Chris was game,” Webb said, “the only Republican running in the presidential primary who agreed to tell the truth and attack Trump.”

Christie, the former governor of New Jersey, has emerged as Trump’s main antagonist in the 2024 Republican presidential race, taking most of his public opportunities to attack the former president and warning of the danger of a Trump return to the House. White.

Christie suspended his campaign in January, vowing to fight Trump, saying: “I will ensure that in no way will I allow Donald Trump to become President of the United States again, and that is more important than my personal opinion. ambition.”

“Anyone who is not willing to say that they are unfit to be President of the United States is also unfit to be President of the United States,” he also said in his speech.

In late March, amid suspicions that Christie might join a No Labels campaign, Christie officially closed the door on that prospect. He had previously said that he would only consider it if he saw a path to winning 270 electoral votes.

Reached Monday for a statement, a Christie spokesperson referred The Hill to Christie’s late March statement.

“I appreciate the encouragement I received to pursue a third-party candidacy,” Christie said in a statement on X at the time. “I believe we need a country that once again feels like everyone has a stake in what we are doing and leadership that strives to bring people together rather than using anger to divide us.”

“While I believe this is a conversation that needs to be had with the American people, I also believe that if there is no path to victory and if my candidacy would somehow help Donald Trump become president again, then it is not the way forward”, he added.

The Hill reached out to No Labels for a response.

This story originally appeared on thehill.com read the full story