U.S. Republican presidential candidate and New Jersey governor Chris Christie speaks during the Heritage Action for America presidential candidate forum in Greenville, South Carolina on September 18, 2015.
But while much of the GOP establishment softened its stance on Trump in the ensuing months, Christie kept up his criticism.
"You better have somebody on that stage who will do to him what I did to Marco, because that's the only thing that's going to defeat Donald Trump," Christie said in March.
Ron DeSantis officially joined the Republican primary race, becoming the top non-Trump contender.
Allies of the former New Jersey governor recently launched a super PAC, Tell It Like It Is, to support his run for president.
Persons:
Chris Christie, Christie, Donald Trump, Trump, Joe Biden, Biden, president's, Vladimir, Putin, Sen, Marco Rubio, Marco, It's, Ron DeSantis, South Carolina Sen, Tim Scott, Mike Pence, Sandy, Barack Obama's, George Washington, Christie's, Phil Murphy
Organizations:
Republican, New, America, Former New Jersey Gov, Trump, U.S, Capitol, GOP, CNN, Monmouth University, Florida Gov, South, Allies, Democratic Gov, ABC News
Locations:
New Jersey, Greenville , South Carolina, Manchester , New Hampshire, Ukraine, South Carolina, New York