Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is considering yet another bid for the White House, he revealed during a visit to New Hampshire.

“Am I looking at it? Look, anybody who comes up here — anybody who comes up here — and has ever run for president and not won and told you they’re not looking at it again is lying,” Christie said Tuesday in the historically consequential voting state, which remains one of the first to weigh in during the GOP’s presidential primary cycle.

Christie’s last bid for the presidency, in 2024, ended in a washout, and his chances in 2028 would seem to be slim: Vice President JD Vance, if he chooses to run, is likely to be a heavy favorite. But Christie, appearing at a summit on responsible gambling, suggested Republican voters may reevaluate who and which dogma can bring them to success after what could be a battering in this fall’s midterm elections.

“For our party’s sake, if we do a lot of losing six weeks from today, I wonder whether we’re going to say, OK, we need to change this approach and change this kind of wing of the party from being the dominant wing and having a different discussion within our party, which could lead to a different conversation with the country,” Christie said.

Christie is still contending with a Republican Party radically transformed by his former-boss-turned-adversary, President Donald Trump, and must grapple with voters through all swaths of the party who see his former allegiance toward or eventual defection from Trump as a liability or contradiction. And he said his one non-negotiable if he does decide on another go-round is a firmer path to victory.

Despite his two failed bids — in 2016 and 2024 — Christie said the lure of the job hasn’t quite faded: “Once you go through the thought process of convincing yourself that you can be president, and then the next step that you should be president, that doesn’t leave your brain.”

Christie bowed out of the 2024 race in New Hampshire a few days before the Iowa caucuses. His team attempted to capture the Never Trump, moderate flank of the GOP, but during his speech withdrawing his candidacy, Christie admitted he had no viable way forward. Even still, he promised he was “going to make sure that in no way do I enable Donald Trump to ever be president of the United States again.”

Though Trump won’t be on the ballot come ’28, myriad potential successors closely aligned with him remain, including Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Sen. Ted Cruz (Texas) and Sen. John Kennedy (La.). Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) has also suggested he could mount a bid.

Christie told WMUR he anticipates making a decision on whether to take that path “sometime in 2027.”

By entering your email and clicking Sign Up, you're agreeing to let us send you customized marketing messages about us and our advertising partners. You are also agreeing to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.