共和党总统候选人克里斯·克里斯蒂周日试图淡化潜在的后果如果竞争对手唐纳德·特朗普在2024年初选中失利但拒绝让步，甚至继续作为第三方候选人参选。
“没有人会指望他会认输。他还没有承认2020年的选举。谁在乎呢，”新泽西州前州长、特朗普的支持者转变为批评者的克里斯蒂告诉美国广播公司“本周”的联合主播乔纳森·卡尔。
尽管特朗普保持着巨大的领先优势在全国民意调查中根据2008年的调查，在共和党初选选民中，他处于略微微弱的领先地位艾奥瓦州和新罕布什尔州这是第一个投票的两个州，克里斯蒂和其他挑战者都希望在这两个州出现意外。
卡尔问特朗普，如果他输了，他在竞选中的继续存在会是一个持续存在的问题——比如他质疑结果或运行第三方——克里斯蒂驳斥了这种说法，认为在那个时候，“公众将开始忽视”这位前总统，因为他在投票箱上一再失败。
“我想他会回到Mar-a-Lago。他会继续吹毛求疵，抱怨抱怨，说我们配不上他，”克里斯蒂说。“任何能让他退出竞选、不让他入主白宫的事情，我都无所谓。”
克里斯特的反应是在美国广播公司新闻获悉美国人促进繁荣行动(Americans for Prosperity Action)计划在1月15日艾奥瓦州党团会议结束后50天内支持一个由共和党亿万富翁查尔斯·科氏及其盟友支持的倡导组织，该组织计划支持一个替代候选人。
美国广播公司新闻部(ABC News)政治主任里克·克莱因(Rick Klein)周日告诉卡尔(Karl)，估计有7000万美元将投入击败前总统的努力，美国繁荣协会(Americans for Prosperity)也有研究表明，“多达75%的共和党人可能会接受特朗普的替代方案，如果他们认为那个人可以获胜的话”。
特朗普迄今为止一直在共和党领域占据主导地位，但克莱恩表示，他在早期州的民调相对较弱，这可能会给其他候选人带来希望，“一旦人们开始参与”，就有可能蚕食他的领先优势。
克里斯蒂周日回应了这些观点，告诉卡尔，他相信他将成为新罕布什尔州“让每个人都感到惊讶”的候选人，他在那里花了大量时间进行竞选活动。
2023年11月15日，共和党总统候选人、前新泽西州长克里斯·克里斯蒂在华盛顿哈德森研究所发表演讲
赢得麦克纳米/盖蒂图片社
“我认为人们刚刚开始参与进来，即使是在像新罕布什尔这样的地方。你知道，我真的看到人们现在终于开始挖掘，弄清楚他们认为谁在说他们想听的话，并告诉新罕布什尔州的选民真相。
克里斯蒂将自己标榜为共和党初选中最响亮的特朗普诋毁者。特朗普回击了克里斯蒂，称他是一名“失败的”候选人和州长
克里斯蒂在“本周”节目中表示，他希望将竞选活动扩大到南卡罗来纳州和密歇根州，这是初选中接下来的两个投票州，他相信他可以在那里“做得很好”，尽管民调显示他在这两个州都没有突破。
他说:“现在，距离新罕布什尔州初选还有58天，我们将把大部分时间和精力放在新罕布什尔州。
但由于其他竞争者仍在竞选，包括前联合国大使妮基·黑利和佛罗里达州州长罗恩·德桑蒂斯，卡尔问这种环境是否是“特朗普获胜的方式”，即在他的反对派中分散选票。
克里斯蒂说，剩下的候选人应该都把火力集中在特朗普身上，而不是互相攻击。
“如果我们三个人都去追唐纳德·特朗普，那么我们三个人当中最可信的批评者最终会赢得这场初选，我相信，”克里斯蒂说。
“我认为我们需要关注谁在前面，谁对我们的政党有害，谁对这个国家有害，”他继续说道。“在我看来，那是唐纳德·特朗普，我们需要直接攻击他。”
Chris Christie plays down risk to Republicans if Trump loses primary but won't leave the race
Republican presidential candidate Chris Christie on Sunday sought to play down the potential consequencesif rival Donald Trump loses the 2024 primary racebut refuses to concede -- or even keeps running as a third-party candidate.
"No one will expect him to concede. He hasn't conceded the 2020 election. Who cares," Christie, a former governor of New Jersey and a Trump supporter-turned-critic, told ABC "This Week" co-anchor Jonathan Karl.
While Trump maintains a huge leadin national pollingof Republican primary voters, he is in a slightly weaker front-runner position according to surveys inIowaandNew Hampshire, the first two states to vote, where Christie and other challengers are hoping for an upset.
Pressed by Karl on how Trump's continued presence in the race could be an ongoing problem if he loses -- like if he contests the results or runs third-party -- Christie dismissed that notion, arguing that at that point, "the public en masse will begin to ignore" the former president because of his repeated defeats at the ballot box.
"I think he'll go back to Mar-a-Lago. He'll continue to carp and moan and complain and say we don't deserve him," Christie said. "Anything that gets him out of this race and keeps him out of the White House is fine by me."
Christe's reaction comes as ABC News has learned Americans for Prosperity Action -- an advocacy organization backed by Republican billionaire Charles Koch and his allies -- has plans to endorse an alternative candidate to Trump with the Jan. 15 Iowa caucus now just 50 days away.
With an estimated $70 million on hand to pour into the effort to defeat the former president, Americans for Prosperity also has research that suggests "as many as 75% of Republicans just might be open to a Trump alternative if they think that that person can win," ABC News Political Director Rick Klein told Karl on Sunday.
Trump has so far commanded the Republican field, but Klein said his comparatively weaker early state polling could give other candidates hope that "once people start to engage," there's a chance of eating into his lead.
Christie echoed those sentiments on Sunday, telling Karl that he believes he will be the candidate "who surprises everybody" in New Hampshire, where he has spent significant time campaigning.
"I think people are just starting to engage, even in a place like New Hampshire. You know, I really see people now finally starting to dig in, figure out who they think is saying the things that they want to hear and telling the truth to the voters of New Hampshire," he said.
Christie has pitched himself as the loudest Trump detractor in the GOP primary field. Trump has fired back at Christie, labeling him a "failed" candidate and governor
Christie said on "This Week" that he expects to expand his campaign to South Carolina and Michigan, two of the next voting states in the primary, where he believes he could do "quite well" even as polling shows he has yet to breakthrough in either place.
"Right now, with 58 days to go until the New Hampshire primary, we are going to focus most of our time and energy on the state of New Hampshire," he said.
But with other contenders still in the race, including former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, Karl asked if this environment is "exactly how Trump wins," by splitting the vote among his opposition.
Christie said that instead of attacking each other, the remaining candidates should all be focusing their fire on Trump.
"If all three of us would go after Donald Trump, well then the most credible amongst the three of us in terms of those critiques would wind up winning this primary, I believe," Christie said.
"I think we need to focus on who's in front here, who's bad for our party, and who would be bad for this country," he continued. "And in my view, that's Donald Trump and we need to go directly at him."
