Chris Christie ends his "truth-telling" tour

Chris Christie has finally ended his run for the GOP presidential nomination. His withdrawal may help Nikki Haley in New Hampshire, but would have helped her more if Christie had endorsed her, or at least not slammed her on a hot mic.

In his campaign, Christie styled himself a “truth teller” — the only semi-serious candidate willing to say how bad Donald Trump is. It was a fine role, but Christie was eight years late playing it.

Eight years ago, Christie was Trump’s wingman. He helped take out Marco Rubio, a semi-plausible alternative to Trump, with a skilled one-two punch during a debate. And, unlike this year, Christie was quick with an endorsement after he dropped out of the race. He endorsed Trump.

This time around, Christie claimed he misjudged Trump in 2016. I don’t believe him. Trump did not hide his dark side in 2015-16; he flaunted it. Moreover, Christie had known Trump for decades. He’s too intelligent not to have understood what Trump is about.

I believe Christie ran interference for Trump and then endorsed him because he thought Trump could win the presidency and he wanted to play a major role in the Trump administration, as Vice President or Attorney General.

His plan seemed to be working when Trump put Christie in charge of his transition. But then Trump replaced him with Mike Pence — a move Christie says was orchestrated by Jared Kushner, the president-elect’s son-in-law. What the former governor had failed to realize was that because he successfully prosecuted Kushner’s father, his ambition to be a key figure in the Trump administration would not be fulfilled.

Christie claims Trump offered him cabinet level jobs, but he turned them down because he wanted to be Attorney General. Trump says otherwise. Either way, it’s undisputed that Christie didn’t get a role he wanted from Trump.

Call me cynical, but had Christie gotten such a role, and in the improbable event that he, unlike so many who served Trump, had remained in the president’s good graces, I very much doubt we would have been treated to a Chris Christie truth-telling tour during this cycle.

Christie is a talented politician. His town hall meetings are masterpieces. I haven’t seen anyone who does them better. I also think Christie would have made a pretty good president.

But Christie’s character leaves much to be desired. He’s a petty, egotistical figure — more like Trump in this regard than like DeSantis and Haley.

DeSantis, Haley, and possibly even Vivek Ramaswamy may all have a future in Republican presidential politics. It’s hard to see Christie having one.

That’s fine with me.