(NewsNation) — Right before GOP presidential candidate Chris Christie was about to take the stage to announce the end of his campaign, he was caught on a hot mic.
He said former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley “is gonna get smoked.” He also said Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis “called me petrified,” but the audio cut off before he could elaborate.
Christie was talking to a man named Wayne, saying, “People don’t wanna hear it, Wayne. They don’t wanna hear it. We know we’re right. But they don’t wanna hear it. We couldn’t have been any clearer. We couldn’t have been more direct or worked any harder,” referring to his campaign.
He said Haley spent “68 million so far, just on TV. Fifty-nine million by DeSantis. And we spent 12. I mean, who is punching above their weight? And who is getting a return on their investment?”
“You and I both know it. She’s not up to this,” Christie said.
Haley responded to Christie ending his campaign saying, “Chris Christie has been a friend for many years. I commend him on a hard-fought campaign. Voters have a clear choice in this election: the chaos and drama of the past or a new generation of conservative leadership. I will fight to earn every vote, so together we can build a strong and proud America.”
Christie held a town hall event Wednesday in Windham, New Hampshire. While other GOP candidates have focused on Iowa ahead of next week’s caucuses, Christie was spending time in New Hampshire.
In his speech, Christie said, “Donald Trump wants you to be angry every day because he’s angry.”
Former President Donald Trump took to Truth Social in response: “I hear Chris Christie is dropping out of the race today — I might even get to like him again! Anyway, he was just caught on a hot mic making a very truthful statement: ‘She’s gonna get smoked…You and I both know it, she’s not up to this.'”
“[America] was great long before those red hats showed up,” Christie said, concluding his speech.
A recent CNN/UNH poll conducted in New Hampshire this week showed that about 4 in 10 likely Republican primary voters in New Hampshire chose Trump and about a third picked Haley. Christie trailed behind both candidates in the poll at 12%, and it found that about two-thirds of Christie supporters would pick Haley as their top alternative to Christie.
NewsNation’s Caitlyn Shelton contributed to this report.