Twitter users erupted Tuesday after former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie suggested a presidential race between President Barack Obama and himself in 2012 would have been evenly matched.
Christie, who ran an unsuccessful 2016 bid for the Republican nomination, stopped by MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” to discuss his new memoir, Let Me Finish, which was released Tuesday.
Asked whether he regretted his decision not to run as Obama’s Republican challenger in 2012, Christie said no ― but that it would have been a toss-up if he had.
“I just felt like I have no business running for president of the United States after being governor of New Jersey for 15 months,” Christie said. “I’m not ready.”
He continued, “I understood the political moment, and I understood that I probably had a pretty good chance to certainly win the nomination. And then who knows what would have happened against Barack Obama? You know, probably it was a jump ball.”
Christie was a leading figure in the Republican Party leading up to the 2012 election. Though he endorsed former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney (R) in the race, he heaped praise on Obama in the weeks before the election over his Hurricane Sandy disaster relief efforts in New Jersey and other affected areas.
Twitter users on Tuesday were quick to mock Christie over his suggestion that he had a shot at beating Obama.
“Isn’t that sweet,” one Twitter user wrote.
“Nice to have delusions, Chris,” another tweeted.