Ann Coulter, you better sit down. Earlier this evening, reports surfaced that New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is reneging on his previous insistence that he would not run for the presidency in 2012. Sources such as Newsmax (and Bill Kristol of The Weekly Standard) claimed Christie had informed major Republican donors that he will inform them in the next few days on his final decision. He spoke at New Jersey's Rider University earlier this week, and seemed to be suggesting that flagging support for frontrunners Mitt Romney and Rick Perry have led him to think about jumping in:
"I think what the country is thirsting for, more than anything else right now, is someone of stature and credibility to tell them that and say, 'Here's where I want us to go to deal with this crisis,'" Christie said.
Christie continued: "The fact that nobody yet who's running for president, in my view, has done that effectively is why you continue to hear people ask Daniels if he'll reconsider and ask me if I'll reconsider."
The story cited an "unnamed source," stating that he would make a decision within the next two weeks, and that while he was inclined to throw in his hat, he needed more time.
However, CNN's Peter Hamby tweeted that one of Christie's advisors denied the claims, and that Christie will not run, contrary to Newsmax's reporting. No word yet on where Newmax acquired their faulty information, but it seems they jumped the gun and published the story without confirmation from Christie's people.
Blog post by Kate Hicks