--- title: Chris Christie Makes Bid for Republican National Committee Chair description: New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is making a play to be the next chairman of the Republican National Committee. canonical: https://time.com/4587937/chis-christie-republican-national-committee/ author: Zeke Miller article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-12-01T19:00:09.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:54:55.212Z article:section: Politics og:title: Chris Christie Makes Bid to Head GOP og:description: Now that a post in the Trump Administration seems unlikely. og:url: https://time.com/4587937/chis-christie-republican-national-committee/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7e0d7aa9149d1660/6988a9e5bc6cfc40e73deebe/chris-christie-bridgegate-complaint.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3780 og:image:height: 2126 og:image:alt: Republican National Convention: Day Two og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Chris Christie Makes Bid to Head GOP twitter:description: Now that a post in the Trump Administration seems unlikely. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7e0d7aa9149d1660/6988a9e5bc6cfc40e73deebe/chris-christie-bridgegate-complaint.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Chris Christie Makes Bid for Republican National Committee Chair > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=c7d89d78-0722-4637-b1e5-8fd99a944898&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Chris Christie Delivers Prime-Time Speech at GOP Convention [Watch (HLS stream): Chris Christie Delivers Prime-Time Speech at GOP Convention](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/x3ToYijX.m3u8) (2:07)  _Published 2016-07-20. It has been less than a week since Donald Trump chose Indiana Gov. Mike Pence over New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie as his running mate for President, but Christie is not staying in the shadows._ by [Zeke Miller](https://time.com/author/zeke-j-miller/) ## Zeke Miller Dec 1, 2016 7:00 PM UTC  New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie delivers a speech on the second day of the Republican National Convention on July 19, 2016 at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie delivers a speech on the second day of the Republican National Convention on July 19, 2016 at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio. Alex Wong—Getty Images by [Zeke Miller](https://time.com/author/zeke-j-miller/) ## Zeke Miller Dec 1, 2016 7:00 PM UTC New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is making a play to be the next chairman of the Republican National Committee. On Thursday, the rival-turned-endorser told top members of President-elect Trump’s transition team that he is interested in the top GOP post, according to sources familiar with the matter. Christie endorsed Trump just weeks after ending his own campaign. A one-time Cabinet candidate, Christie ran Trump’s transition before he and his allies were purged from the operation in the week after Election Day. News of Christie’s interest was first reported by Politico. While their political operations have had a falling out, Christie and Trump remain close and still speak frequently. Christie’s would bring experience of leading the Republican Governors Association during the 2014 cycle to the post, during which he was a prodigious fundraiser. Current RNC chairman Reince Priebus was tapped last month by Trump to serve as his chief of staff—a job Christie coveted. While the RNC chairman is elected by the 168-members of the party’s governing body, broad latitude is traditionally given to a sitting president to select someone for the post. The election for the next chairman is set for the week of Trump’s inauguration. ## Transcript This selection is not just about Donald Trump, now it's also about his democratic opponent Hillary Rodham Clinton. I welcome the opportunity to hold Hillary Rodham Clinton [ UNKNOWN ] for her performance and her character And creating a nest for terrorist activity by ISIS. Answer me now, is she guilty or not guilty ? >> GUILTY ! >> Next, lets go to Russia. She went to the Kremlin on her very first visit and gave them that stupid, symbolic, reset button. You know what I think that button should have read? It should have read delete. You know, she's very good at that by the way. [ APPLAUSE ] In Libya and Nigeria, guilty. In China and Syria [ SOUND ] In Iran, and Russia, and Cuba. [ SOUND ]. And here at home for risking America's secrets to keep her own, and lying to cover it all up. [ SOUND ]. We cannot promote someone As Commander- in- Chief, who has made the world a more violent and dangerous place with every bad judgment she's made. We cannot make the chief law enforcement officer of the United States someone who has risked America's secrets and lied to the American people about it day after day after day. Here it is everybody. We didn't disqualify Hillary Clinton to be president of the United States. The facts of her life and career disqualify her. It is time to come together and make sure that Donald Trump is the next president of the United States. [ APPLAUSE ] [ APPLAUSE ] I am proud to be part of the scene, now let's go out and win this thing together, let's go get them, goodnight. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4587937/chis-christie-republican-national-committee/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4587937/chis-christie-republican-national-committee/"},"headline":"Chris Christie Makes Bid for Republican National Committee Chair","datePublished":"2016-12-01T19:00:09.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:54:55.212Z","description":"New Jersey Gov. 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