--- ---  # Chris Christie to Deliver Prime-Time Speech at GOP Convention by [Julissa Higgins](https://time.com/author/julissa-higgins/) ## Julissa Higgins Jul 19, 2016 9:11 PM UTC  Chris Christie on the floor of the 2016 Republican National Convention on Monday, July 18, 2016, in Cleveland. Chris Christie on the floor of the 2016 Republican National Convention on Monday, July 18, 2016, in Cleveland.Landon Nordeman for TIME by [Julissa Higgins](https://time.com/author/julissa-higgins/) ## Julissa Higgins Jul 19, 2016 9:11 PM UTC 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. He will deliver prime-time remarks on Tuesday, a day focused on economics. It’s not his first go-round, having given [a well-received keynote speech](http://swampland.time.com/2012/08/29/about-last-night-chris-christie-on-a-no-red-meat-diet/) at the 2012 convention for Mitt Romney. Christie [endorsed](http://time.com/4239160/chris-christie-endorses-donald-trump-for-president/) Trump almost as soon as he suspended his own campaign for the presidency, announcing his support for the real estate mogul in February when Trump was still far from securing the nomination, an endorsement for which he [received much criticism.](http://time.com/4295420/donald-trump-chris-christie-ads/) Despite that, Christie has almost always showed support for Trump, even defending him when he made controversial comments about the judge overseeing a Trump University lawsuit. He also defended Melania Trump’s speech Monday, noting that it [only plagiarized seven percent](http://www.today.com/news/chris-christie-93-percent-melania-trump-s-speech-differed-michelle-t100943) of Michelle Obama’s speech that she delivered at the 2008 convention. Christie is perhaps most widely known for being an aggressive political personality and for his staff’s involvement in the Bridgegate scandal, which occurred when his top political aids intentionally caused a major traffic jam in New Jersey’s George Washington Bridge, for which he [denied any involvement](http://time.com/3341/christie-goes-on-the-offensive-over-bridge-scandal-claims/). After two terms in office, he is prevented by term limits from running for another term next year. Republican Convention: Chris Christie to Speak Tuesday ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4413109/republican-convention-chris-christie-speech/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4413109/republican-convention-chris-christie-speech/"},"headline":"Chris Christie to Deliver Prime-Time Speech at GOP Convention","datePublished":"2016-07-19T21:11:24.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T23:22:01.998Z","description":"The New Jersey governor will deliver prime-time remarks on Tuesday.","url":"https://time.com/4413109/republican-convention-chris-christie-speech/","keywords":["Republican National Convention","2016 Election topic","Chris Christie","Donald Trump"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1eab84bfd6e740c8/69889c7f3c1639a7b945e163/landon-nordeman-republican-national-convention-rnc-scenes-0718-08.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Julissa Higgins","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/julissa-higgins/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1eab84bfd6e740c8/69889c7f3c1639a7b945e163/landon-nordeman-republican-national-convention-rnc-scenes-0718-08.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"TIMEPOL RNC","caption":"Chris Christie on the floor of the 2016 Republican National Convention on Monday, July 18, 2016, in Cleveland.","creditText":"Landon Nordeman for TIME","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/republican-national-convention/","name":"Republican National Convention"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4413109/republican-convention-chris-christie-speech/","name":"Chris Christie to Deliver Prime-Time Speech at GOP Convention"}}]}] ```