Credit: (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)

Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie announced on Wednesday he is dropping his Republican presidential bid.

“It is clear to me tonight that there isn’t a path for me to win the nomination, which is why I’m suspending my campaign tonight for President of the United States,” Christie said at a town hall in New Hampshire.

Ahead of his announcement, Christie could be heard on a live microphone criticizing GOP candidate Nikki Haley. “She’s going to get smoked,” he said. “She’s not up to this.”

After announcing his 2024 presidential bid Christie quickly indicated his campaign strategy was to attack former President Donald Trump on both his demeanor and policies in the hope that a more focused strategy would produce enough votes for Christie to make a real run for the GOP nomination.

Christie said that Trump “never admits a mistake … never admits a fault and always found someone else and something else to blame for whatever goes wrong but finds every reason to take credit for anything that goes right.”

More recently, a Monmouth University poll released in December revealed Christie was the least favorite GOP nominee.

Christie also sought the Republican nomination for the 2016 presidential election but quickly dropped out of that race after a poor showing in New Hampshire.