New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie—who until earlier this month was a presidential candidate himself—has endorsed Donald Trump.
The endorsement marks what might be a turning point in the Republican primary race as Trump begins to accumulate more mainstream backers. (Not that he cares—he called endorsements a “waste of time” on Wednesday.) This week, the frontrunner also netted his first congressional endorsements from California’s Rep. Duncan Hunter and New York Rep. Chris Collins.
In a press conference in Fort Worth, Texas, Christie said that Trump—who recently trounced his competition with 45.9% of votes in the Nevada primary—“will do exactly what needs to be done to make America a leader around the world again,” according to The New York Times.
Christie said that he’s been friends with the candidate for a decade. But Trump hasn’t always been so kind to his friend, taking to Twitter to criticize Christie while he was still in the race:
How is Chris Christie running the state of NJ, which is deeply troubled, when he is spending all of his time in NH? New Jerseyans not happy!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 30, 2015
Christie’s announcement comes as Marco Rubio is racing to catch up to Trump, collecting almost 60 congressional endorsements and much of Jeb Bush’s former donors. Even so, Rubio trailed behind Trump in Nevada with only 23.9% of the vote.