Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is expected to announce he is running for president next week. Why are we discussing this on a New York (and New Jersey) sports website, you ask? Because of who is apparently set to provide Christie with a lot of cash for his attempted march to the Potomac.
There have been several reports indicating Mets owner Steve Cohen plans to support Christie. Which makes sense. Cohen is a prolific GOP donor (he has donated to Democrats too). He supported Christie’s bid in 2016. And Christie is on the Amazins’ board of directors.
What makes this all quite interesting, though, is that Cohen will presumably be banging wallets with another team owner in town. Because Jets owner Woody Johnson appears to still be riding the Trump train.
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Johnson was at a rally for former president Donald Trump in September. That is how the world learned of Trump’s phone call to head coach Robert Saleh after the Jets’ miraculous Week 2 win at the Browns. And Johnson, the former U.S. Ambassador to the United Kingdom, was reportedly at Trump’s controversial CNN town hall in May.
Raising the stakes: Pretty much everyone in the world believes Christie is running solely to try to take Trump out. And the more money Cohen puts in his coffers, the longer he can traipse around Iowa and New Hampshire throwing haymakers.
A totally non-partisan take to close this out: Christie and Trump will generate electric content together if they actual both reach a debate stage together. Honestly, we should have a Christie-Trump one-on-one debate.
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James Kratch can be reached at james.kratch@xlmedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @jameskratch.
