Washington, Jan 11 (IANS): Former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie has exited the 2024 Republican race to the White House, with a parting shot at party rival Donald Trump.

The 61-year-old made the announcement at a town hall event in the state of New Hampshire on Wednesday night just 13 days before the first-in-the-nation primary, the BBC reported.

Deemed as the most outspoken critic of Trump who was once an ally, Christie devoted much of his announcement pleading to Republican voters to reject the former President, who he accused of "putting himself before the people of this country".

"Donald Trump wants you to be angry every day because he is angry... I am going to make sure that in no way do I enable Donald Trump to ever be president of the United States again.

“Anyone who is unwilling to say (Trump) is unfit to be President of the United States is unfit themselves to be President of the United States," he added.

He also told the audience that "tt 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 US".

He called it the “right thing for me to do”, CNN reported.

But before making his announcement, he was caught making a few unofficial remarks off camera on a live microphone against his now former rivals in the Republican race -- Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley.

“She’s gonna get smoked and you and I both know it. She’s not up to this,” Christie could be heard saying in apparent reference to Haley.

"She's not up to this," he added.

The former New Jersey Governor also mentioned that DeSantis had contacted him, CNN reported.

“DeSantis called me, petrified that I would…,” Christie said before the audio cut out.

In response to his exit, Haley called Christie "a friend for many years" and commended him "on a hard-fought campaign". But DeSantis said he agreed Haley is "going to get smoked", reports the BBC.

On his part, Trump said he "might even get to like (Christie) again" following his "very truthful statement" about Haley.

This was Christie's second unsuccessful bid for the Republican nomination after he lost to Trump in 2016.

His departure comes five days before the Iowa caucuses, the first of the state-by-state contests in which Republican voters will pick their preferred candidate for President.

The eventual winner will be anointed the Republican nominee in July, before going on to challenge the Democratic nominee in the November general election.

Besides Haley and DeSantis, Indian-American entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy also remains a contender in the Republican race.