New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie lost his prime speaking role at a New Hampshire Republican Party dinner because he didn’t RSVP in time, and the party gave his slot to Florida Sen. Marco Rubio.
The Daily Caller learned that Christie had a Friday-night dinner speaking slot reserved at the New Hampshire GOP’s First in the Nation Republican Leadership Summit in Nashua, which will be held April 17-18.
Christie was the first to express interest in speaking at the event, which was announced with a firm date in late January. But two months later, Christie still hasn’t confirmed that he’s going to be there. Two weeks ago, the party finally bumped his speaking reservation and gave his slot to Rubio. If Christie still shows up, he won’t be able to speak at dinner.
All of the prospective Republican presidential candidates have already signed up for the summit with the exception of Christie, Rick Santorum and Ben Carson, who both declined invitations. Rubio will speak at dinner Friday night and Scott Walker will take the other marquee dinner speaking slot on Saturday.
Reached by TheDC, a spokesperson for Christie’s PAC said that she could not yet confirm Christie’s attendance at the summit, citing scheduling issues. The party first considered a different date for the summit back in December, when Christie first communicated with organizers about attending.
“We are pleased to have virtually all of the potential candidates confirmed for the First in the Nation Republican Summit,” New Hampshire GOP chairwoman Jennifer Horn said in a statement provided to TheDC. “We are accommodating potential candidates speaking slots on a first come first serve basis. We are still holding time for Governor Christie and continue to work with his staff in the hope that he will be able to participate in this important event.”
Christie also has not donated an autographed tie to the state party’s tie auction, where Bobby Jindal’s tie is leading the bidding at $127.50, a dollar and a half ahead of Ted Cruz’s tie.