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New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie endorsed Donald Trump's presidential candidacy on Friday in Texas, a stunning development sure to add to the growing sense of inevitability around Trump's bid for the Republican nomination. The only question anyone was asking in the wake of the endorsement was "why"? Or, more accurately, "WHY??!?" After all, Christie had savaged Trump as unelectable just a few weeks ago. So, why the abrupt about-face?

Republican presidential candidate and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie...said Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump does not have the "temperament" to be president of the United States.... "I just don't think he's suited to be president of the United States. I don't think his temperament is suited for that. He's got great experiences in business, but if he doesn't get what he wants from John Boehner, he can't fire him. You have to learn to work. I just don't think it best utilizes his skills. But I'm not going to respond to everything he says. This is about me getting my...

This Chris Christie endorsement of Trump is real signal to GOP establishment that they had better begin thinking about Trump as the future 984 retweets 1,152 likes Newt Gingrich ‏@newtgingrich 1h1 hour ago Chris Christie endorsement of Trump is a major breakthrough.this is a huge step for Trump and will impact super tuesday bug time.

What Christie offers Trump, then, isn't voters, and it probably isn't the emotional appeal of a beloved character. As the announcement press conference made clear, Christie will over the short term continue to play the other role he played effectively while a candidate: serial bully toward Marco Rubio.

I have probably interviewed New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie more times for more hours than any journalist outside New Jersey. I’ve known him since he started running for governor in 2008. You can understand my shock then when a man who claimed to be serious about public service, who ran on concrete policies and a serious national security platform and who seemed genuinely concerned about an unqualified person becoming president would embrace a know-nothing buffoon like Donald Trump.

The theme music from Harrison Ford's movie 'Air Force One' blared over loudspeakers in a rural Tennessee airport hangar, and minutes later a less presidential noise wafted over a hot mic. 'Get in the plane and go home. It's over there. Go home.' That was Donald Trump, the Republican presidential front-runner, telling his newest endorser Chris Christie in front of 12,000 people exactly where to go and how to get there. Christie had just sung The Donald's praises following the dramatic entrance of his plane in a stunt the campaign invented a month ago in Dubuque, Iowa. And more importantly,...