New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie answers a question Monday, Feb. 29, in Trenton, N.J. | AP Photo Newspaper that endorsed Christie: 'Boy, were we wrong'

The New Hampshire Union Leader backed the wrong presidential candidate, the paper said in an editorial posted online Monday evening.

The influential newspaper endorsed New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie last November, but his endorsement of Donald Trump is apparently a bridge too far.


“Despite his baggage, we thought that as a Republican governor in a Democratic-leading state he had the skills and experience the presidency needs (and hasn’t had of late),” publisher Joseph McQuaid wrote. “We also thought he had the best chance to take on and face down Donald Trump.”

“Boy, were we wrong,” McQuaid added.

McQuaid accused Christie, who shocked the political world when he endorsed Trump at a press conference last Friday, of kissing Trump’s ring.

“Rather than standing up to the bully, Christie bent his knee,” he wrote. “In doing so, he rejected the very principles of his campaign that attracted our support.”

Despite the Union Leader endorsement, Christie finished sixth in the first-in-the-nation primary last month, with 7 percent support, and suspended his campaign the next day.

McQuaid told POLITICO last week that Christie had assured him he would “never” support Trump. But he did, hailing the Republican front-runner as “the best choice” in the race.

“If nothing else, that might wake up some Trump fans,” McQuaid said of Christie’s Trump endorsement. “We will look for that, just as soon as we get the egg off our face.”