WINDHAM, N.H. (AP) — Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is planning to announce he’s dropping his Republican presidential bid at his New Hampshire town hall on Wednesday night, according to a person with direct knowledge of the plans.

Christie, 61, has been under intense pressure to exit the Republican presidential primary race as critics of Donald Trump work to unify behind a viable alternative to the former president. His impending exit was confirmed by a person who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity to disclose private discussions.

Christie is scheduled to host a town hall meeting in Windham at 5 p.m., hours before two of his rivals, former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, meet for the fifth GOP presidential debate of the 2024 election cycle. It is the only debate that Christie did not qualify for.

It wasn’t clear whether Christie would be immediately endorsing one of his rivals, but he was overheard criticizing Haley on a live microphone ahead of the event. “She’s going to get smoked,” he said. “She’s not up to this.” He said DeSantis called him, petrified he would endorse Haley, but the hot mic was cut before Christie finished speaking.

The dropout comes as a surprise, given that Christie had staked the success of his campaign on New Hampshire’s first-in-the-nation primary, which is less than two weeks away. He had insisted as recently as Tuesday night that he had no plans to leave the race, rebuffing growing calls for him to step aside as he continued to cast himself as the only candidate willing to directly take on the former president.

“I would be happy to get out of the way for someone who is actually running against Donald Trump,” he said at a town hall in Rochester, New Hampshire, while arguing that none of his rivals had stepped up to the plate.

“I’m famous enough. … I’ve got plenty of titles. … The only reason to do this is to win,” he added. “So I’d be happy to get out of the way for somebody if they actually were going against Donald Trump.”

But Christie faced a stark reality: While recent polls showed him reaching the double digits in New Hampshire, Haley shows signs of momentum. A CNN/UNH poll conducted in the state this week found Trump’s lead down to the single digits, with 4 in 10 likely Republican primary voters choosing Trump and about one-third now choosing Haley.

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