On Tuesday, New Jersey governor Chris Christie became the fourteenth Republican to join the presidential race, promising in a rambling announcement in his hometown of Livingston that he would bring “strong leadership” to Washington. Christie also argued the country should not turn control over to President Obama’s “second mate, Hillary Clinton.”

The New Jersey Republican addressed a friendly audience that surrounded him on all sides, with his wife Mary Pat and their four children joining him on stage. As he often does in his town-hall-style meetings around the state, Christie spoke extemporaneously with a few glances at notes on a music stand. Despite his rhetorical talents, he stumbled over a few lines in a speech that stressed both his biography and his record as a tough-talking, truth-telling executive.