‘I guess from that I should drop out’ Chris Christie sarcastically quips as he dismisses concern over low showing in national polls and points to the states
Chris Christie isn’t worried about national polls because the US ‘doesn’t have a national primary’, saying his focus is on state-by-state performance.
The former governor of New Jersey is polling at the back of the Republican primary – but boasted his 6 percent in the first caucus state of Iowa, despite not having spent an hour in Iowa “since the beginning of this campaign.” .’
Christie sarcastically told Fox News host Sandra Smith that he should “just drop out” of the race because RealClearPolitics national polls put him at 2.4 percent.
Repeatedly, Christie pointed to surveys in New Hampshire, the early primary state where 2024 hopefuls are throwing their weight behind the Jan. 23 election.
“I don’t care where I stand in the national polls,” Christie shot back at Smith when she asked how he thinks he’s actually doing nationally compared to the polls.
“It doesn’t matter, we don’t have a national primary, Sandra,” he continued, clearly frustrated by the story. “If we had a national primary, I would be in a desperate, terrible situation – but that’s not the case. We have state-by-state primaries.”
Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said he isn’t worried about the national polls because primaries are state-by-state, while dismissing his dismal performance in national surveys.
RealClearPolitics’ national average shows Christie in fifth place with 2.4% now that Senator Tim Scott has suspended his presidential campaign
Looking at the RealClearPolitical national average of polls, Christie is in fifth place – one level higher because Senator Tim Scott suspended his campaign this weekend.
However, Christie rises to a tie for third place along with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis – both at 8.3 percent – in a separate RealClearPolitics average for the New Hampshire polls.
‘What are you doing now, what is your strategy?’ Smith asked Christie about his poor national showing.
“Gosh, I think I’ll have to drop that,” the candidate replied sarcastically.
“The RealClearPolitics average is worth nothing,” he clarified. “We don’t have a national primary. And if you look at what’s happening in New Hampshire, I’m in double digits. Just like Ambassador Haley. And Donald Trump is well below 50 percent in those places.’
But Christie lamented that the “real problem” is that if candidates other than him don’t go after former President Trump, the entire primary will be for naught because it will truly be a race for second place.
“The fact is – this is the problem, Sandra, this is all a battle for second place if you don’t go after Donald Trump,” he said during an interview on Fox on Wednesday.
“And Nikki Haley recently said, ‘He’s the right president at the right time.’ Well, I don’t know that someone who was indicted four times over a conflict of office turned out to be the right president at the right time,” the former Trump ally said.
“And you know, I look at the way they’re hugging Donald Trump – well, fine, if you’re happy with second place, don’t take on the frontrunner. I’m competing against the leader from the start because I want to win the race.’
New Hampshire poll shows Christie in third place in early primaries, with 9% support
Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel told Fox News that she is “really tired of this infighting” among Republican candidates.
But Christie says it’s necessary for the process.
“It’s called a primary,” he said when asked if he worried the fighting would ultimately hurt the Republican Party. “And so that’s how it goes.”
‘We are going to be critical of each other and we must be so. But what unites us is far greater than what divides us,” Christie continued. “And if we get a suitable candidate for president, I’m sure you’ll see them working together to defeat Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.”
“But let’s be honest: We didn’t have a primary in 2020 because we had a sitting president, but there was still a lot of infighting going on, on Capitol Hill and in many other places. So that’s part of politics,” he explained.
“I don’t mind arguing with people as long as we are fighting for a cause that is productive for the party and for the country.”
The first primaries will take place on January 15 in Iowa, where voters will choose their preferred candidates.
Christie is not expected to perform well since, he admitted, he did not set foot in Iowa during the 2024 primaries.