Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie has the highest unfavorable rating in the entire Republican primary field, the latest Morning Consult survey found.
The survey, updated weekly, shows that former President Donald Trump continues to stand as the favorite, with 76 percent of potential Republican primary voters viewing him favorably. Twenty-three percent report an unfavorable view.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis comes in second, as 67 percent view him favorably compared to 21 percent who do not. His unfavorable rating reflects a six-point uptick from the 14 percent who viewed him unfavorably in March.
Fifty percent view former Vice President Mike Pence favorably, up one point from the 49 percent who said the same last week. However, 54 percent viewed him favorably two weeks ago. Pence also has the second-highest unfavorable rating of every individual listed, with 39 percent expressing an unfavorable view.
Anti-woke businessman Vivek Ramaswamy continues to work his way up in the poll, as he initially suffered greatly from a lack of name recognition in the survey months ago. Now, 49 percent report a favorable view, compared to 14 percent who do not. Still, 24 percent said they have never heard of him.
Similarly, both South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley are above water in terms of favorability, but many say they have never heard of them — 26 percent and 20 percent, respectively.
Across the board, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie stands as the most unfavorable candidate, with 46 percent reporting an unfavorable view of the presidential hopeful. Just 26 percent report a favorable view, and 16 percent say they have never heard of him.
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That portion of the survey was taken June 22-25, 2023, among 778 potential Republican primary voters. It has a +/- four percent margin of error and shows Trump with a 55-point lead over Christie, specifically. Overall, Trump has a 38-point advantage in the field.
Christie’s high unfavorable rating comes as no surprise, as he has continued to rail against the most popular candidate and clear frontrunner — former President Trump. Christie even used his recent appearance at the Faith and Freedom Coalition’s Road to Majority Policy Conference to diss Trump, which was not widely welcomed by the audience.
“Why am I running for president of the United States? I’m running because [Trump] let us down. He has let us down because he’s unwilling — he’s unwilling to take responsibility for any of the mistakes that were made,” Christie said.
“Any of the faults that he has, and any of the things that he’s done,” he continued as some crowd members became audibly irritated.
“And that is not leadership, everybody. That is a failure of leadership,” Christie added as some crowd members began to boo him.
In contrast, the crowd went wild during the conference after North Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, a gubernatorial candidate, formally endorsed Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign.