A majority of Republicans view former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) unfavorably, the latest survey from the Economist/YouGov found.
The survey examined the favorability of Christie, who announced his presidential bid on Tuesday. Across the board, just 18 percent view him at least “somewhat” favorably, compared to 56 percent who view him at least somewhat unfavorably.
Among Republicans, specifically, 51 percent view Christie at least somewhat unfavorably. Of those, 23 percent have a “very” unfavorable view. Twenty seven percent of Republicans have an at least somewhat favorable view, but of those, only five percent reported a “very” favorable view of the former governor.
Independents are even sourer on Christie, as 56 percent reported an at least somewhat unfavorable view. Of those, 30 percent view Christie “very” unfavorably.
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The survey was taken June 3-6, 2023, among 1,500 United States adult citizens. The survey was released a single day after Christie formally joined the 2024 presidential race.
“We have leaders who have led us to being small. Small by their example. Small by the way they conduct themselves. Small by the things they tell us we should care about. Smaller and smaller,” Christie said during his announcement, suggesting that “Donald Trump made us smaller by dividing us even further and pitting us one against the other.”
He continued:
And they do it in other ways too. They’re making us smaller by dividing us into smaller and smaller groups. And they sell to you that we should get into these smaller groups because we’ll be more comfortable. The smaller and smaller group you get into, then you’re probably not going to hear anything you disagree with. The smaller group you get into, you just watch the news you want to hear. The smaller group you get into, the less chances you’ll ever be offended by anything.
“If your leaders are not willing to admit to you that they’re fallible, that they make mistakes, that they hurt like you, that they bleed like you, and that they suffer disappointments and letdowns, beware,” Christie continued.
His criticisms prompted a response from Trump on Truth Social.
“How many times did Chris Christie use the word SMALL? Does he have a psychological problem with SIZE? Actually, his speech was SMALL, and not very good. It rambled all over the place, and nobody had a clue of what he was talking about,” Trump wrote.
“Hard to watch, boring, but that’s what you get from a failed Governor (New Jersey) who left office with a 7% approval rating and then got run out of New Hampshire. This time, it won’t be any different!” he exclaimed.
The latest Morning Consult survey found Trump at the top of the pack, 34 points ahead of his closest challenger with 56 percent support. Christie, who was included in the survey, garnered one percent support.