Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie’s strong debate performance in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, has given him a renewed reason to remain in the Republican presidential primary.
And he came out swinging at former President Trump last week during a New Hampshire town hall.
“I don’t want there to be any down anybody’s mind. He is a danger to this country; he is unfit to be president; he is here only to serve himself and not to serve you. He (Trump) said the other day in legal papers that the President of the United States does not have the obligation to support the Constitution,” said Christie.
“He said that the oath says preserve, protect, and defend, not support. And let me tell you something: he believes it. He will act that way. And if that doesn’t chill your blood, as an American, I don’t know what will,” Christie concluded.
In a recent Iowa poll, NBC News reported, former President Donald Trump earned the highest support among likely caucusgoers.
Trump is currently the leading candidate for the Republican presidential nomination with over 60% support among primary voters nationwide, according to a RealClearPolitics average of all major polls.
“With all the other candidates, it doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter what they say, it doesn’t matter what they do. Because automatically, my vote is going to Trump no matter what,” Timothy Blackerby, a 67-year-old resident of Iowa and respondent of the poll, told NBC News. “They can promise me a million dollars. I tell them to keep it. And I would still vote for Trump,” Blackerby said.
Trump’s lead is the largest the poll has recorded this close to a competitive caucus, NBC reported.
Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida earned 19% support as respondents’ first preference and 30% support as their second preference, the highest among the latter category. Former Republican Gov. Nikki Haley of South Carolina has 16% support, with all other candidates polling in single digits.
Support for Trump as respondents’ first preference increased since October, the last iteration of the poll, when it was 43%, according to NBC News.
The poll also surveyed the persuadability of Iowa caucusgoers, who will hold their caucuses on Jan. 15. Among them, 49% said they had made up their minds regarding their choice of candidate, a figure that rose to 70% for voters who supported Trump. That figure was lopsided for DeSantis and Haley’s supporters, with 70% and 65%, respectively, indicating they could be persuaded to caucus for somebody else.
Seventy-three percent of voters reported they thought that Trump could win a general election against President Joe Biden, the leading candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination, even amid his multiple indictments, an increase from the poll’s last iteration. Trump also earned the highest favorability rating among respondents at 72%, which was second only to Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds of Iowa, who has endorsed DeSantis.
The poll was conducted between Dec. 2 and 7, 2023, and surveyed 502 likely Republican caucusgoers in Iowa, with an error margin of ±4.4 percentage points.
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