(TheLastPatriotNews.com) – The Morning Consult survey this week determined that ex-Governor of New Jersey, Chris Christie, is the least popular Republican candidate in the GOP primary race.
Consistent with previous weekly surveys, Trump remains the most popular candidate among Republicans, with 71 percent expressing favorable views toward him. He’s closely followed by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who is looked upon favorably by 63 percent of the participants. Nevertheless, around a quarter of respondents hold unfavorable views of both Trump and DeSantis, at 26 percent and 23 percent, respectively.
In terms of favorability, former Vice President Mike Pence holds a fifty percent rating. However, he has the second-highest unfavorable rating among all the candidates on the list, with 39 percent of respondents expressing negative views about him.
Even though the other candidates have less than a 50 percent favorability rating, many are still struggling with being recognized. For example, 48 percent of respondents hold a positive view of businessman Vivek Ramaswamy, known for his opposition to “woke” culture, while only 13 percent hold a negative view. Nonetheless, Ramaswamy is unknown to about 23 percent of respondents.
Five candidates on the list, including former Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson, Miami Mayor Francis Suarez, North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum, ex-Representative Will Hurd, and ex-Governor of New Jersey Chris Christie, have a higher unfavorable rating than favorable. Among these, Christie has the most unfavorable rating.
Christie has a 45 percent unfavorable rating, while only 24 percent of respondents view him favorably. A further 13 percent of respondents indicated that they are unfamiliar with him, while 17 percent have heard of him but hold no opinion.
The survey was conducted between July 27 and July 29, 2023, among 827 likely Republican primary voters, with a margin of error of +/-4 percent.
Christie is reportedly one of the seven candidates qualified for the inaugural Republican primary debate to be held in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on August 23. However, it remains uncertain how the audience will respond to him, considering he was booed at the Faith and Freedom Coalition’s Road to Majority Policy Conference for criticizing Trump in his June speech.
Trump’s participation in the first debate is still unclear. On Monday, he stated on social media, “Let them debate so I can see who I MIGHT consider for Vice President!”
Donald Trump Jr. expressed ambivalence in July on the topic of his father possibly joining the debate. He told Breitbart News, “Listen, I’m torn on it. I mean, the meme general in me wants to see it because I know he’ll do great. At the same time, am I gonna give, you know, Asa Hutchinson polling at .01 percent, you know Chris Christie, polling at 1 percent, you know, a three-hour window to basically crap all over you?”
