“Traditional Republican Policies Are Extremely Unpopular”: GOP Hopeful Predicts “Four-Time Loser” Trump Will Be Ignored by Public

Michelle HollandDec 2, 2023

Minute Read

Republican presidential candidate Chris Christie has proposed that the public will ignore Donald Trump if he fails to secure the GOP nomination in 2024. Christie stated: “I think the public en masse will begin to ignore a four-time loser like Donald Trump.”

The Republican Primaries

The Republican primaries for the 2024 presidential election are due to begin next year, and Trump is currently the frontrunner in polls. He is beating rivals such as Ron DeSantis, Nikki Haley, and Chris Christie by a significant margin, with many experts predicting that he will ultimately be selected as the nominee.

The 2024 Presidential Election

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This would leave Trump poised to go head-to-head once again with President Joe Biden in November. As the incumbent president, Biden has the overwhelming advantage in becoming the Democratic nominee. In 1856, Franklin Pierce became the only sitting president to not be nominated for reelection by his own party.

Christie’s Chances

According to FiveThirtyEight, Christie is currently polling in fifth place for the nomination, behind Trump, DeSantis, Haley, and Vivek Ramaswamy. The former New Jersey governor is hoping for an early victory in the state of New Hampshire to set a positive tone for the rest of his campaign.

Trump’s Election Denialism

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Christie has expressed his doubts that Trump will concede if he loses the GOP nomination, stating: “Look, no one will expect him to concede. He hasn’t conceded the 2020 election, who cares? I don’t suspect he’ll ever concede.” Since losing the election, Trump has promoted the election denialism conspiracy theory and is set to go to trial for his attempts to over the election results.

“Four-Time Loser”

If Trump does lose the nomination, he would be a “four-time loser”, according to Christie, who explained: “He lost in 2018 in the House, he lost in 2020, in the Senate and in the White House. And in 2022, he led us to more losses in the governorships and the Senate, and if he loses in 2024 he will be a four-time loser.”

Donald Trump’s Future

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On what Trump’s life might be like after losing another presidential bid, Christie proposed: “I think he’ll go back to Mar-a-Lago. He’ll continue to carp and moan and complain and say we don’t deserve him. Anything that gets him out of this race and what keeps him out of the White House is fine by me.”

Criticizing Trump

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Of the slate of Republican contenders, Christie has been one of the most vocal Trump detractors. Other candidates, such as DeSantis, have steered clear of criticizing Trump too strongly out of fear of upsetting his loyal and passionate base.

Scapegoating Trump

Many people online agreed with Christie’s dislike of Trump but felt it wasn’t accurate to claim he was entirely responsible for the GOP’s recent losses. One forum commenter wrote: “Couldn’t possibly be that GOP policies are widely unpopular, right Chrissy?”

Problematic Policies

Another person agreed, “Yup. GOP policies support religious kooks, sick neo-Nazis, and run amok women haters,” whereas someone else countered that “the GOP base are more closely aligned with the religious kooks, neo-Nazis, and women haters than they are to the moderate left.”

Primary vs General

Most users disagreed with Christie’s prediction that Trump would lose the primary but also considered him too unelectable to ultimately beat Biden. “You can’t win a primary without Trump and you can’t win a general with him. They really did shoot themselves in the foot with him,” one poster declared.

A Mixed Bag

Others felt it was important to recognize Trump’s ferocious supporters as a big part of the Republican base. One contributor explained: “It’s a somewhat mixed bag. Trump is noxious, yes, but he’s also the focal point and enthusiasm driver for the whole repugnant party, so Republicans are also doing worse when Trump isn’t on the ballot.”

A Sticky Situation

Someone else agreed that Trump posed an issue to the Republican Party going forward, stating: “They’re trapped. Republicans lost a lot of voters forever because of Trump and also gained a lot of voters because of Trump. If Trump isn’t the nominee, they’re going to lose the Trump voters, but they’re not going to get back the voters that left the party.”

Driving Democratic Turnout

They continued, “Traditional Republican policies are extremely unpopular and the stuff that actually gets voters out for Trump also drives Democratic turnout (anti-immigration, anti-abortion, etc.).” They later clarified that “they’re popular, they drive Republican turnout, but the problem is that they’re very divisive and also drive Democratic turnout. They’re popular policies, just not popular enough, given how divisive they are.”

Christie’s Hypocrisy

Several forum members reprimanded Christie for enabling Trump to begin with and aiding him in his rise to power. One critic insisted that “he’s got no one to blame but himself. He endorsed Trump. He begged to be part of his administration. He’s part of the problem.”

Too Little, Too Late

One individual praised Christie for being a rare Republican party member to speak out so openly against Trump but condemned him for taking so long to get there. They said: “For riding the Trump train, Chris is either 1. stupid and easily duped, or 2. a nefarious opportunist. Either way, he’s a chump and not suited for the presidency. I love his recent commentary on Trump but it’s too little, too late.”

Lack of Apology

Particular attention was given to Christie’s lack of apology for his prior support of Trump. “Nobody is perfect, but when we make mistakes that hurt people decent people apologize for that and make an effort to make amends. That is exactly the sort of thing that makes us decent people. So if you refuse to even apologize you don’t get to call yourself a decent person,” one user claimed.

The Future of the GOP

Many commenters wondered how the GOP would proceed going into election year. One person wrote: “They have a year to figure that s— out, commit to it, and rebrand. Conservatives are not known for efficiency, willingness to admit mistakes, or the ability to change. This is an uphill battle.”