Chris Christie ‘confident’ he will be on fourth GOP debate stage, addresses poll accuracy

Former New Jersey governor and 2024 Republican presidential candidate Chris Christie told host Margaret Brennan on “Face the Nation” that he is “confident” he will be on the fourth GOP debate stage this week.

“I’m confident, Margaret, that I will be there, that we have all the qualifications necessary to get there,” Christie said. The debate is set to happen Wednesday in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. The Republican National Committee is expected to announce the participants Monday.

Christie also told the show host it is too early to make election predictions.

“Look, if we listen to all the polling, Margaret, Hillary Clinton would be in her second term. So I don’t believe that polling is nearly as reliable as it used to be. And I don’t believe that people tell the truth to pollsters,” he said, adding that in 2007 polls showed Mitt Romney in the lead, in 2011 Newt Gingrich and in 2017 Ben Carson, none of whom held the White House.

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As Christie runs again for the presidency, he is concentrating most of his time and resources on New Hampshire, which holds the first primary in the Republican schedule and votes second after Iowa’s caucuses. Christie is currently in third place in New Hampshire polls, far behind President Trump and slightly trailing former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley.

In 2016, Christie became the first among the other GOP contenders to endorse Trump and for years was a top outside adviser to the then-president. However, the two had a falling out after Trump’s unsuccessful attempts to overturn his 2020 election loss to President Biden. In the past three years, Christie has become one of the harshest Trump critics in the Republican Party.

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On Sunday, Christie said he refused to support Trump because his way of leading is a threat to democracy.

“The reason is that he acts like someone who doesn’t care about our democracy, acts like someone who wants to be a dictator. He acts like someone who doesn’t care for the Constitution. In fact, he’s even said himself he’d be willing to suspend the Constitution if an election wasn’t going in his direction,” Christie said.

Fox News’ Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report.