Chris Christie secures donors reqs to attend first GOP debate

Chris Christie is one step closer to making the Republican debate stage.

The former New Jersey governor claimed late Wednesday to have reached the 40,000 unique donors required to participate in the Aug. 23 showdown in Milwaukee, Wis.

“Last night, we went past 40,000 unique donors in just 35 days, and it gives you some perspective because I ran eight years ago,” Christie told CNN’s Anderson Cooper. “In 35 days, eight years ago, we had 5,000 donors. We have over 40,000 donors now.

“There is a donor in every state in America and we have over 200 donors in 36 states,” the 60-year-old added. “So we have really broad support for the candidacy. We’re really thrilled about it.”

Christie is the sixth Republican candidate to confirm reaching the donor requirement, joining former President Donald Trump, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former US ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley, Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC), and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy.

In a memo Wednesday, Scott’s campaign touted a $6.1 million fundraising haul since he kicked off his presidential bid in May.

“Tim will be on the debate stage for months to come thanks to over 75,000 donations from over 53,000 unique donors across all 50 states,” the campaign said.

Christie must also attain at least 1% in three national polls or 1% in two national polls and 1% in one poll from two of four early nominating states — Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada. 

He is currently polling at 2.6% nationally in the latest RealClearPolitics average, boding well for his odds of appearing in Milwaukee.

Next, Christie will have to pledge that he won’t participate in non-GOP-sanctioned debates, agree to the party’s data sharing arrangement, and commit to backing the eventual nominee.

That last pledge is a sore point for the former governor.

“I’ve said that I think the loyalty pledge is a dumb idea, but it is a requirement to get on the stage,” Christie said Wednesday night.

“We all signed the pledge in 2016 also, you may recall, and at the next debate, after we all signed the pledge, one of the questioners said, ‘You all signed this pledge, would you reaffirm it tonight by raising your hand?’ And nine of us raised our hands, including me, and Donald Trump didn’t,” he added.

“He said, ‘Well, we’ll see what happens.’ … Well, I’ll see what happens.”

It remains unclear whether Christie’s lukewarm commitment will be acceptable to the Republican National Committee.

Trump campaign officials have openly mused about the former president skipping the first two debates, the second of which will be held in September at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, Calif.

“I think that he’ll show up at the debates because his ego won’t permit him not to,” Christie told The New York Times earlier this month. “He can’t have a big TV show that he’s not on.”