- Chris Christie said the “half-full” crowd at CPAC this week was a sign of Trump’s unpopularity.
- Christie said Trump may be the GOP frontrunner in 2024, but he’s not as strong as he once was.
- “There are a lot of signs here that he’s not what he used to be,” Christie said.
Former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie said the small crowd at the Conservative Political Action Conference this weekend shows how much former President Donald Trump’s popularity has declined.
“You saw the scenes at CPAC, that room was half full,” Christie said during an appearance on ABC’s “This Week” on Sunday.
Christie said that “only the most desperate people showed up at CPAC to even speak, other than Trump or people within Trump’s orbit.”
Christie added that he suspects Trump won’t hold rallies as often now because he knows the crowd size isn’t “nearly as big” as it used to be.
“He measured that as an example of his own power and his own authority, and I think he’s gone,” Christie said, citing how Trump was upset with the small crowd at his inauguration. in 2017 than his predecessors.
—This Week (@ThisWeekABC) March 5, 2023
But Christie acknowledged that Trump remains the frontrunner in the GOP presidential race, mostly because he is a former president running for re-election.
“There are a lot of signs here that he’s not what he used to be,” Christie told ABC.
Christie’s criticism is not surprising – he is a one-time Trump ally who has become a vocal critic of Trump. And in November, Christie told the Washington Examiner that he will decide in five to six months if he wants to run for president himself. If he runs, he will be one of Trump’s rivals for the 2024 GOP ticket.
It’s unclear whether this year’s attendance at CPAC will be lower than in previous years. Photos circulating on Twitter over the weekend showed several empty seats in the auditorium.
—John Mues (@MuesforMontana) March 4, 2023
It’s also unclear whether CPAC turnout was in any way affected by the conservative group Club for Growth’s private retreat in Florida. This event, which coincided with CPAC, was headlined by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, CNN report.
“The donors and the members and the voters are looking for the same thing – a strong candidate who can run for president and win back the White House,” David McIntosh, the president of the Club for Growth, told Fox News in a story published Friday.
When asked about Trump, McIntosh said Trump was not invited to the Florida retreat because Club for Growth donors “already know Trump.”
“They like his record as president, but they’re not sure he’s going to win. So they’re going to look and this is an opportunity for candidates to present themselves,” McIntosh said on Fox News.
Meanwhile, Trump vowed in a speech at CPAC on Saturday not to drop out of the 2024 presidential race even if he is impeached.
In a post on Truth Social on Sunday, Trump said that CPAC was an “amazing experience” and that the “place was filled with so many American Patriots.” In another post on Sunday, he criticized the Club for Growth, calling it the “Club for No Growth” and criticizing it for supporting “Ron DeSanctus.”
Representatives for CPAC and a Trump spokeswoman did not immediately respond to Insider’s requests for comment.