New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie says he could care less that his poll numbers show he's the least popular governor in Garden State history – because he's not up for election.
"That fact is, who cares?” the Republican said to a reporter's question Tuesday about whether his approval rating could sink even further, Politico reported.
"You guys care much more about that stuff than I do. I’ve said to you over and over and over again: Poll numbers matter when you’re running for something. When you’re not running for something, they don’t matter a bit. And I don’t care."
Christie's approval rating hit a record low 15 percent in a recent Quinnipiac University poll.
"The poll that matters is when people actually go in and vote,” Christie said."It would be nice if people actually polled voters or people who are likely to vote, because everybody else’s opinion, quite frankly, doesn’t matter about whether you like a public official or you don’t — unless you’re willing to move forward and exercise that preference at the polling places.”
The governor's approval peaked out at more than 70 percent as he was re-elected for a second term and became a national sensation for his handling of Hurricane Sandy, Politico reported.
Within months, it was revealed some his closest allies had a hand in the George Washington Bridge lane closing scandal, triggering a steady slide south in subsequent surveys.
"All I know is that when I go out to Republican events, I don’t detect that decline," Christie asserted. "I’m not going to get into the minutiae of the way the public polls do polling, but I think if the public polling was so accurate, Hillary Clinton would be president.”
Mickey Carroll, the assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Poll, said he doesn't believe Christie.
“The governor is unhappy with being at 15 percent,” Carroll told Politico. "He doesn't like being at 15 percent and that's why he's complaining."
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