GOP presidential rivals gather for event in N.H.
NASHUA, N.H. — Nearly every one of the more than half-dozen candidates seeking the Republican Party’s presidential nomination for 2024 gathered in southern New Hampshire to close the week with a two-day “First in the Nation Leadership Summit” sponsored by the New Hampshire GOP.
“We’re going to fight on principles: small government, lower taxes, individual freedom and responsibility and local control. That’s what we’re all about,” New Hampshire GOP Chairman Chris Ager said to start the summit.
Scheduled to speak Friday were former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, businessman Perry Johnson, North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley and businessman Vivek Ramaswamy.
Former Vice President Mike Pence, former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott and businessman Ryan Binkley were scheduled to speak Saturday.
Candidates were joined on stage by Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst, Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel, former U.S. Rep. Lee Zeldin, former Trump administration press secretary Sean Spicer and former New Hampshire Sen. Kelly Ayotte, who is running to replace outgoing Gov. Chris Sununu.
Former President Donald Trump is not scheduled to appear in Nashua this weekend.
Christie was the first candidate to take the stage. He said he’s running for president because President Joe Biden isn’t doing the job for which he was elected and Trump isn’t fit for the office he once held.
The two-term governor was loudly booed by some members of the audience but applauded by others when he stated that the 2020 election was not stolen but simply lost by Trump.
Christie responded by saying that it’s OK for people to have disagreements when it comes to politics.
“We can have differences of opinion. I’m fine with you having a different opinion about the 2020 election,” he said.
Trump lost the 2020 election to Biden after netting 74,223,975 votes to the now-sitting president’s 81,283,501 and an electoral college defeat of 306-232. Trump has produced no evidence to back his claims his loss was because of malfeasance or interference, Christie said.
According to polling aggregator RealClearPolitics, Christie is currently polling at under 3% nationally, a full 55 points behind the 45th president. He’s doing better in New Hampshire, where he nets 9% of polled conservatives.
DeSantis, who filed his nomination paperwork with the New Hampshire secretary of state on Thursday and took the stage Friday evening following an appearance at Saint Anselm College in Goffstown, polls in second nationally and third in New Hampshire, behind Trump and Haley.
Burgum and Johnson, who are both polling at less than 1% nationally, came on after Christie and spoke to comparatively smaller audiences.
Johnson’s speech partially coincided with a Christie media gaggle, which drew the majority of the media attention out of the room.
Burgum started speaking as the venue, Nashua’s castle-esque Sheraton hotel, began its happy hour cocktail service and started serving dinner, drawing many audience members away from the stage.