Chris Christie Clears Threshold To Appear At First GOP Debate

Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie announced Wednesday that he has secured more than 40,000 individual donations to his campaign, clearing a key threshold to qualify for next months first Republican primary debate.

Im glad to be able to tell people that last night we went past 40,000 unique donors in just 35 days, Christie said on CNN . There is a donor in every state in America, and we have over 200 donors in 36 states.

Christie added that when he ran for the Republican presidential nomination eight years ago, he had only 5,000 donors 35 days into his campaign.

Theres really broad support for the candidacy, the former governor added. Were really thrilled about it, and the good news for the Republican Party is that means Im going to be on the debate stage.

After being in this race for only a month, weve received over 40k individual donations to our campaign and met all RNC requirements to reach the debate stage. Americans are ready for someone to stand up to Donald Trump, and thats exactly what Im doing.

Get your popcorn pic.twitter.com/HcilCP0nfi

Chris Christie (@GovChristie) July 13, 2023","type":"rich","meta":{"author":"Chris Christie","author_url":"https://twitter.com/GovChristie","cache_age":86400,"description":"After being in this race for only a month, weve received over 40k individual donations to our campaign and met all RNC requirements to reach the debate stage. Americans are ready for someone to stand up to Donald Trump, and thats exactly what Im doing.Get your popcorn pic.twitter.com/HcilCP0nfi Chris Christie (@GovChristie) July 13, 2023\n\n","options":{"_hide_media":{"label":"Hide photos, videos, and cards","value":false},"_maxwidth":{"label":"Adjust width","placeholder":"220-550, in px","value":""},"_theme":{"value":"","values":{"dark":"Use dark theme"}}},"provider_name":"Twitter","title":"Chris Christie on Twitter","type":"rich","url":"https://twitter.com/GovChristie/status/1679288514179919872","version":"1.0"},"flags":[],"enhancements":{},"fullBleed":false,"options":{"theme":"news","device":"mobile","editionInfo":{"id":"us","name":"U.S.","link":"https://action.news","locale":"en_US"},"originalEdition":"us","isMapi":false,"isAmp":false,"isVideoEntry":false,"isEntry":true,"isMt":false,"entryId":"64af719be4b07bb33395dea7","entryPermalink":"https://action.news/entry/chris-christie-donors-gop-debate_n_64af719be4b07bb33395dea7","entryTagsList":"chris-christie,2024-election,republican-debate,republican-presidential-candidates,@us_huffpost_now","sectionSlug":"politics","deptSlug":"politics-news","sectionRedirectUrl":null,"subcategories":"us-news","isWide":false,"headerOverride":null,"noVideoAds":false,"disableFloat":false,"isNative":false,"commercialVideo":{"provider":"custom","site_and_category":"us.politics","package":null},"isHighline":false,"vidibleConfigValues":{"cid":"60afc111dcf87c2cd2f5d8bf","overrides":{"front_page_top_videos":{"desktop":"60b64354b171b7444beaff4d","mobileweb":"60b64354b171b7444beaff4d"},"top_media":{"desktop":"60b8e6bdc5449357a7ada147","mobile":"60b8e701c5449357a7ada2ee","iphone":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","ipad":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","androidphone":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c","androidtablet":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c"},"anthology":{"desktop":"60b8e616cdd90620331bb0ba","mobile":"60b8e671c5449357a7ad9f66","iphone":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","ipad":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","androidphone":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c","androidtablet":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c"},"content":{"desktop":"60b8e616cdd90620331bb0ba","mobile":"60b8e671c5449357a7ad9f66","iphone":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","ipad":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","androidphone":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c","androidtablet":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c"}},"playerUpdates":{"5668ae6ee4b0b5e26955d6a6":"60d2472d9340d7032ad7e443","56aa41bae4b091744c0440d8":"60e869dc7c5f3b17b6741b81","5841b2b5cc52c716ec6e5a7f":"60b8e355cdd90620331ba185","58b5e2b8d85a10302feee895":"60b64316b171b7444beafdb2","58b74698f78ced31417819ae":"60b8e5bec5449357a7ad9b52","58b74ccecebcea57e2c3a3d1":"60b8e5eac5449357a7ad9ca5","58cff690d85a100b9992bc39":"60b8e616cdd90620331bb0ba","58cffb3fb6d9b972a49a3c9d":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","58cffdd74d96935d7d6ec180":"60b8e671c5449357a7ad9f66","58d03a84f78ced6518eb2fa7":"60b643c82e76be41f112735c","592edf20e0fa177b0c26f7fd":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c","5b35266b158f855373e28256":"60b64354b171b7444beaff4d","5c116f29f79c4171d82b7c2a":"60b64440b171b7444beb040b","5c1170fc600c9a697bf0c6b9":"60b646102e76be41f1127ffc","5c47791afa1b317df8ae0c4f":"60b8e6bdc5449357a7ada147","5c477987a6b48b35f164773d":"60b8e701c5449357a7ada2ee","5c4779ee943c3c2a64f28371":"60b8e747cdd90620331bb861","5c477a26fcd67b26879bc7c2":"60b8e788c5449357a7ada67b","5d8921a78c3ae845f366c9b6":"60ae7be5f3a7c13a30417ff9","58b98b00ba82aa39a6534321":"60d0de7c9340d7032ad1146c","58b9d14cb6d9b96c9ec32af3":"60d0dec19340d7032ad115a0","58cff8eccebcea42931e0436":"60d0e005b627221e9d819d44","592edf5de0fa177b0c26f95b":"60d0e38fb627221e9d81adcf","58cff72fd85a100b9992c112":"60d0e447b627221e9d81b0da","56b4d34fe4b022697697c400":"60d2472d9340d7032ad7e443","60b8e4c0c5449357a7ad957d":"60e869dc7c5f3b17b6741b81"}},"connatixConfigValues":{"defaultPlayer":"ff7fdddc-5441-4253-abc4-f12a33fad58b","clickToPlayPlayer":"d014396e-b366-4c17-aeac-3ce906fa3fd0","videoPagePlayer":"f010447b-d244-4111-a314-7b4542ae4145","verticalPlayer":"e58cb05a-0bc8-4210-9108-fea82726c065","stickyPlayerControl":"52ea1755-d601-4ad1-bccc-d8cce3f0e5da","stickyPlayerON":"8055e9e5-3bda-4933-8d45-9ad814fb6e22"},"topConnatixThumnbailSrc":"https://img.connatix.com/e160a2b7-0c1d-42a1-908f-85b3bcb52d6c/1_th.jpg?crop=480:270,smart&width=480&height=270&format=jpeg&quality=60&fit=crop","customAmpComponents":[],"ampAssetsUrl":"https://amp.assets.huffpost.com","videoTraits":null,"positionInUnitCounts":{"buzz_head":{"count":0},"buzz_body":{"count":0},"buzz_bottom":{"count":0}},"positionInSubUnitCounts":{"article_body":{"count":3},"blog_summary":{"count":0},"before_you_go_content":{"count":0}},"connatixCountsHelper":{"count":1},"buzzfeedTracking":{"context_page_id":"64af719be4b07bb33395dea7","context_page_type":"buzz","destination":"huffpost","mode":"mobile","page_edition":"en-us"},"tags":[{"name":"Chris Christie","slug":"chris-christie","links":{"relativeLink":"topic/chris-christie","permalink":"https://action.news/topic/chris-christie","mobileWebLink":"https://action.news/topic/chris-christie"},"department":{"name":"Latest News","slug":"politics-news"},"section":{"title":"Politics","slug":"politics"},"topic":{"title":"Chris Christie","slug":"chris-christie","overridesSectionLabel":false},"url":"https://action.news/news/topic/chris-christie"},{"name":"2024 election","slug":"2024-election","links":{"relativeLink":"topic/2024-election","permalink":"https://action.news/topic/2024-election","mobileWebLink":"https://action.news/topic/2024-election"},"department":{"name":"Latest News","slug":"politics-news"},"section":{"title":"Politics","slug":"politics"},"topic":{"title":"2024 Elections","slug":"2024-elections","overridesSectionLabel":false},"url":"https://action.news/news/topic/2024-elections"},{"name":"republican debate","slug":"republican-debate","links":{"relativeLink":"topic/republican-debate","permalink":"https://action.news/topic/republican-debate","mobileWebLink":"https://action.news/topic/republican-debate"},"department":{"name":"Latest News","slug":"politics-news"},"section":{"title":"Politics","slug":"politics"},"topic":{"title":"Presidential Debates","slug":"presidential-debates","overridesSectionLabel":false},"url":"https://action.news/news/topic/presidential-debates"},{"name":"republican presidential candidates","slug":"republican-presidential-candidates","links":{"relativeLink":"topic/republican-presidential-candidates","permalink":"https://action.news/topic/republican-presidential-candidates","mobileWebLink":"https://action.news/topic/republican-presidential-candidates"},"url":"https://action.news/topic/republican-presidential-candidates"}],"isLiveblogLive":null,"isLiveblog":false,"cetUnit":"buzz_body","bodyAds":["

\r\n\r\n","

\r\n\r\n"],"adCount":0},"isCollectionEmbed":false}">

After being in this race for only a month, weve received over 40k individual donations to our campaign and met all RNC requirements to reach the debate stage. Americans are ready for someone to stand up to Donald Trump, and thats exactly what Im doing.

Get your popcorn pic.twitter.com/HcilCP0nfi
Chris Christie (@GovChristie) July 13, 2023

The first Republican primary debate is set for Aug. 23 in Milwaukee, and candidates are required to meet such donor requirements and get at least 1% support in three qualifying polls. Former President Donald Trump , Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy have all indicated they have met those thresholds.

Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) also said this week that he had secured more than 53,000 donors.

Christie launched his bid for the Republican nomination last month and has quickly moved to paint himself as the alternative to Trump, who at this point is the Republican front-runner in the race. At his announcement, Christie called Trump a bitter, angry man who wants power back, adding that a self-serving mirror hog is not a leader.