As the summer season of 2023 in the United States draws to a close and the autumn draws ever nearer, the attention of most Americans is likely far removed from the presidential election of 2024 which is still over a year away. Despite this probable reality, media outlets across the nation continue to make the presidential primaries a sizeable focus in terms of media coverage. In the Democratic field, the incumbent 46th President Joe Biden appears all but certain to be the party nominee at the present moment. Biden faces only token opposition from Marianne Williamson and Robert Kennedy Jr. Kennedy is currently positioned at a distant second place behind Biden in the polls and has generally been received more favorably by Republicans than prospective voters in his own party. Despite his lead and the advantage of incumbency, Biden remains vulnerable and widely unpopular. In a most recent poll, some 61% of Americans disapprove of the job performance of the president.
In the Republican field, former president Donald Trump maintains a huge double-digit lead over a crowded field of candidates. In most polls, Trump commands over 50% of Republican voter support, with Florida’s governor Ron Desantis placing in second with support in the low teen percentages. One candidate desperate to gain traction, the former governor of New Jersey Chris Christie, took the opportunity to bash opponent Desantis in the aftermath of Hurricane Idalia which decimated parts of the gulf coast of Florida in early September.
In a CNN interview on Tuesday, September 5th, Christie called Desantis a hypocrite for seeking federal aid in the aftermath of the hurricane. Christie claimed that in 2012, while serving as a member of the U.S. house, Desantis voted against giving aid to New Jersey in the aftermath of hurricane Sandy which devastated the states shoreline. At the time, Christie served as New Jersey’s governor, and was then widely popular for his post disaster response.
