New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said his low approval rating of 15 percent only matters during an election.
"Poll numbers matter when you're running for something. When you're not running for something they don't matter a bit," Christie said, according to Time magazine.
The Republican former presidential candidate leaves office in January after, at one point, being one of New Jersey's most popular governors, according to Politico.
After he was re-elected for his second term, his popularity hit 70 percent amid his handling of Hurricane Sandy's damage to his state. Within months, the Bridge-gate scandal led to disapproval from voters as he spent time outside the state in his attempt at the Republican presidential nomination, Politico reported.
Patrick Murray, Monmouth University Polling Institute leader, rejected Christie's criticism of poll numbers.
"What he doesn't address is why his approval rating is so low. It's not because of what he's done, it's what he hasn't done. People think he's turned his back on New Jersey and used New Jersey as a pawn to further his political ambition — that's what people are ticked off about."
"They feel used," Murray added, according to Politico.
The governor is going around the state pointing out his successes as governor, by praising the state's below-average unemployment rate and steering money toward help for drug addiction, according to NJ.com.
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