In a fiery exchange at the fourth GOP presidential debate held on Thursday, former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie took aim at frontrunner Donald Trump, labeling him as unfit for the presidency. While some of his rivals hesitated to directly attack Trump, Christie did not hold back in expressing his concerns.

During the debate, Christie passionately stated, "We've had these three, acting as if the race is between the four of us...And for us to go 17 minutes without discussing the guy who has all those gaudy numbers you talked about is ridiculous." Referring to Trump's commanding lead in the GOP polls, Christie pointed out the need to address the real contender in the race.

Christie went on to criticize Trump's recent statement about using the Department of Justice to target his enemies once in office. He argued, "This is a guy who just said this past week that he wants to use the Department of Justice to go after his enemies when he gets in there. And the fact of the matter is, he is unfit to be president." Christie emphasized that there is no larger issue in the race than Donald Trump's candidacy.

However, Christie's direct attacks on Trump have come at a political cost, as revealed in the latest national Monmouth University poll. His favorable rating among GOP voters stands at just 12%, with a significant 65% unfavorable rating, resulting in a net rating of -53. In comparison, Trump enjoys a favorable rating of +58, Ron DeSantis at +43, and Nikki Haley at +12.

These numbers shed light on why DeSantis and Haley, to a lesser extent, refrained from going after the former president during the debate. It begs the question of how to defeat a presidential front-runner like Trump when rank-and-file Republican voters do not want to see him directly attacked.

Despite the challenges Christie faces in appealing to Republican voters, he closed his statement by asking viewers to envision Election Day. "I want you all to kind of picture in your minds Election Day: You'll all be heading to the polls to vote. And that's something that Donald Trump will not be able to do because he will be convicted of felonies before then. And his right to vote will be taken away." Christie drew attention to the series of indictments and trials Trump is currently facing, suggesting that his scenario is not out of the realm of possibility.

In other political news, Representative Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., announced his departure from Congress in a Wall Street Journal op-ed. McCarthy revealed that he will be leaving the House at the end of the year to explore new avenues of public service. His exit will pose fresh challenges for the GOP as it narrows their majority in the House to just two seats.

To the surprise of some, the focus of the debate shifted from Trump to Nikki Haley. DeSantis and Vivek Ramaswamy directed attacks towards Haley, with Christie stepping in to defend her from Ramaswamy's assault on her intelligence. Haley's campaign seemingly relished the attention, sending out an email during the debate suggesting that her opponents' attacks were not affecting her lead.

As the race for the GOP nomination intensifies, Haley's support from Wall Street donors became a target for both DeSantis and Ramaswamy. In response, Haley accused them of being "jealous" of her success in winning over these influential backers. Observers will be closely monitoring Haley's performance in the early primary states to see if she remains competitive and continues to receive financial support.