After voting, Christie got into a bit of an argument with a voter who questioned why he didn’t merge His two towns pic.twitter.com/n3AQi3PfBk
— Nick Corasaniti (@NYTnickc) November 7, 2017
In the age of President Trump, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie’s contempt for reporters and his constituents seems downright quaint by comparison. However, the soon-to-be-former head of the Garden State, despite being America’s least-popular governor and holding a 15% approval rating, can still bring the dripping disdain and scold a resident of his state when he wants to.
He did just that at a polling place on Tuesday. In the above clip, Christie starts off the interaction — when asked by a voter if she can ask a question — by sarcastically responding, “Sure, ma’am, why not.” When asked why he didn’t merge a township (that he lives in) with a neighboring borough, he continued:
“Because I can’t. As governor, I can’t. I don’t have the authority to do it. Listen, go in an vote for whoever you want. I never said I was going to merge the two towns …. the easiest thing in the world is to stand where you stand and stand on the sidelines and critique … it’s easier to complain.”
After the woman told Christie that she did not have the money he did in order to pursue local politics, the governor said, “Sure, sure.” He then shifted to (insincerely) say that he was not mad at all about the interaction.
“It’s easier to sit here and complain, but you know what? That’s the joy of public service … It’s serving folks like you that is really such a unique joy. It really is. You’re fabulous,” Christie said.
The only way that whole interaction would have been more on brand is if Christie shoehorned in a reference to Bruce Springsteen.
Maybe Christie was on edge after hearing that fellow New Jersey Republican Frank LoBiondo is retiring from Congress. Nah, he’s always grumpy.
(Via ABC News)