New Jersey Governor Chris Christie often ends up being the butt of every joke, which includes Trump-associated hostage faces and meatloaf dinners, but he often brings such humiliations upon himself. Like with the Bridgegate scandal and the time he lashed out at a constituent over flood cleanup. Well, he really stepped in it on Sunday while sunning himself with family at Island Beach State Park, for aerial paparazzi captured the evidence (which you can view here).
The photos were striking because Christie and his family were the only people who were visible on the New Jersey beach. And there’s a solid reason for this weirdness — the entire park was closed to the public this weekend because Christie ordered a state government shutdown after a budget standoff. However, Christie and his family were in attendance while enjoying the governor’s state-provided summer beach house. A short while later, Christie took a helicopter to his office, and a reporter asked him if he “got any sun.” Well, a defiant Christie reportedly played dumb:
“I didn’t,” [Christie] said. “I didn’t get any sun today.”
When later told of the photo, Brian Murray, the governor’s spokesman, said: “Yes, the governor was on the beach briefly today talking to his wife and family before heading into the office … He did not get any sun … He had a baseball hat on.”
Christie claims to have been only “talking to his wife,” but the set of 22 photos shows him lounging in a chair and (presumably) enjoying himself in a beachy ensemble. Still, Christie stood firm in his insistence that he was only staying at the beach house because his family was there, and he wants to spend holiday time with them. He also stated that his family won’t be using any state services, but when quizzed on whether it’s “fair” for his family to use the beach right now, he reportedly retorted, “Run for governor, and you can have a residence there.”
The maligned New Jersey governor will stay in office (and enjoy that beach house) until his term ends in January 2018. He hasn’t revealed his plans for the future (because it’s “none of your business”), but there are rumors of a sports radio hosting gig on the horizon. If that’s true, he might be the shoutiest radio host ever.
(Via NJ.com & Wall Street Journal)