Mike in Montclair calls @GovChristie a fat-ass and a bully. Christie calls Mike in Montclair a bum and a communist. And… we’re off! #WFAN pic.twitter.com/HUcLMRZPVz
— Sports Funhouse (@SportsFunhouse) July 10, 2017
Despite a new report detailing his shockingly lower approval rating as New Jersey governor, Chris Christie took to the airwaves on Monday for the first of his two guest-hosting spots on New York’s WFAN sports talk radio show. The former Republican presidential candidate will be filling in for usual host Mike Francesca, though if Monday’s inauguration is any indication, Christie may reconsider his Jason Chaffetz-esque future in the media business. Or he won’t, since the outgoing governor’s bitter fight with a caller from Montclair, New Jersey didn’t seem to phase the infamous beachgoer one bit.
“Next time you want to sit on a beach that is closed to the entire world except you,” said a caller named Mike, “you put your fat ass in a car and go to one that’s open to all of your constituents.”
Needless to say, the Dallas Cowboys hat-wearing Christie didn’t sit idly by while Mike from Montclair insulted him. “I love getting calls from communists in Montclair,” he said, despite the caller’s protestations that he was being a bully. “I’m not the guy who came on the air [and] swore on the air. You’re swearing on the air, Mike. You’re a bum.” When Mike referred to the “bad optics” of Christie’s viral trip to a closed New Jersey state beach over the July 4th weekend, the governor persisted. “I’d like to come look at your optics everyday, buddy.”
WFAN’s broadcast pissing match between the two was obviously going nowhere, so Christie hung up on Mike and continued ranting. “What I just did is stop polluting the airwaves with a guy like that. Listen, these guys are going to come on,” he said while referencing the Montclair township and its location in Essex County. “In 2013, when I won 19 out of 21 counties and got 61 percent of the vote, I lost Montclair. The editorial page of the largest newspaper lives in Montclair. This is a town that, let’s just say, to be charitable, leans leftward.”
The theatrics of Mike from Montclair’s call notwithstanding, everyone couldn’t get enough of the exchange — let alone Christie’s first stint as a sports talk radio guest host.
Meanwhile, Chris Christie's sports radio audition is going great https://t.co/2hWV6bOTdw
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) July 10, 2017
https://twitter.com/_Cashman15_/status/884490807276965889
https://twitter.com/SopanDeb/status/884494252771856384
Others took note of how Christie’s appearance on WFAN had changed Monday’s show.
On WFAN, legendary update guy John Minko says he approves of Chris Christie's work as NJ governor.
Christie: "He's one of the 15 percent!"— Zach Miller (@ByZachMiller) July 10, 2017
https://twitter.com/SteveKopack/status/884505904074371075
I tuned in to @ChrisChristie on #WFAN and all I've heard so far is Christie talking about not wanting to shave. pic.twitter.com/e1gfKR1t6w
— Emily C. Singer (@CahnEmily) July 10, 2017
(Via Sports Funhouse)