New Jersey Governor Chris Christie isn’t known for holding back when being criticized, whether it be with fellow politicians or even his own constituents.
Fresh off his “Beachgate” scandal last week, Christie took another spin at filling in for sports talk radio host Mike Francesca on WFAN Monday afternoon.
Callers quickly began dialing in to speak to the governor, but some used it as an opportunity to attack him. One of the callers, “Mike from Montclair” didn’t waste any time.
“Governor, the next time you want to sit on a beach that is closed to the entire world except you, you put your fat ass in a car and go to one that is open to all your constituents, not just you and yours,” the caller said.
This comes as Christie over his decision to get some sun on a state-owned beach on July 2 that was closed to the public during the busy July 4th holiday weekend due to a government shutdown in New Jersey.
A local newspaper photographer was flying above the shore and zoomed in to take pictures of the Governor on the sand outside his state-owned beach house.
Christie, not one to shy away from a spat, engaged right back with “Mike from Montclair” after the insults started flying.
“You know Mike, I love getting calls from communists in Montclair,” Christie said.
“You’re a bully. And I don’t like bullies,” the caller retorted.
“Listen, I’m not the guy who came on the air, swore on the air … You’re swearing on the air, Mike. You’re a bum,” Christie fired back.
The governor did not try to defend his beach day — a trip whose existence he denied before the New Jersey Star-Ledger published photos as evidence and showed them to his spokesman when requesting a response.
“What matters is what you do,” Christie said.
“What have you done?” the caller asked.
“What I just did is stop polluting the airwaves with a guy like that,” Christie said, sounding proud to have shut down his constituent and ending the call.
The interaction comes on the same day that a new Monmouth University poll found that the Republican governor’s approval rating is at an all-time low at 15%. Another 80% said they disapproved of the job he was doing.
This is a 12% decrease from the last time this poll was taken in June 2016.