Besides their politics, New Jersey Republican Gov. Chris Christie and his elected Democratic successor, Phil Murphy, have one big difference on a matter of great importance to New Jerseyans: Christie prefers Bruce Springsteen and Murphy prefers Jon Bon Jovi.
Murphy, who won the state’s gubernatorial election Tuesday night, told CNN’s “New Day” on Wednesday that he prefers Bon Jovi because they’re friends.
“I love them both, but Jon is one of our closest friends,” he told CNN’s Alisyn Camerota. “Jon and Dorothy are dear friends of ours. He was with us last night. We were proud to have him and many hundreds of other friends with us.”
Christie’s appreciation for Springsteen — he’s said he’s attended more than 100 of his concerts — is no secret, though the two haven’t always had the strongest of friendships.
While Springsteen and Christie have met a couple of times and Springsteen praised Christie for his leadership after Superstorm Sandy, Springsteen has done little else to show high regard for the governor.
Not long after the George Washington Bridge scandal made national headlines in January 2014, Springsteen took part in a parody with late night TV host Jimmy Fallon, mocking the governor in a song to the tune of “Born to Run.”
Christie, however, has said he appreciates Bon Jovi. He regularly opened his New Jersey town halls during his unsuccessful 2016 presidential run with Bon Jovi’s “Have a Nice Day.”
When pressed on the issue by CNN in 2015, he made his preference for Bon Jovi over Springsteen for his town halls pretty clear.
“Favorite opening song? ‘Have a Nice Day’ (by) Bon Jovi,” Christie told CNN that the time.
When asked by CNN, “Not Bruce?” he responded: “You asked the question, I gave the answer.”