On this date in 2014, 2015, as well as 2016, “Crazy/Stupid Republican of the Day posted profiles of New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, who has a deserved reputation as a bully, not just for doing whatever it takes to get his way politically, but for acting like an extra from The Sopranos and screaming at reporters and constituents alike, calling them “idiot” and “stupid” for having the nerve to ask him questions. (Honestly, he might have been the impetus for Donald Trump thinking he could be taken seriously as a candidate.) And wow, speaking of Donald Trump and Christie, nothing was sadder than Trump making Gov. Christie stand behind him in press conferences with a look on his face like a deer in headlights, lie on his behalf on cable news as a surrogate for months on end, get picked on for his weight and eating Oreos by Trump at a press conference, and if rumors are true, be reduced to running errands like picking up McDonalds for Trump during his 2016 presidential campaign as Christie begged to be named his VP pick, or during the transition, begged to be Attorney General. Perhaps his lowest moment was his speech on the second night of the 2016 Republican National Convention, when he held a trial for imagined crimes committed by Hillary Clinton with her in absentia, leading the crowd to shout out her being found “GUILTY!” of all of them before leading them in chants of “LOCK HER UP!”
Christie’s strict Catholic upbringing has him opposed to abortion, and birth control, but somehow also makes him able to refuse to take in refugees even if, and we quote, “they are orphans under the age of five” and to lie about climate change and claim “it’s not a crisis” as the Jersey shoreline slowly moves inland due to rising sea levels, and Superstorm Sandy devastates New Jersey. Gov. Christie is also been under constant corruption investigations, from everything to usage of the state helicopter to fly to his son’s basketball games, to handing out wreckage from the 9/11 Ground Zero site to allies and donors, to closing down almost entire lanes of highways as a “screw you” to mayors in his state that wouldn’t endorse him for his re-election campaign in 2013 (trust us, we’ll be talking some Bridgegate here today) and several senior aides to Christie went to jail as a result. The citizens of New Jersey are also still trying to figure out what happened to all the Hurricane Sandy relief funding he was put in charge of, and were less than thrilled to discover $25 million was spent on “Stronger than the Storm” ads that, in effect, were presidential campaign ads where Christie declared himself a hero who successfully rebuilt the state. An FBI, federal, and statewide investigation all simultaneously are going on to figure out how the aid money was so mismanaged, and Christie’s approval ratings continue to drop to remarkably low numbers, down in the low 20s, where four years ago, he was one of the most popular governors in the country.
At this point, Chris Christie is a lame duck with only a few weeks left on the job. We’re hoping that this will be the last time we ever have to discuss him, and his is his last ride in politics. Because, we thought it was pathetic this time last year that his approval ratings had dropped into the 20s, but lo and behold, a year later, his approval ratings have fallen into the mid-teens and he is the lowest rated Governor of New Jersey… EVER. In classic abrasive d*** mode, Christie responded in June 2017 to his state’s disgust with him by saying, “I don’t care”, and proceeded to demonstrate how true of a statement that really is when a few weeks later, he ordered the closure of a public beach over the Fourth of July weekend, and then photos surfaced that showed Gov. Christie took his family to that beach on the holiday so they had it all to themselves.
It’s probably for the best that his term is up soon… we’re starting to wonder if those approval ratings could possibly fall into the single digits.