A defiant Gov. Chris Christie mocked New Jersey’s biggest newspaper for a “great bit of journalism” for publishing front-page photos of him lounging on a public beach amid the government shutdown.
“What a great bit of journalism by The Star-Ledger. They actually caught a politician being where he said he was going to be with the people he said he was going to be with, his wife and children and their friends,” Christie scoffed Monday morning on Fox 5’s “Good Day New York.”
“I am sure they will get a Pulitzer for this one.”
Christie defended his holiday weekend plans at Island Beach State Park in Berkeley Township, where the governor has a summer residence, as business as usual.
“The governor is allowed to go to his residences and I’m at my residences,” he told Fox 5 via phone. “I’ll tell you this, I said last Monday, a week ago today, that no matter what happens, we were coming here as a family this weekend.”
On Friday, the unpopular Republican governor ordered non-essential state services — including Island Beach State Park — to shut down after he and lawmakers failed to agree on a budget.
He’s vowed to line-item veto $350 million of the Democratic budget without passing legislation that overhauls Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield, the state’s biggest health insurer.
Christie told Fox 29 Philly that he’ll return to Trenton on Monday but “I can’t sign a budget that’s not on my desk.”