Chris Christie is unifying the once-warring clans of New Jersey and New York, who have put down their swords to join forces over one thing on which they can all agree: Hating Chris Christie.
To review: The New Jersey governor drew the wrath of his home-state residents this month when he frolicked on the beach at his mansion — a beach that was closed due to a budget shutdown and therefore off-limits to lowly non-governors. Said the ever-diplomatic Christie: “That’s just the way it goes. Run for governor, and you can have a residence.” Nice.
And both New Jerseyans and New Yorkers are still peeved at the portly politician for Bridgegate, when lanes at the main toll plaza on the George Washington Bridge which connects the two states, were closed, allegedly because Christie was having a political spat with a nearby Democratic mayor.
So on Tuesday night, the unpopular governor toddled off to Queens to catch the New York Mets game. And as governor, he gets not only a mansion and a private beach, but also some really good seats at baseball games.
In the top of the third inning, St. Louis Cardinals shortstop Paul DeJong hit a high pop up. Sitting in the third row right by the first-base dugout, Christie made a spectacular barehanded catch, reaching out with his left hand to snag the ball.
Then, he did one better: He walked up the aisle a row or two and handed the ball to a little kid.
And still they booed him — long and loud.
Sometimes, when a fan makes a good catch of a foul ball, the commentators will joke, “Give that fan a contract.” Not so with Christie.
“A souvenir for Chris Christie … are you kidding me?” said Cardinals’ play-by-play announcer Dan McLaughlin. “Nice to see him get from the beach here to the ball park,” he added as his color man laughed.
As usual, Twitter was merciless.
Usually, we throw out several examples. But, you get the idea with just one — they went on and on like this.
Sadly, the meme war had yet to start on Wednesday morning, so if you’re proficient with Photoshop, here’s an idea from one tweeter: