On sports talk radio, Christie hits back at weighty insult
N.J. governor tries out as radio host, jousts with callers
TRENTON, N.J. — With a new poll showing voters are disgusted and outraged that Gov. Chris Christie sunned himself on a closed beach during a government shutdown last week, the term-limited governor auditioned for a sports talk radio job on Monday, brashly fighting back against angry callers.
Christie, a Republican, began cohosting the afternoon show on New York’s WFAN shortly after the first poll released since Beachgate showed his approval rating holding steady at a dismal 15 percent, an all-time low. Eighty percent of respondents disapproved, the Mon mouth University poll showed.
The New Jersey governor, a big New York Mets fan, revealed that he had donned aMets T-shirt, shorts and hat the day an NJ. com photographer in an airplane snapped pictures of him lounging on a beach, which was off-limits to the public.
New Jersey doesn’t have its own Major League Baseball team, and fans in the state split their loyalties.
Christie, who’s also a Dallas Cowboys fan, is filling in for host Mike Francesa on WFAN on Monday and Tuesday afternoons. The station said the appearances are an audition as it seeks a replacement for Francesa, who’s departing.
Christie frequently serves as a fill-in host on the station, tangling with callers over sports and politics. About an hour into Monday’s four-hour show, two men from a largely liberal New Jersey town that voted against Christie twice called in between conversations about his fantasy baseball team and the New York Knicks.
One told Christie he had done a “horrible job” and asked what he thought of the job being done by President Donald Trump, whom Christie endorsed after ending his own presidential campaign.
“I’m enormously relieved we don’t have a criminal in the White House like Hillary Clinton,” Christie said.
Another caller referred to Christie, who’s portly, as a “fat ass” and said he should have driven to another beach.
“I’m not the one who came on the air and swore on the air,” Christie said. “You’re a bum.”