July 03, 2017
Even New Jersey's lieutenant governor threw some social media shade at Chris Christie this week.
One day after the governor was photographed with his family over the weekend on a beach he closed to the public when he partially shut down the state's government, Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno said the pictures were "beyond words."
"If I were governor, I sure wouldn’t be sitting on the beach if taxpayers didn’t have access to state beaches," Guadagno wrote in a Monday statement. "We need to end the shutdown now."
It's worthy to note that Guadagno, who has served as Christie's second-in-command throughout his time in office, is the Republican nominee to replace Christie in six months. She is set to face Democratic nominee Philip Murphy in a November election.
Christie ordered a partial state government shutdown after he and New Jersey lawmakers failed to solve a budget impasse by the June 30 deadline.
The governor then drew widespread criticism after he was captured sitting on a beach chair wearing sandals and a T-shirt on Sunday at the 10-mile-long Island Beach State Park.
Guadagno shared her statement on Facebook and Twitter, garnering thousands of reactions from users.
"It's hurting small businesses and ordinary New Jerseyans," she said. "Instead of political games, Governor Christie, Speaker (Vincent) Prieto and Senate President (Stephen) Sweeney should pass a budget that delivers property tax relief and puts taxpayers first."
Christie defended himself by phone on Fox29's "Good Day Philadelphia" Monday, saying he had announced plans to spend the weekend at the park, which houses the state-owned beach house they stayed in.
