Gov. Chris Christie is currently under fire after he was photographed enjoying a New Jersey beach with his family on Sunday. While there is nothing wrong for a leader to take a breather from his duties, the public was particularly infuriated by the fact that the governor seemingly made an exception from a visitation ban he imposed due to a budget standoff on Friday night.
Earlier reports said the lawmakers failed to pass a new budget which compelled Gov. Christie to order a state shutdown which means that all government-owned landmarks and establishments -- including public beaches, state parks, recreational areas, historical sites, and even Liberty State Park -- will not be opened for visitors until the Legislature has broken the impasse.
Governor, the family, lounged on closed public beach
During his Sunday press conference, the New Jersey leader denied that he got any "sun" on that day. His statement came before photos of him at the Island Beach State Park were revealed to the public. After learning about his beach photos, Gov. Christie's spokesperson, Brian Murray, came to his defense and admitted that his boss was "briefly" at the closed public beach before he went to Trenton for his schedule.
He, however, clarified that the governor did not get any "sun" because he was wearing a baseball cap during his stay at the beach. His explanation only added fuel to the fire as people on social media called out the Christie for breaking his own regulation.
'I was being smart-alecky'
Murray pointed out the same thing during his interview with MSNBC's Katy Tur on Monday. He even insisted that there is nothing wrong with Gov. Christie's photos aside from the fact that the media are using them to make a scandal out of it.
"You have photographs you’re using to simply base this opinion on.
You’re using some photographs about a man on the beach with his family. That’s a scandal apparently," he said as cited by Entertainment Weekly. "And by the way, that beach is closed 365 days a year. That particular segment of the beach is part of the governor’s residence."
The spokesman added that his boss was at the Island Beach State Park for only 45 minutes before he headed back to Trenton.
Murray also said he was just being sarcastic when a local reporter asked that vague question to the governor. "I was being smart-alecky with him and he was being smart-alecky with me. He put it in. The way it read, I believe on NJ.com, seemed to indicate it was light-hearted," he explained.
