New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie should pay a political price for bringing his family on a beach excursion at a state park that was closed to the public, but the unpopular politician just doesn't really care anymore.
"I think I have proven over the last eight years that I don't really care about political optics. I care about right and wrong," Christie said at a press conference Monday after the New Jersey Star-Ledger published photos of the governor's family vacationing over the weekend. "That's our residence, and we have a right to be there whenever we want to be there."
Like most Republican leaders, Christie has had a rough 2017. His approval rating reached a historic low this year as Quinnipiac University poll released in January showed that 78 percent of New Jersey voters disapprove of the job Christie doing, while just 17 percent approve.
Instead of refocusing his efforts to win back New Jerseyans, Christie has mostly shrugged off any criticism he has heard in recent months. In January, Christie posited that poll numbers such as approval ratings only matter "when you are running for something.
Likewise, Christie tried to downplay what this latest scandal meant to his legacy.
"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 his children and their friends," he said. "I'm sure they're going to get a Pulitzer for this. They caught me."
Shares