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Video: Chris Christie Heckled By OWS Protesters, Mocks "Hope And Change Garbage"
By
John Del Signore
Published Dec 8, 2011
Modified Dec 8, 2011
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By
John Del Signore
Published Dec 8, 2011
Modified Dec 8, 2011
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New Jersey Governor Chris Christie derisively mocked protesters who interrupted his speech endorsing presidential candidate Mitt Romney in Iowa last night, at the headquarters of Kum & Go, a regional gas station and convenience store chain. Minutes into his speech, demonstrators deployed the ever-annoying call-and-response "people's mic" to condemn Romney and Christie. Here's the video, courtesy NBC:
The protesters yelled, "Mitt Romney and Chris Christie serve the corporate 1 percent! Bust up big banks / make Wall Street pay / Put people first." Two of the protesters were on stage with Romney supporters, but were eventually bounced out with the others. As the demonstrators were being removed, Christie, his voice dripping with condescension, asked, "You're so angry, aren't you? Work it all out... Oh, work it out. Work it all out for yourselves. Work it all out for yourselves. You know what, we're used to dealing with jokers like this in New Jersey all the time."
After things settled down, Christie demonstrated that as annoying as the "people's mic" is, there's nothing more infuriating than a smug conservative rewriting history. Christie told the roomful of Republicans, "Now, where was I before I was so New Jers-ily interrupted? Here's the way I feel about it: They represent an anger in our country that Barack Obama has caused. He’s a typical cynical Chicago ward politician, who runs for office and promises everything and then comes to office and disappoints. And so their anger is rooted not in me or Mitt Romney, their anger is rooted in the fact that they believed in this hope and change garbage they were sold three years ago."
Christie continued, "So now they're angry but they’re not mature enough to know they should be angry with themselves. I hope you all enjoyed it. They'll be working at the Marriott down the street. Please remember to tip your waiters and waitresses, all right? If there was a Chris Christie appearance without a YouTube moment," he said, "we wouldn't know what to do." Uh, blissfully ignore it?
On his way out, Christie also called Romney "the steady, mature leader we need for our party and for our country," and said he was touched by the politician's "extraordinary heart... I saw him interacting with my kids in a way that was not showing off for me—natural." Wow, does this mean the electorate has graduated from voting for the guy they'd most like to have a beer with to voting for the guy they'd like to invite to their kid's birthday party? We're growing up, America!
Tagged
Chris Christie
governor christie
Iowa
mitt romney
occupy wall street
John Del Signore
Originally from the Albany area, John Del Signore has called NYC home since 1995. In addition to his thousands of meticulously-crafted bespoke blog posts for Gothamist, his writing has also been published in The Awl, Deadspin, The Nervous Breakdown, and performed at The Brick Theater in Brooklyn.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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