Gov. Chris Christie was photographed lounging on a New Jersey beach that had been closed after he ordered a state government shutdown over the July 4th weekend because of a continued standoff on the state budget.
NJ Advance Media posted aerial photos of Christie at Island Beach State Park with his wife Mary Pat and others. The park was closed to the public because of the shutdown.
Christie left the beach Sunday afternoon for a news conference about the shutdown. He was defiant with reporters on Saturday and Sunday when quizzed about staying at the beach house, which officials argued was separate from the state park.
"The governor has a residence at Island Beach. Others don't," Christie told reporters on Saturday, according to Philly.com. "Run for governor and you can have the residence."
Christie said on Sunday that he would return to Trenton that night to work on the state's budget crisis.
"You'd think Christie would realize that staying at the shore house would be the textbook example of 'bad optics,'" said Trentonian columnist Jeff Edelstein. "You'd think he'd care in the slightest bit. You'd think wrong."
Christie appeared to have no regrets about the stay.
"That's where my family is sleeping, so that's where I'll sleep tonight," Christie said, per Philly.com. "When I have a choice between sleeping with my family and sleeping alone, I generally like to sleep where my family is."
Christie called for a special session of the New Jersey legislature on Monday morning in connection with the budget crisis, which he is blaming on Democratic State Assembly Speaker Vincent Prieto, noted NJ Advance Media.
Prieto refuses to let lawmakers vote on a bipartisan Senate-approved bill restructuring Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey. Prieto complained that the bill is bad policy.
Many on social media, though, appeared to take their anger over closed state parks on Christie.