New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) got into a heated spat with a baseball fan Sunday during a Cubs-Brewers game in Milwaukee — and it was caught on video.
In a video posted to Twitter, Christie, while holding a bowl full of nachos, is seen leaning into the face of the heckler, who was adorned in a Chicago Cubs jersey. The video catches only the tail-end of the confrontation, but Christie is heard calling the man a "big shot" before walking away and back to his seat.
"I appreciate that," the fan said back to Christie. According to WISN-TV, that fan is Brad Joseph.
At #Cubs #Brewers game. #ChrisChristie was getting razzed by fans, so he got in the face of one of them. 5:30 on @WISN12News pic.twitter.com/sx8euMgFy2
— Ben Hutchison (@BennyHutch) July 30, 2017
In a short statement, Joseph recounted the confrontation with Christie and explained that it all began when he yelled at Christie, who was 30 feet away from him, telling him that he "sucked."
"When he initially was going up the stairs I yelled his name. He was already quite a bit past me, and 30 feet away I yelled his name and told him that he sucked," Joseph explained. "I called him a hypocrite because I thought it needed to be said."
According to Joseph, Christie was quick to react and come toward him.
"He then turned around and walked all the way back toward me and got up in my face for what seemed like a long time, but was probably only about 30 seconds or a minute," Joseph said.
"[He] was yelling at me. First he told me, 'Why don't you have another beer?' which I thought was a decent come back, and I thought that was kind of funny. Then he started calling me a tough guy," he explained.
Joseph told WISN that he yelled at Christie because the governor is a public servant and Joseph believes it's OK to give politicians a piece of your mind as long as it's not crass.
"He is a public official and this is America, and I think we have the right to say what you believe as long as it’s not crude or profane," Joseph said.
Christie was at the game in Wisconsin because his son works in the Brewers' baseball operations department.
Christie is an ardent sports fan and may even host his own sports radio talk show upon leaving office in January. He is currently serving his second consecutive term as governor and is prevented from running for a third due to rules in the Garden State's Constitution.
