New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is a terrible, heartless individual. Why? He killed a spider that was terrorizing a group of schoolchildren during a visit to his office, an act that PETA has described as thoughtless.
“He probably did it without thinking,” Ingrid Newkirk, president of People For The Ethical Treatment of Animals, told Talking Points Memo.
The New Jersey Republican smashed the unlucky arachnid with his hand on Friday, as his daughter Bridget’s 4th grade class dropped by his office. The moment was captured on camera, and the Governor later posted it to his YouTube page and tweeted about the incident.
Earlier today I saved a few school children from a spider #nobigdeal #toughdayattheoffice youtube.com/watch?v=bwjke6…
— Governor Christie (@GovChristie) May 3, 2013
Christie joked with the kids that killing spiders was a great part of his job.
“That’s another fun part of being Governor,” he said. “You see bugs on your desk you’re allowed to kill them, and I get in trouble.”
But PETA wishes the Governor had taken a minute to think about the spider’s value.
“Some people put the spider outside, but spiders are often scary to people, and that can prevent them from pondering their worth,” Newkirk told TPM.
As TPM noted, President Obama found himself in a similar situation in 2009, when he swatted at a fly during a TV interview.
“He isn’t the Buddha, he’s a human being, and human beings have a long way to go before they think before they act,” PETA responded at the time.
The group also sent Obama a bug-catcher for future incidents. Maybe they can scrounge up one for Christie as well.
Watch the spider incident below.
