New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie likes traveling in style, as he proved Tuesday when he took a police helicopter to and from his son’s baseball game in Bergen County.
The Star-Ledger reported that as a game at St. Joseph Regional High School in Montvale was about to begin, spectators were distracted by a 55-foot-long helicopter buzzing over left field, circling the outfield and landing in an adjacent football field. Christie then jumped out of the chopper and right into a black car with tinted windows that drove him about 100 yards to the baseball field, where he watched his eldest son, Andrew, play catcher for Delbarton School. He stayed until the fifth inning before leaving — also by helicopter — with first lady Mary Pat Christie to attend a meeting with Iowa donors, who came to Drumthwacket Palace to court him for a presidential run that he’s said – for the millionth time – he won’t be making.
Some are criticising the governor for Tuesday’s ride, like assemblyman John Wisniewski, who said he does not believe the governor should use the helicopter to go from personal events to meetings with donors.
“The people of the state of New Jersey should not be required to pick up the tab so he can meet with Iowa donors at Drumthwacket,” said Wisniewski. “It’s not just contributors, it’s people who want him to run for another office with a political agenda. That’s where he’s crossed the line.”
(By the way, despite the noisy landing and subsequent take-off interrupting the game, his son’s team won, 7-2.)
