Chris Christie

Chris Christy is an American politician and former federal prosecutor who served as the governor of New Jersey from 2010 to 2018. He is a Republican and a close associate of Donald Trump. Christy was elected while campaigning on the hot issue of pensions for NJ teachers, promising to discontinue them (which he did after being elected) in the face of staunch opposition from teacher unions.

Beginning in 2014, Christie's governorship was marred by the Bridgegate scandal whereby a Christee staff member had colluded in 2013 to block lanes of tolls plazas in Fort Lee, New Jersey, to punish its mayor for political opposition to Christie proposals. While there was never any legal action taken against Christie himself, the public suspected he had knowledge of the staffer's actions, and Christie's popularity began to wane.

Christie also provoked widespread ridicule, and became an internet meme, in 2017 as pictures emerged of him and his family sunning themselves on an empty NJ state beach that had been closed during the holiday weekend because of a state government shutdown.