Following a controversy over Governor Chris Christie spending part of his Fourth of July weekend on the beach, a sand sculpture of the governor was built in Seaside Heights.
The sculpture depicted Christie as sitting in a beach chair, wearing shorts and a baseball hat. It mirrored photos that surfaced showing the governor on the beach during a government shutdown in New Jersey.
“I think I’ve proven over the last eight years that I don’t really care about political optics,” Christie said.
The governor said he doesn’t get to spend much time with his family and this was something that was planned in advance. Christie dismissed the negative reaction and said it wasn’t a scandal.
"If they had flown that plane over that beach and I was sitting next to a 25-year-old blonde in that beach chair next to me that's a story. I wasn't sitting next to a 25-year-old blonde. I was sitting next to my wife of 31 years," Christie said.
A budget deal was struck Monday night to reopen the government.
Photo Credit: Getty Images