After raising the ire of Democrats with his comments about gay marriage and civil rights, NJ Gov. Chris Christie has finally apologized.
Christie originally said he’d veto any marriage equality bill because he wanted to let voters decide on the issue (and to conveniently not have to take a stance himself). When his cowardice was called out, he retreated further down the rabbit hole, saying it would’ve been preferable to have a referendum on civil rights in the South, but that the “political climate” wasn’t right. He also called openly gay state Senator Reed Gusciora a “numbnuts” for comparing him to segregationist governors Lester Maddox and George Wallace.
But now he wants to sweep that allll under the carpet. Well, except for the whole “numbnuts” thing. Chris Christie never takes it back when he calls someone a “numbnuts.”
“Anybody who was offended by what I said, if you’re listening out there tonight, I apologize for that,” he said on New Jersey 101.5’s monthly radio talk show, specifically in reference to his comment that referenda would’ve been preferable for taking care of ’50s and ’60s-era civil-rights issues.
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Of the “numbnuts” line, he says: “I don’t know when people lost their sense of humor. That was, I thought, a pretty light slap at a guy who compared me to George Wallace and Lester Maddox, who were two absolutely vile people in the political history of our country.”
He didn’t say whether he’d actually change some of his positions: Usually, when you’re wrong and sorry about it, you make some effort to change. But nope, Christie will probably still veto marriage equality.
Chris Christie: the kind of guy who puts his foot in his mouth only to eat his whole body, but then magically reappears heavier than ever.
Friend of Christie's
All right, all of this elitist “I’m skinny and Chris Christie is sooooo fat” shit has got to stop. Rag on him for his politics all you want, but looking at Queerty over the last week or so, one would think his political positions are mere fodder for hurling schoolyard insults at the man for his weight. When you ignore his policies and attack his appearance, you’ve all but declared him a winner and yourself a loser.
And to Evan Mulhill, I sure hope none of your friends or family are overweight, because you just put your bigotry against them out there for the world to see. Good job at exposing your own vile bigotry.
Cam
So the typical B.S. politician response
“I’m not sorry for what I said, I’m sorry if anybody was Offended” which indicates that it is the problem of the listener, and not the person who said it.
Do these guys actually think that people can’t spot this ridiculous crap?
christopher di spirito
Gov. Fatso is a one-termer. He won’t be back for a second term.
But the good news for him is, New Jersey is full of all-you-can-eat chain restaurants where he can go and stuff his fat face to maintain his 60″ waist.
Robert in NYC
No.1, I agree that nobody should be making light of his weight issue, but as a supporter of Christie, do you think he’s right in vetoing a bill even if it passes the legislature? I mean, what are legislatures for? Using Christie’s m.o. on marriage equality, we might as well abolish the legislature and have referenda on everything in the state. Why cherry pick just one issue and exclude all others? I thought governors are supposed to respect the rule of law, not thumb their noses at it which is what he will be doing if this passes. Don’t forget, those who legislate and pass bills are representatives of the people, acting and speaking for them, the purpose of legislatures. This makes referenda unnecessary and insulting to the democratic process. Civil rights should never be put to popular referenda and under the 14th amendment, the rights of the minority must be protected. Such a bill if passed could be construed as mob rule to overturn a bill that has passed for the majority of the voters supporting it. I don’t see anything democratic in that.
Friend of Christie's
@Evan Mulvihill: Oh no, I got it all right. It was just about as “wondrous” as calling Barack Obama our first affirmative action president. Or something really clever like, “Dan Savage—now there’s a guy whose actions really SUCK.” Or, “Barney Frank sure took it up the ass on that whole Fannie/Freddie mess, eh?”
Ah yes. Only here could “prejudice” be interpreted as “wondrous.”
ps – And sorry I misspelled your last name in my original post. My bad.
Friend of Christie's
@Robert in NYC: I agree with you, Robert. Christie should have taken a stand, for better or worse, and not punted.
Joetx
@Friend of Christie’s: Obviously, you don’t get it.
People have brought up Christie’s obesity b/c he discriminates against one group of people – us, the gays – even though our sexual orientation is innate & not chosen.
Christie, OTOH, has chosen to eat himself into obesity, yet there aren’t any anti-obesity laws out to get him.
Go back to your place under the bridge, Christie troll.
Cam
@Friend of Christie’s:
This is ANOTHER example of the narrative going around conservative circles right now.
Do ANYTHING to change the subject. They want to ignore….IGNORE the fact that Christie wants to block civil rights granted by NJ’s legislature. That he actually wants to BLOCK RIGHTS is to be ignored.
How are they doing this? By pretending that Christie is a victim. They do this, as this guy did, by ignoring that the majority of comments about Christie commented on his politics, not about his weight. And also by pretending that preventing somebody from having their civil rights is somehow not as bad as being called fat.
Nice try, and I get that Fox News has described how to do this. But do you really think your tactic isn’t obvious?
Friend of Christie's
@Cam: Sorry pal, I have no agenda, and I rarely glimpse Fox. I never said Christie is a victim of anything—being the stand-up guy that he is, he would state the same, I’m sure. My only point is that when all you have in your ammo supply is “Fatty McFatso” snark, then it’s YOU who’s distracting from the issue and you therefore have no argument. It would have been like me calling Barney Frank “ugly” at every turn as a means of attack (because let’s face, there aren’t many congressmen uglier than BF), but I wouldn’t have done that, because name-calling is a loser’s last refuge. It’s what weak people who have a weak argument do. But hey, if you lefties are saying that immature name-calling is fair game, then boy have I got an arsenal to unload on you and your liberal heroes.
Alexa
@christopher di spirito: Really? I live in NJ and I’ve never been in an all you can eat restaurant. And I agree with the people who say it does us no favors to constantly harp on Christie’s weight, it cheapens the argument and makes us look bad. Don’t get me wrong, living in NJ, I can’t stand Christie, and not just because of his position on marriage equality, but his weight is not the problem. Corzine tried attacking Christie because of his weight in the election and it turned people off because it made Corzine look like a bully, and backfired on him – and us, because we ended up with Christie as governor. So attack his ideas and policies all you like, but putting him down for his weight is just a distraction from actual problems.
Friend of Christie's
@Alexa: Thank. You. Alexa.
I respect your disagreeing with Christie’s policies, but as you pointed out attacking his appearance is as low as one can go in a political forum. For taking the high road and being the most reasonable person on this page, you have gained more respect than you’re aware from others like me, and restored my faith that not all liberals are as mean-spirited as the ones who have been posting here. Bravo to you for your honesty.
christopher di spirito
@Alexa: Are you and Friend of Christie’s the same person? I know there are a few doppelgangers on Queerty so I was curious if you are one them.
Cam
@Friend of Christie’s: said…
“”@Cam: Sorry pal, I have no agenda, and I rarely glimpse Fox. I never said Christie is a victim of anything—being the stand-up guy that he is, he would state the same, I’m sure. My only point is that when all you have in your ammo supply is “Fatty McFatso” snark, then it’s YOU who’s distracting from the issue and you therefore have no argument. It would have been like me calling Barney Frank “ugly” at every turn as a means of attack (because let’s face, there aren’t many congressmen uglier than BF), but I wouldn’t have done that, because name-calling is a loser’s last refuge. It’s what weak people who have a weak argument do. But hey, if you lefties are saying that immature name-calling is fair game, then boy have I got an arsenal to unload on you and your liberal heroes.””
______________________-
No, once again, your contention is that “That’s ALL you have”
Again, you are a liar, and you are deflecting. There are MULTIPLE posts about Christie, many that talk about his avoidance of his duty, his poor choices, his doging his responsibilities. And what was your post about?
“Boo Hoo Hoo, you all are evil and you’re calling him fat and that is terrible”
So
1. You pretend that all the posts that specifically lay out the political problems with his stance were never written.
2. You are trying to pretend that stripping somebody’s civil rights away is no more serious than calling somebody fat.
Again, it is a sad sad attempt to try to hide the fact that not only is he trying to hide from his responsibilities but that he is stripping civil rights from people.
Lastly, he has been recording calling people names, so you are also a hypocrite.
penny143
@Friend of Christie’s: He is a POS 20 taco eating fat ass slob, who is a fucking bigot. do you understand that FRIEND….
Friend of Christie's
@Cam: Relax, guy, you seem a little uptight. It’s only a discussion board. People are allowed to disagree.
Matt Cornell
Almost thought you’d finish the article without a fat joke. Sadly, nope!
When you shame Christie for his weight, consider the collateral damage.
-A fat reader
Cam
@Friend of Christie’s: said…
“@Cam: Relax, guy, you seem a little uptight. It’s only a discussion board. People are allowed to disagree.”
_______________________
And again, multiple times, I have pointed out that you …
1. Ignored all the comments on Christies abdication of his responsibilities as well as his trying to strip civil rights from us, and instead pretended that everybody was calling him fat.
2. You tried to pretend that him being called fat was somehow much worse than blocking gays from having rights.
3. I pointed out that you were doing anything you could to deflect attention from the actual subject of the post.
And what do you do?
First try to do the same thing, and then tell me to calm down.
Once again, you have done everything possible to simply avoid the subject of this post.
1. Christie abdicated his responsibility and he is trying to prevent gays from having rights.
2. What is your opinion on THAT? Lets here that instead of you continually crying and whining that he is being called fat.
Global Traveler
I’m not anti-fat (some of my best friends are overweight….to use an already tortured cliche) and it does diminish one’s argument when you resort to name calling.
However, I think the motivation for slinging this insult is that it’s just as arbitrary as singling out someone for sexual orientation. Someone who falls outside of what is considered the “norm” and “ideal” should have a better understanding of what it means to be discriminated against.
If he were to be charged, taxed, denied services, housing, employment, etc. because of his weight he’d be screaming from the rooftops about unfair treatment, and I don’t think that he’d want his right to live his life in peace put to a public vote.
Tea & A
@Global Traveler: Good for you, GT. I was beginning to think that gay people (at least of the Queerty variety) were all well-toned snobs who condescend to heavy people.
CBRad
Barney Frank and Pam Spaulding and Chaz are fatsos too.
B
No. 19 · Tea & A wrote. “@Global Traveler: Good for you, GT. I was beginning to think that gay people (at least of the Queerty variety) were all well-toned snobs who condescend to heavy people.”
Rent the movie “Skinny Fat” for a parody of body-image obsessed gays in search of an instant six-pack so they’ll look good at a party they are going to in a week – it ends with a surprise. But don’t forget that it is a movie with a lot of exaggeration in order to make it funny.
Global Traveler
No. 21 B
Thanks for the recommendation. I’m always on the lookout for something clever and humorous. Nothing like word of mouth advertising.
B
Q: Do you know how to tell if your lover is getting too fat?
A: When he’s sitting on your face and you can’t hear the stereo.
(At least that’s what my boyfriend said to me. Hmmmmm…was he trying to tell me something? …I don’t get it.)
Joey O'H
Christie seems to be flip-flopping and dancing around the issue. He has no business in being in goverment. We continue to allow these politicans to rely on their religious beliefs on how they govern. What happened to “all men are created equal?” It does not apply in this country. I feel the US & State governments are nothing more than frauds and a soap box to spread to the masses who THEY think should and should not have rights.
My civil rights should not be polled up to the public. They should have no say as I have no say what goes on in their lives.
Is anyone telling Christie to stop eating feep fried twinkies with his ever so wide waistline? No. Are we telling heteros that they should stop having children after two. No.
The get the hell outta’ my way for the deserved civil rights that I was supposedly born with. People are hypocrites. It’s the worse I’ve ever seen it in my life.
Joey O'H
Christie seems to be flip-flopping and dancing around the issue. He has no business in being in goverment. We continue to allow these politicans to rely on their religious beliefs on how they govern. What happened to “all men are created equal?” It does not apply in this country. I feel the US & State governments are nothing more than frauds and a soap box to spread to the masses who THEY think should and should not have rights.
My civil rights should not be polled up to the public. They should have no say as I have no say what goes on in their lives.
Is anyone telling Christie to stop eating feep fried twinkies with his ever so wide waistline? No. Are we telling heteros that they should stop having children after two. No.
Then get the hell outta’ my way for the deserved civil rights that I was supposedly born with. People are hypocrites. It’s the worse I’ve ever seen it in my life.
Alexa
@christopher di spirito: you surely can’t be serious. Did you even read my post? The only thing we appear to agree on is that it’s wrong to insult Christie for being fat.
the crustybastard
“Anybody who was offended by what I said, if you’re listening out there tonight, I apologize for that.”
Ferchrissakes, “I’m sorry some people were offended” isn’t a fucking apology!
An actual apology would be, “What I said was wrong, and something no decent person should even think, much less say out loud. The public’s outrage is justified and I cannot disagree with the argument that the civil rights of a minority should never, ever be made into a popularity contest. Equal rights are a Constitutional guarantee, not some special benefit only available to politically powerful majorities. However, I have learned from my mistake. That is why today I commit that I will never, ever stand in the way of any civil rights legislation, including marriage equality, should the bill be passed by the New Jersey legislature.”
Holy shit. “Sorry you’re offended?” Take your fake apology and shove it straight up your ass.
@Friend of Christie’s:
And fuck you too, for trying to hijack the issue with your concern trolling.
This disgusting dickhead is planning to use his extraordinary veto power to nullify civil rights legislation, by disingenuously claiming the public should vote. Well, that’s horseshit. The public DID vote — for their representatives, and those representatives will vote on this legislation, which is precisely how our form of government is supposed to work.
That some members of the minority might hurl some schoolyard taunts at this obese, entitled, privilege-denying ignoramous DOES NOT IN ANY WAY COMPARE to the injury he plans to do to them.
So stop comparing it.
B
No. 23 · B : that was posted by someone else, not the person who posted the film recommendation in No 21. It’s possibly the cyberstalker who has been forging comments on some other threads.
Matt Cornell
@Global Traveler: Are you implying that fat people aren’t “charged, taxed, denied services, housing, employment” because of their size? Cause if so, I’ve got news for you.
Jock Saint
First of all, “I’m sorry if you were offended” is NOT an apology. “I’m terribly sorry for saying such an asinine, contentious and offensive remark [in public]” is an apology. I hope this blows up in his face and the African-American community will finally support what is, without question, the civil rights issue of this era.