Mike Davis

Asbury Park Press

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who has fashioned himself as a "confidant" of Donald Trump, serves as more of an assistant, according to a report.

In an article published online Monday, The New Yorker cites an anonymous Republican source claiming that Christie has instead "transformed himself into a sort of manservant, who is constantly with Trump at events."

Though Christie is only mentioned by name four times in the article, it's the first reference that has gone viral:

"Governor Chris Christie, of New Jersey, another of Trump’s opponents early in the campaign, has transformed himself into a sort of manservant, who is constantly with Trump at events. (One Republican told me that a friend of his on the Trump campaign used Snapchat to send him a video of Christie fetching Trump’s McDonald’s order.)"

In an email, a spokesman for the governor's office denied the McDonald's anecdote, calling it "pure trash."

"We categorically deny this ridiculous, completely invented scenario, which the writer attributed to an unnamed source’s anonymous friend," spokesman Brian Murray said. "The fact the writer relegated this bit of sleaze between parenthesis certainly indicates he knew it was pure trash that had to be carefully separated from the rest of the story."

Christie has repeatedly said the Trumps are close friends with him and his wife, Mary Pat. Though the two were one-time rivals during the 2016 primary campaign, Christie quickly endorsed Trump after his own campaign failed.

"I can tell him privately when I disagree with something he’s done. And I do. That’s part of the reason he appreciates our friendship," Christie said in a radio interview on sports talk station WFAN last week. "The definition of a confidante is to do things in confidence. ... He's the candidate. Either he accepts your advice, or he doesn't."

It's not the first time Christie and Trump's relationship has been the butt of a joke: Earlier this year, internet memes of Christie standing behind Trump at a Super Tuesday victory speech went viral, joking that he looked like he was a hostage.

The late-night sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live has also repeatedly parodied the duo's relationship.