Christie spars with 'communist,' calls Clinton a 'criminal' during radio audition

Chris Christie lobbed insults at angry callers and labeled Hillary Clinton a “criminal” during an hours-long audition Monday for a drive-time gig on New York sports talk radio station WFAN.

The New Jersey governor, taking the air shortly after the release of a brutal public opinion poll, spent most of the afternoon broadcast talking sports with co-host Evan Roberts.


Then there were the two calls that came from Montclair, one of the most liberal towns in the state.

“Governor, next time you want to sit on a beach that is closed to the entire world except you, put your fat ass in a car and then go to one that’s open to all your constituents,” said “Mike from Montclair.”

“You know, Mike, I love getting calls from communists in Montclair,” Christie fired back.

“Communists in Montclair? You’re a bully, governor!” Mike replied. “And I don’t like bullies!”

Christie then lectured the man for swearing on the public airwaves. (The governor had repeatedly used the word “bitching” earlier in the broadcast.)

“You have bad optics — and you’re a bully,” Mike said.

“Bad optics?” the governor snapped. “I’d like to come look at your optics every day, buddy!”

Earlier in the program, Christie battled “John from Montclair,” a caller who said he “represents the other side” and thinks the governor has done “a horrible job.”

“That’s good,” Christie replied, noting he’d won two elections. “You lost twice, John — so that shows how much you matter. You went 0-2.”

John asked how Christie allowed a “culture” to fester in his office that led to the George Washington Bridge Scandal. Three former Christie allies — including a deputy chief of staff — have been convicted of orchestrating the political stunt.

Christie shrugged that off, saying it wasn’t the “norm” in his office just like it isn’t the norm when people commit crimes while working for other companies.

And, asked by John how he could support Donald Trump, Christie didn’t make much of an effort to defend the president. Instead, the governor said he was “relieved” the nation doesn’t have “a criminal like Hillary Clinton in the White House.”

Christie, a regular fill-in host on WFAN’s Boomer and Carton program, is in consideration to replace afternoon drive-time host Mike Francesa.

Francesa is set to leave the station later this year, just as Christie prepares to leave office after two terms. Christie is guest-hosting Monday and Tuesday in hopes of landing the gig.

The show started just an hour after Monmouth University released a poll that found 80 percent of New Jersey residents disapprove of the job Christie is doing.

His approval is at 15 percent, the same level recorded in a Quinnipiac University poll that was conducted before a photo was published showing Christie and his family enjoying a closed state beach during the government shutdown last week.

Christie laughed off the approval rating, the worst for any governor in the state’s history.

“The later you get in your term, the less you care,” said Christie, who leaves office in January. “All that matters is if you think you’re doing your job the right way.”