Gov. Chris Christie, cradling an order of nachos, got inches away from a Cubs fan's face and told him, 'you're a real big shot.' | Screengrab Christie: I could have dumped my nachos on Cubs fan

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said Wednesday he was "very restrained" when he confronted a heckler at a baseball game over the weekend, joking that he could have dumped his nachos onto the fan’s lap.

Footage of the incident, which occurred during a game between the Milwaukee Brewers and Chicago Cubs, quickly went viral. Christie, cradling an order of nachos, got inches away from a Cubs fan's face and told him, "you're a real big shot."


“For those of you who know me, I was very restrained,” Christie said during an unrelated news conference in Trenton. “I didn’t dump the nachos on him or anything, which I think was an option.”

The confrontation took place in Milwaukee, where Christie's son, Andrew, works for the Brewers. The two were watching the game when the Cubs fan, Brad Joseph, started yelling at the governor. Joseph later said that he had yelled the governor's name and shouted, "you suck."

The governor has found himself at the center of several incidents that have gone viral in recent weeks.

Early last month, he was photographed lounging with his family on a state-run beach during a government shutdown. He also sparred with a caller to a sports radio show, calling him a “communist.” And he was booed after catching a foul ball at a Mets game.

In 2012, Christie famously confronted a man on the boardwalk at Seaside Heights who made a "snide'" remark about his education policy. Christie, holding an ice-cream cone in one hand, told the man, "You're a real big shot." That incident, caught on video, also went viral.

Asked Wednesday whether he’d stop going to baseball games, the governor shot back, “No, I’m going to more.”

“When I’m at a baseball game with my son on a Sunday afternoon, I do have a right to sit there and enjoy the game,” he said. “You get one shot to call me a name or curse me out. And I gave him that first shot to do that, but when you go at it a second time, you’re going to get a response.”

Christie also said he felt gratified that Joseph admitted to what he did. Joseph wrote a lengthly post on Facebook detailing the incident, in which he apologized, though he described Christie's actions as "aggressive."

The governor acknowledged that while some people are going to swear at him or heckle him, it rarely happens. He pointed out that he had an overwhelmingly positive weekend and took about “200 pictures” with people in the stands.

“The fact was there was one guy over three games who decided he wanted to act like a big shot,” Christie said.