Christie calls 'Jersey Shore's' Snooki 'negative for N.J.'
Published: Sunday, July 25, 2010, 1:00 PM Updated: Sunday, July 25, 2010, 9:58 PM
Share this story
0 Share
Gov. Chris Christie made his first foray into national Sunday morning political programming today, sitting for a 10-minute interview with ABC’s Jake Tapper on “This Week.”
Christie's November win in a blue state and combative tone with public workers unions has earned him national media attention and plaudits from conservative pundits, leading Tapper to call him a "rising Republican star" in the leadup to the interview.
Christie said Republicans can help their chances in other traditionally Democratic areas by focusing on lowering taxes, spending and business regulations. “I think if my win tells anything, it’s that if we get back to basics as Republicans, then it speaks to some of the concerns people have in New Jersey and across the country,” he said.
Christie attempted to fend off charges that he cut an $11 billion structural deficit in part by not paying $3 billion in pension obligations, saying he “wasn’t going to put $3 billion into a failing system” and that he would tackle pension and health plan changes for current public employees.
Christie would not give any clue as to whether he would join 21 other states that have signed on to a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the health care reform law, most of which have Republican governors or attorneys general, saying he wants to know what its chances are of succeeding and the bill’s impact on New Jersey.
“I don’t have an impulse. I’m waiting to get briefed on it,” he said.
Christie was much more direct when Tapper, holding up a New York Times profile of Nicole Polizzi – a.k.a. Snooki — asked if MTV’s “Jersey Shore” was positive or negative for New Jersey.
“Negative for New Jersey,” Christie said. “What it does is takes a bunch of New Yorkers… drops them at the Jersey Shore and tries to make America feel like this is New Jersey. I can tell people: they want to know what New Jersey really is? I welcome them to come to New Jersey any time.”
File photo of Governor . 
File photo of Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi at James Madison University. 
, governor of the US state of New Jersey, complained on 's Sunday morning talk show '''' that TV series '''' promotes a negative image of the state. 

Prompted by a feature in ''The New York Times'' on , one of the stars of the MTV show, interviewer Jake Tapper asked the governor whether he thought the series was positive or negative for the state. Christie unequivocally answered that the show was "negative for New Jersey... It takes a bunch of New Yorkers, drops them on the Jersey Shore, and tries to make America feel like this is New Jersey". He concluded, "I can tell people: they want to know what New Jersey really is? I welcome them to come to New Jersey any time."

In a wide-ranging interview the governor also faced questions about local and national politics, including New Jersey's 11 billion budget deficit. Specifically, he was challenged over his plans to not pay $3 billion into public pension funds, payments described by the interviewer as a "legal obligation". He said that he "wasn't going to put $3 billion into a failing pension system" and that there would be further reforms of pensions and health benefits.

Christie was further questioned over his ongoing conflicts with teachers unions. He responded that "we can't have one sector of our society sheltered from the ravages of the recession, at the cost to people who have been hurt by the recession the most", citing the example of construction unions in New Jersey currently suffering unemployment between 35 and 50%.