Fan confronted by Chris Christie at baseball game gives his side of the story

A few people were already heckling Christie, and Joseph decided would join in yelling, “You suck!” and “Hypocrite!” in his general direction. Christie was making his way back to his seat, but paused, and the confrontation began.

“I was seated at the end of our row, and Christie turned around and made his way up the few steps that separated us. As he approached he looked at me and said ‘Have another beer,’ which caused me to laugh, since I thought it was a decent comeback under the circumstances despite the fact we hadn’t been drinking at all, but Christie quickly made it clear that he wasn’t joking around. He came a few inches from my face and began to call me a ‘big shot,’ and a ‘tough guy,’ and asking ‘what are you gonna do now?’ He was close enough that I could feel his breath on my face as he shouted at me. He never denied being a hypocrite. Then, his right foot stepped well outside of the aisle and into our row, and he began to hit my leg with his knee in an aggressive fashion.

At this point I heard someone ask ‘what is going on?’ to which I turned and calmly replied, ‘well, this guy is accosting me.’ Christie was incredulous at this characterization of the interaction, despite the fact that he was the one who initiated physical contact, and despite the fact that his tone and conduct were intended to provoke a reaction to which his security detail could respond. I sat calmly in the back of my chair as Christie became frustrated with my refusal to turn a verbal confrontation into a physical one. After calling me a big shot a few more times, he relented and turned away, as I thanked him for his opinion.”

After that, Joseph recounts some of Christie’s security detail coming over and “threatening all of us with being ‘locked up,'” before walking away. Joseph went on to say that while he regretted saying “You suck!” he did not regret calling the governor of New Jersey a hypocrite. He also said that after the incident many strangers online have assumed him to be a liberal, but that is not the case.

“I am a registered republican and I voted for Donald Trump, but my politics do not fit conveniently into one box or another. I do think that Chris Christie is an embarrassment to the party and his ties to Trump during the campaign gave me great cause for concern. During a discussion last year before the election, where I argued that Hillary Clinton ought to be prosecuted for her corruption, a friend challenged me about corruption within the republican party, and specifically asked about Chris Christie. I said then that it doesn’t matter which party someone is from, the system breaks down if we ignore hard evidence of corruption because the person happens to share our opinions on some other issue. That friend told me today that I put my money where my mouth is by calling out Chris Christie in public.”

It was by no means the first time Christie had been chided in public, or even at a baseball game. Earlier this July he was both booed into oblivion after catching a foul ball at a Mets game, and couldn’t keep from angry calls from his constituents while guest-hosting a sports radio show.

You can read Joseph’s full note on the confrontation with Christie here.