Chris Christie breaks the only rule of the Amtrak quiet car
Christie broke the first rule of Amtrak’s quiet car. (Photo: Dominick Reuter/Reuters)
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie blasted President Obama and the Black Lives Matter movement on CBS’s “Face the Nation” Sunday, but that’s not why his name is trending on Twitter.
Christie was asked to leave Amtrak’s so-called “quiet car” after reportedly yelling at his security detail and making phone calls during his trip home.
“On a very full train this morning, the governor accidentally took a seat in Amtrak’s notorious quiet car,” Christie campaign spokeswoman Samantha Smith said in a statement provided to Yahoo News. “After breaking the cardinal rule of the quiet car, the governor promptly left once he realized the serious nature of his mistake and enjoyed the rest of his time on the train from the café car. Sincere apologies to all the patrons of the quiet car that were offended.”
Alexander Mann, a fellow passenger on the 9:55 a.m. express train from Washington, D.C., to New York City, told Gawker he witnessed the Republican presidential candidate causing a ruckus.
“He got on last minute yelling at his two secret service agents, I think because of a seat mixup, sat down and immediately started making phone calls on the quiet car,” Mann said, according to the website. “After about 10 minutes, the conductor asked him to stop or go to another car. He got up and walked out again yelling at his secret service. He was drinking a McDonald’s strawberry smoothie.”
Another passenger, however, disputed Mann’s account.
“Listen, I’m no Chris Christie fan, but the Gawker story isn’t close to accurate,” Katie Klabusich wrote on Twitter. “@ChrisChristie was super courteous & possibly the least intrusive in-public phone person ever. When the conductor came by to check tickets he just said ‘sir, this is the quiet car.’ CC had the same reaction as anyone: ‘You’re kidding. It’s the quiet car? Alright’ & to the phone ‘I gotta go, I’m in the quiet car. Call you back.’”
“Did he appear annoyed? Sure,” Klabusich added. “Was he screaming, causing a scene? Hardly.”
Smith said Christie was actually traveling with state police and doesn’t have a secret service detail. She also denied he was yelling or screaming.
Earlier, on “Face the Nation,” Christie said President Obama “encourages lawlessness.”
How?
“By his own rhetoric,” Christie said. “He does not support the police. He doesn’t back up the police. He justifies Black Lives Matter.”
More of that exchange from the transcript:
CBS “FACE THE NATION” HOST JOHN DICKERSON: But Black Lives Matter shouldn’t be justified at all?
CHRISTIE: Listen, I don’t believe that that movement should be justified when they’re calling for the murder of police officers, no.
DICKERSON: But they’re not calling for the murder of police officers.
CHRISTIE: Sure they are. Sure they are. They have been chanting in the streets for the murder of police officers.
— With Yahoo News’ Hunter Walker contributing reporting.
