New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie caught a foul ball from his third-row seat at the New York Mets’ game against the St. Louis Cardinals on Tuesday.
Although a caught foul ball usually elicits cheers from fellow fans, the crowd erupted in boos for Christie, according to the Associated Press. An announcer at the game even joined in the disdain.
“Nice to see him get from the beach to the ballpark,” Cardinals broadcaster Dan McLaughlin said, according to Huffington Post.
After showing impressive range with the left-handed catch, Christie shared a few high-fives with those around him and handed the ball to a child a few rows behind him. This, however, did nothing to stop the crowd from groaning.
Chris Christie caught a foul ball at Citi Field, then got heavily booed and dunked on by a dopey play-by-play guy pic.twitter.com/n2GpN0EEQd
— Chase Woodruff (@dcwoodruff) July 19, 2017
In an interview with MSNBC that same day before the game, the governor spoke to his unfavorable reputation.
“I do care how I’m perceived, but I’m not going to sacrifice my family for public perception,” Christie said. “I had to make a choice between political optics and my family. When I have to make a choice between the two, I have never made anything clearer to the people of New Jersey — I’m picking my family.”