Mike from Montclair on Chris Christie: It was like a boxing match
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie’s audition for Mike Francesa’s spot on WFAN was a roller coaster on Monday, featuring the Knicks, the Yankees and a little bit of politics.
After listening to Christie, longtime caller Mike Goldstein, better known as Mike from Montclair, had enough sports talk. He picked up the phone, dialed the radio station and informed the call-screener he wanted to talk about Aaron Judge and the New York Yankees.
In reality, Goldstein intended to respectfully confront the governor about utilizing the governor’s mansion on Island Beach State Park over the Fourth of July, but Christie’s response to another caller sparked Mike’s outrage.
“That’s good,” Christie said to caller named John from Montclair after he said that the governor had done a horrible job. “You lost twice, John. That shows how much you matter. You went 0-2.”
“I really want to emphasize this: He tried to embarrass the guy before me. And I was not going to let that happen to me,” Goldstein told NBC Sports on Tuesday. “I was going to fight fire with fire.”
Here is what Goldstein said to the governor:
“Governor, next time you want to sit on a beach that is closed to the entire world except you, you put your fat ass in a car and go to one that’s open to all your constituents, not just you and yours.”
Mike in Montclair calls @GovChristie a fat-ass and a bully. Christie calls Mike in Montclair a bum and a communist. And… we're off! #WFAN pic.twitter.com/HUcLMRZPVz
— Sports Funhouse (@SportsFunhouse) July 10, 2017
“It’s like being in a boxing match and I stunned him. Once he got his footing back, I knew he would come back at me. It went exactly as I expected it to go. I didn’t expect him to call me a communist … I definitely jarred him.”
The Governor’s office did not respond to a request for comment.
Goldstein, who has been a Montclair resident for nearly 30 years, said the only thing that really surprised him was that Christie essentially called Montclair “a communist town.”
“Let’s be honest, you don’t get a chance very often, if ever, to go call him out. [Christie] controls everything at these town halls and it’s not often that John Q. Public can stand toe-to-toe with him and call him out to his face, so when you have the opportunity to do it, which I had yesterday, I took it.
“People are so polarized about politics. They feel so strongly about them and have strong opinions. It’s more emotional than it used to be. It’s like a lightning rod. When you can challenge a politician and call him out, I think people like that.”
While a lot of people have strong feelings about politics, Goldstein says that sports-talk radio is fun to him.
“I’m happy that he came back at me. That’s what makes talk radio fun. That’s what it is to men … You get into arguments, you hang up the phone and then the day goes on.”
