Chris Christie, Sipping a Smoothie, Was Kicked Off an Amtrak Car For Screaming on His Phone [Updated]
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie is having a bad morning.
First, he nearly missed his 9:55 Amtrak train from DC to New York. Then, he didn’t get the seat he wanted on the train. Then, to make things even worse, he got kicked out of the quiet car!
Alexander Mann, a passenger on his way home to Manhattan, was traveling in that very same quiet car when Christie got on, and promptly got off. He told Gawker:
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. 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.
Mann also said that Christie was having an intense phone conversation, repeating the phrases, “this is frickin’ ridiculous” and “seriously?! seriously?!”
Thank god for that smoothie!
Update 10/25 4:34 p.m.: Samantha Smith, the governor’s spokeswoman, sent a statement about the incident to The Huffington Post:
“On a very full train this morning, the Governor accidentally took a seat in Amtrak’s notorious quiet car. 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 cafe car. Sincere apologies to all the patrons of the quiet car that were offended.”
Another passenger on the Amtrak sitting near Gov. Christie says that Christie was courteous about moving into another car, tweeting:
“Did he appear annoyed? Sure. Apparently having a shit logistics day & someone fucked up. Was he screaming, causing a scene? Hardly.
When the conductor came by to check tickets he just said "sir, this is the quiet car." CC had the same reaction as anyone:
— Katie Klabusich (@Katie_Speak) October 25, 2015
"You're kidding. It's the quiet car? Alright" & to the phone "I gotta go, I'm in the quiet car. Call you back."
— Katie Klabusich (@Katie_Speak) October 25, 2015