Chris Christie Attacks Sportswriter for Questioning Rex Ryan's 'Boneheaded' Decision

Temperamental Republican New Jersey Governor Chris Christie lashed out at a New York Daily News sportswriter on Monday, calling him and “idiot” and “a dope” multiple times because the reporter called out New York Jets coach Rex Ryan for allowing quarterback Mark Sanchez to get hurt in a meaningless preseason game on Saturday against the New York Giants. 

“The guy’s a complete idiot. Self-consumed, underpaid reporter,” Christie, a Cowboys fan, said on WFAN while co-hosting the “Boomer and Carton” show. “The only way he’s empowered is because we’re spending all this time talking about Manish Mehta this morning … Who, by the way, I couldn’t pick out of a lineup and no Jets fan gives a damn about Manish Mehta.”

After Jets quarterback Geno Smith struggled mightily–throwing three interceptions, stepping out of the end zone for a safety and looking nowhere near being ready to start in the NFL–Ryan inserted Sanchez into the game in the fourth quarter. And Sanchez promptly got hurt, and his status–along with the Jets quarterback situation–remains uncertain.

New York Daily News sports reporter Manish Mehta pressed Ryan about whether Smith would be the team’s starting quarterback for the season opener.

Ryan, who already was reportedly under duress because he feared that his boneheaded move could cost him his job, had a bit of a meltdown, subsequently turning his back to Mehta and other reporters when answering questions at a post-game press conference that has been described as “bizarre.” Christie said he was bothered by reporters who continued to press Ryan after the Jets coached had already defended his move.

Mehta had previously written that Ryan should get an extension on his contract before writing that Ryan “took ineptitude and incompetence to new heights with a boneheaded decision Saturday night that ultimately could seal his fate as the head coach of the Jets.”