--- title: Chris Christie Followed by 'Pander Bears' in Panda Suits description: They're 'pander bears' canonical: https://time.com/4183589/chris-christie-pander-bear-panda-bear-costume/ author: Zeke Miller article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-01-16T19:06:45.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T14:11:50.421Z article:section: Politics og:title: Chris Christie Followed by 'Pander Bears' in Panda Suits og:description: He's being stalked by costumed critics og:url: https://time.com/4183589/chris-christie-pander-bear-panda-bear-costume/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0abc6126a092d530/6988796f0b72e37cda6e7b24/slack-imgs-com.jpeg?branch=production&width=600&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 600 og:image:height: 338 og:image:alt: slack-imgs.com og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Chris Christie Followed by 'Pander Bears' in Panda Suits twitter:description: He's being stalked by costumed critics twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0abc6126a092d530/6988796f0b72e37cda6e7b24/slack-imgs-com.jpeg?branch=production&width=600&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Here's Why People in Panda Suits Are Following Chris Christie Around > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=3c591025-9567-4c8f-85e3-dab19994eece&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) by [Zeke Miller](https://time.com/author/zeke-j-miller/) ## Zeke Miller Jan 16, 2016 7:06 PM UTC  Zeke Miller by [Zeke Miller](https://time.com/author/zeke-j-miller/) ## Zeke Miller Jan 16, 2016 7:06 PM UTC (AMES, Iowa) — New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is being tracked by a pair of “pander bears” in Iowa Saturday, who are passing out fliers highlight his shifting positions. It was not immediately clear who was responsible for sending the two people dressed in panda costumes to brave 15-degree temperatures outside a Christie town hall at a bar in Ames, Iowa. Their handout did not list a sponsor, and one of the pandas told TIME, “We’re doing it ourselves.” Phil Valenziano, the Christie campaign’s state director, walked out of the event to to challenge the protesters, asking who they were working for. When he discovered there was no “Paid for by” disclosure on their materials, he proclaimed for reporters, “That’s a violation!” > [](https://twitter.com/ZekeJMiller/status/688420872525340673) The stunt follows in a long tradition of costumed trackers on the campaign trail, both real and [fictional](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=%5FR%5F0zN1GMt8). ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4183589/chris-christie-pander-bear-panda-bear-costume/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4183589/chris-christie-pander-bear-panda-bear-costume/"},"headline":"Here's Why People in Panda Suits Are Following Chris Christie Around","datePublished":"2016-01-16T19:06:45.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T14:11:50.421Z","description":"They're 'pander bears'","url":"https://time.com/4183589/chris-christie-pander-bear-panda-bear-costume/","keywords":["Election 2016"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0abc6126a092d530/6988796f0b72e37cda6e7b24/slack-imgs-com.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Zeke Miller","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/zeke-j-miller/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0abc6126a092d530/6988796f0b72e37cda6e7b24/slack-imgs-com.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"slack-imgs.com","caption":"","creditText":"Zeke Miller","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/election-2016/","name":"Election 2016"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4183589/chris-christie-pander-bear-panda-bear-costume/","name":"Here's Why People in Panda Suits Are Following Chris Christie Around"}}]}] ```