--- title: Chris Christie on the Beach Sand Sculpture description: You don't often see political commentary in a sand castle, but New Jersey Governor Chris Christie inspired some incredible sand art canonical: https://time.com/4845053/chris-christie-sand/ author: Melissa Locker article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-07-05T15:11:30.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-08T09:21:44.301Z og:title: Someone Roasted Chris Christie With a Beach Sand Sculpture og:description: You don't often see a sand castle making political commentary og:url: https://time.com/4845053/chris-christie-sand/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9becce3176daf3e4/6988d46c196cf453fc040e41/chris-christie-new-jersey-beach-scandal.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2405 og:image:height: 1353 og:image:alt: chris-christie-new-jersey-beach-scandal og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Someone Roasted Chris Christie With a Beach Sand Sculpture twitter:description: You don't often see a sand castle making political commentary twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9becce3176daf3e4/6988d46c196cf453fc040e41/chris-christie-new-jersey-beach-scandal.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 video:duration: 01:42 video:published: 2017-07-03 section: politics topics: Chris Christie, New Jersey beach closures, public criticism of officials, beach photos, governor's personal conduct, social media backlash genre: interview, news clip tones: defensive, conversational, firm, measured emotions: defensiveness (high), irritation (medium), reassurance (low) sentiment: neutral audience: news readers, New Jersey residents, political followers, social media users people: Chris Christie organizations: State of New Jersey content_suitability: politics [00:00-01:42] transcript_source: automatic transcription transcript_reviewed: not applicable ---  # Chris Christie Gets Roasted With a Detailed Sand Sculpture of His Day at the Beach > 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=3c976a5b-99de-4c18-9644-6b7a3b2b8a50&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Chris Christie Slammed For Sunbathing on a New Jersey Beach he Closed to the Public [Watch (HLS stream): Chris Christie Slammed For Sunbathing on a New Jersey Beach he Closed to the Public](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/r85gH0Ux.m3u8) (1:42)  _Published 2017-07-03. A social media storm is blowing around New Jersey Governor Chris Christie after photos showed him appearing to relax on a state beach with his family on Sunday. A few days earlier, Christie had closed the state's beaches and parks to the public after_ Description, summary, key points, chapters, key quotes, questions and transcript, where present, were produced automatically from the video or its captions and were not reviewed. ## Summary Chris Christie responds to criticism that he was seen relaxing on a New Jersey beach after closing state beaches to the public. He says the time was spent with his wife and guests before returning to work, and denies he was out to get a tan. The clip ends with him stating the pictures do not show what critics claim. ## Key points - Christie says he spent about 40 minutes talking with his wife and guests on the beach before leaving to return to work. (00:30) - Christie says he had been working all morning before going out to the beach. (00:30) - Christie states he was not out on the beach to get sun. (00:52) - Christie says the question he was asked was whether he had been out laying out getting a tan that day. (00:52) - Christie says the pictures do not show him getting a tan. (00:58) - Christie says he does not count the beach visit as getting sun. (00:30) ## Chapters - [00:00 to 00:30] Opening criticism of beach photos. The clip opens with the on-screen headline about the criticism and Christie's first response is not yet heard. - [00:30 to 00:52] Christie describes his beach visit. Christie explains he spent a short time with his wife and guests after working all morning and does not consider it getting sun. - [00:52 to 01:42] Christie denies tanning on beach. Christie restates the question he was asked about tanning and says the photos do not show what critics claim. ## Key quotes - [00:30] Chris Christie: "You know, I don't count going out on the beach after I've been working all morning to sit and talk with my wife and our guests for 40 minutes before I had to leave to come back to work as getting sun." - [00:52] Chris Christie: "That wasn't what I was out there to get." - [00:58] Chris Christie: "that wasn't what I was doing and that's not what those pictures show" ## Questions this video answers - Was Chris Christie out laying out and getting a tan on the beach? [00:52] - How long did Christie spend on the beach with his family and guests? [00:30] - Did Christie go to the beach after working in the morning? [00:30] - Do the photos of Christie on the beach show him getting a tan? [00:58] ## Content suitability - politics [00:00-01:42]: Discusses a New Jersey governor and public criticism of his conduct during a beach closure. by [Melissa Locker](https://time.com/author/melissa-locker/) ## Melissa Locker Jul 5, 2017 3:11 PM UTC A social media storm is blowing around New Jersey Governor Chris Christie after photos showed him appearing to relax on a state beach with his family on Sunday. A few days earlier, Christie had closed the state's beaches and parks to the public after by [Melissa Locker](https://time.com/author/melissa-locker/) ## Melissa Locker Jul 5, 2017 3:11 PM UTC New Jersey Governor [Chris Christie](http://time.com/4843720/chris-christie-beach-new-jersey-shutdown/?iid=sr-link1) was roasted over the weekend—not by the sun, but by a sandcastle. An internet storm spread around New Jersey Governor Chris Christie after photos emerged that showed the governor and his family appearing to relax on a state beach on Sunday after he’d closed the state’s beaches and parks to the public after hitting a deadlock over budget standoff a few days earlier. While Christie’s spokesman told a reporter that he “didn’t get any sun” over the weekend, the photos, obtained by local news site NJ.com, showed Christie on a beach chair among beach towels, cooler boxes, and family members at the Island Beach State Park, where the state keeps a beach house residence for the governor’s use. [Christie defended his actions](http://time.com/4843720/chris-christie-beach-new-jersey-shutdown/) on [_Good Day Philadelphia_](http://www.fox29.com/news/265406980-story) saying, “I’m sorry they’re not the governor,” responding to a question about people blocked from the beach. “This is a residence. Here’s the problem. We have a residence in Princeton as well and that place is a place where people can go and tour but they can’t if the government’s closed. Am I supposed to move out and stay in a hotel?” The photos and response sent social media into a [meme frenzy](http://time.com/4843805/chris-christie-beach-memes/?iid=sr-link4) over the weekend with Photoshop savvy users adding the baseball-cap-wearing governor onto endless things. Perhaps the most dedicated response, though, was spotted on the governor’s own turf. On the Jersey Shore, a giant sand sculpture depicted the governor lounging in a chair while a shark loomed beside him. According to [NBC Washington](http://www.nbcwashington.com/news/national-international/NJ-Jersey-Shore-Sand-Sculpture-Mocks-Gov-Chris-Christie-Beach-Outing-432559563.html?%5Fosource=SocialFlowTwt%5FDCBrand#ixzz4ly1hGsXc), lifeguards said the sculptors are only known as Larry and Tom, and it took them about four hours to complete their satirical work. > [](https://twitter.com/brian4NY/status/882377089709740032) > [](https://twitter.com/JSHurricaneNews/status/882356269377622016) ## Transcript [00:00] [ MUSIC ] [00:10] [ MUSIC ] [00:21] [ MUSIC ] [00:32] [ MUSIC ] [00:43] [ MUSIC ] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4845053/chris-christie-sand/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4845053/chris-christie-sand/"},"headline":"Chris Christie Gets Roasted With a Detailed Sand Sculpture of His Day at the Beach","datePublished":"2017-07-05T15:11:30.000Z","dateModified":"2026-10-08T09:21:44.301Z","description":"You don't often see political commentary in a sand castle","url":"https://time.com/4845053/chris-christie-sand/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Chris Christie","New Jersey","politics"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9becce3176daf3e4/6988d46c196cf453fc040e41/chris-christie-new-jersey-beach-scandal.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Melissa Locker","jobTitle":"","url":"https://time.com/author/melissa-locker/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9becce3176daf3e4/6988d46c196cf453fc040e41/chris-christie-new-jersey-beach-scandal.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"chris-christie-new-jersey-beach-scandal","caption":"New Jersey Gov. 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