--- 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 ---  # Chris Christie Gets Roasted With a Detailed Sand Sculpture of His Day at the Beach > Sponsored content. 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It curates the day's top headlines with TIME's reporting and analysis across politics, world affairs, business, health and culture. It is free to join at time.com/newsletters. #### How do I sign up for The Brief? The Brief is available free at time.com/newsletters, where readers can select it along with any of TIME's other six newsletters. There is no subscription required to receive it. #### Is The Brief free? Yes. The Brief is a free daily email newsletter from TIME. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes The Brief? The Brief is led by editor Richard Hall and draws on reporting from TIME's newsroom. Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-brief-2026q3/newsletters?i=b3152884-8976-4120-9ce6-5d760001b159&cr=time-nl-brief-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_ by [Melissa Locker](https://time.com/author/melissa-locker/) ## Melissa Locker Jul 5, 2017 3:11 PM UTC 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 [ MUSIC ] [ MUSIC ] [ MUSIC ] [ MUSIC ] [ 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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