New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) shut down a reporter at a press conference over the weekend, questioning his intelligence and hurling an insult at him.
Speaking to the press about a water treatment emergency caused by the breakage of three massive pipes late last month, Christie was asked whether he would address the state legislature in the upcoming days.
"Did I say on topic? Are you stupid? On topic, on topic. Next question," Christie said to the reporter. "Thank you all very much and I'm sorry for the idiot over there."
According to the Newark Star-Ledger, the reporter then responded, "No, I'm not stupid," before attempting to proceed with his question, but Christie wasn't having it.
Christie, rumored to be a potential vice presidential pick for presumptive GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney, has made a habit of abusing people who ask questions he doesn't agree with.
Earlier this year, Christie threw the "idiot" jab at a veteran during a verbal altercation resulting from the former Navy SEAL's question about the governor's education plan.
Late last month, Christie turned on a Democratic state senator, calling him an "arrogant S.O.B." for his opposition to the governor's proposed 10 percent income tax cut.
Christie has also sparred with Democrats in the other chamber of the statehouse, calling one lawmaker "numbnuts" after he'd criticized the governor for controversial comments linking the state's gay marriage debate to the civil rights movement. In another incident, Christie called an assemblywoman a "jerk" after she'd castigated the governor in the wake of a report that he'd taken State Police helicopters to his son's baseball games.
At a fundraiser last week, Romney praised Christie's confrontational demeanor, citing it as a sign of good leadership skills.
"That man really is something, you know that?" Romney said of Christie, according to pool reports. "I was hoping someone in here would start to heckle him so I could watch him go to town here. But you know better, don't ya? What an extraordinary leader."
