New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie shot back at protesters when they heckled him during a campaign rally for Mitt Romney in Iowa Wednesday, calling them "jokers" and telling them to "work it out for yourselves."
Christie was speaking at the West Des Moines headquarters of the convenience store Kum & Go when a group of protesters apparently affiliated with Occupy Wall Street interrupted.
"Chris Christie and Mitt Romney... serve the corporate one percent," they shouted.
They then began chanting, "Make Wall Street pay" and "Put people first."
Some of the protesters were on the stage with him when they started demonstrating.
Christie appeared to be momentarily caught off-guard, then started chuckling when he realized what was happening.
As the protesters chanted, Christie appeared to address them derisively.
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"You are so angry, aren't you?," he said. "It's so terrible... Oh, work it out. Work it all out for yourselves. Work it all out for yourselves."
Turning to the others at the rally, he said, "You know what? We're used to dealing with jokers like this in New Jersey all the time."
As Romney supporters booed the Occupy Wall Street protesters, the ensuing noise and chaos seemed too loud for Christie to fight immediately. He signed autographs for the Romney supporters holding signs around him as he waited for the protesters to be escorted out.
"Take a break," suggested one woman on the stage next to Christie as she offered him a pen and her Romney campaign sign.
After autographing a couple placards, Christie finally addressed the crowd: "Well, that was the entertainment we brought from New Jersey tonight... I hope you all enjoyed it. They'll be working at the Marriott down the street. Please remember to tip your waiters and waitresses, all right?"
"Now, where was I before I was so New Jers-ily interrupted?" he continued, to the crowd's laughter.
He went on to acknowledge the Occupy Wall Street movement, blaming President Obama for the "anger" they felt.
"Here's the way I feel about it: They represent an anger in our country that Barack Obama has caused," he said.
“He’s a typical cynical Chicago ward politician, who runs for office and promises everything and then comes to office and disappoints," he said. "And so their anger is rooted not in me or Mitt Romney, their anger is rooted in the fact that they believed in this hope and change garbage they were sold three years ago."
“So now they're angry but they’re not mature enough to know they should be angry with themselves,” he said.
Christie endorsed Romney in October, soon after he announced that he would not run for president himself despite being urged to do so by some major fundraisers.
