Christie involved in Amtrak quiet car kerfuffle
After traveling to Washington, D.C. on Sunday and appearing on an interview with CBS' "Face the Nation," New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie departed the nation's capital on an unhappy note, according to reports.
News site Gawker reported witnesses said that Christie was kicked off an Amtrak train's quiet car traveling to New York early Sunday morning. The Christie campaign says he left the car voluntarily.
One passenger told the site that the Republican presidential candidate "got on last minute yelling at his two secret service agents." He was frustrated over a seat mix-up, according to Gawker, and he "immediately started making phone calls on the quiet car."
Passenger Alexander Mann overheard Christie saying "this is frickin' ridiculous" and "seriously?" over the phone.
Mann later told CNN that the conversation lasted about 5-10 minutes:
A noisy @ChrisChristie got booted from an Acela quiet car this morning. https://t.co/mXoqGIqyF1
A rider emails: pic.twitter.com/Dvb9VLNqyS
— Eric Bradner (@ericbradner) October 25, 2015
The GOP 2016 candidate left ten minutes later, after the conductor asked him to go to another car.
A woman who said the governor was sitting at her Amtrak table gave another account of the incident, taking to Twitter and calling Christie "super courteous & possibly the least intrusive in-public phone person ever."
About the @Gawker fail: @ChrisChristie was super courteous & possibly the least intrusive in-public phone person ever.
— Katie Klabusich (@Katie_Speak) October 25, 2015
"You're kidding. It's the quiet car? Alright" & to the phone "I gotta go, I'm in the quiet car. Call you back."
— Katie Klabusich (@Katie_Speak) October 25, 2015
Did he appear annoyed? Sure. Apparently having a shit logistics day & someone fucked up. Was he screaming, causing a scene? Hardly.
— Katie Klabusich (@Katie_Speak) October 25, 2015
His campaign released a statement about the incident Sunday afternoon, saying Christie had mistakenly boarded the wrong car.
"On a very full train this morning, the Governor accidentally took a seat in Amtrak's notorious quiet car," Christie spokesperson Samantha Smith said in a statement. "After breaking the cardinal rule of the quiet car, the Governor promptly left once he realized the serious nature of his mistake and enjoyed the rest of his time on the train from the cafe car. Sincere apologies to all the patrons of the quiet car that were offended."