Chris Christie's 7 Biggest Gaffes

Chris Christie went from one of the most beloved to the least popular governors in New Jersey history in all of a two-year span. But it wasn't any one thing - can anyone say Bridgegate? - that did him in.

Christie had a list of gaffes that could have been longer than the George Washington Bridge itself, each of them chipping away at the political capital he gained after getting 60 percent of the vote in his 2013 re-election bid.

The list of gaffes will always start with Bridgegate, the lane-closings scandal that led to three convictions of administration aides, ended the governor's presidential aspirations and served as the impetus for Christie's collapse in popularity.

Christie has repeatedly denied knowing anything about closing George Washington Bridge lanes as punishment against the Fort Lee mayor for not endorsing his 2013 re-election bid. But the constant drip-drip of scandal did Christie no favors as he repeatedly fought back against any claims of involvement.

Perhaps Christie's lowest point came in late 2016 when testimony in a trial that convicted two Bridgegate conspirators, according to reporting from The Record, appeared to tie him directly to the scandal. The two indicted, Bridget Anne Kelly, the governor's former deputy chief of staff, and Bill Baroni, the top Christie executive appointee at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, were both convicted. David Wildstein, the Christie-appointed Port Authority official also behind Bridgegate, pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy.

Long-time Christie confidant David Samson, who some believed had a role in the Bridgegate scheme but was never charged for it, also pleaded guilty to demanding a bribe while he was chairman of the Port Authority.

But even with all that, Christie had a number of self-inflicted wounds that drove his governorship into the group:

Endorsing/standing by Trump: Christie was one of the first major Republican figures to endorse President Trump. The endorsement caught the Garden State off-guard given Trump's low popularity ratings in New Jersey. What made matters worse was Christie's decision to leave New Jersey - again - after spending months away on the campaign trail to go campaign for Trump. Perhaps the worst moment, however, came during a Trump press conference when Christie appeared awkwardly at Trump's side, a scene that was much derided on social media.

Christie on the beach: This could have topped them all. Christie clashed with the state Legislature in July that led to a shutdown of the state government that, in turn, led to a shutdown of Island Beach State Park. The shutdown wasn't so much of an embarrassment for Christie until he decided to take his family out on the beach one day, and then he got in the way of a Star-Ledger photographer.

The Internet memes on social media seemed to further humiliate the governor, inspiring many to make use of Adobe Photostop and plop Christie's beach chair anywhere they felt like it. Soon after the constant barrage of memes appeared on social media and on television, Christie and the Democratic legislature settled. Read more here...

Christie's food bill: A year after Bridgegate became public, it was revealed in 2015 that Christie spent $360,000 from his state allowance during his five years in office - more than 80 percent of which, or $300,000, was used to buy food, alcohol and desserts.

Some of Christie's most notable expenses happened during the 2010 and 2011 NFL football seasons at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, where the Giants and Jets play their home games. Christie used a debit card, on 58 occasions, to pay a total of $82,594 for concessions at MetLife, according to the NJ Watchdog report.

Christie and the Cowboys: Call it the hug that made people cringe around the world ... or, in New Jersey, at least. Twitter users took to social media in 2015 to blast Christie's hug of Dallas Cowboys' owner Jerry Jones after the Cowboys defeated the Detroit Lions in the first round of the NFL playoffs.

Christie is an unapologetic Cowboys supporter, but some had questions that were bigger than team loyalty as the governor courted possible support for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination: How much did those luxury box suites in Dallas cost? Who paid for them? Does he plan to make more trips to Texas or elsewhere? The Christie administration later revealed that state taxpayers were only on the hook for his security detail.

Christie, Trump, meat loaf and getting passed over for a job: The governor's tougher-than-nails persona took a blow whenever he was dealing with President Trump. Indeed, there was speculation that Christie was going to visit with Trump in February and come back with a job.

Christie appeared to repeatedly court Trump for a job in the administration, only to come up short repeatedly. However, earlier this year, during the February visit, it appeared he had a chance of finally finding his way out of New Jersey.

Instead, he came back with a quirky story: The president made him eat meatloaf.

Christie appeared on the "Boomer and Carton" show on WFAN radio to talk about his visit, and host Craig Carton asked him about dining with Trump. Christie told Carton there was a menu, but he didn't get to order off of it.

"This is what it's like to be with Trump," Christie said. "He says, 'There's the menu. You guys order whatever you want...Then he says, 'Chris, you and I are going to have the meat loaf.'"

Christie seemed to acknowledge that he was a little taken aback. "Then I said, 'We're going to have the meat loaf? He said, 'I'm telling you the meat loaf is fabulous.'"

Carton, who regularly appeared with Christie until he ended up being arrested in an alleged fraud scheme a few months ago, said the whole scenario sounded "emasculating" for a man to order food for another man.

"No it's not," Christie said.

Ripping on Philly fans: Christie may have found another way to lower his approval rating even more with many, many New Jerseyans - especially South Jerseyans. That's because many, many South Jerseyans - and it's probably in the thousands, at least - are fans of the Philadelphia Eagles football team.

Christie called Eagles fans "generally angry, awful people" when he was - once again - speaking on the WFAN radio show "Boomer and Carton" in January. He was responding to the hostility he was getting from Eagles fans who don't like the fact that he's a Cowboys fan.

"Now Eagles fans, I could understand from them a little more because the Eagles do suck and they've sucked for a long time, and their fans are generally angry, awful people," he said.

Christie then suggested that Giants fans have no right to criticize him for being a "frontrunner" because the Giants have been a lot more successful over the past 10 years than the Cowboys.

Christie did note that he is a fan of the New York Mets baseball team, the New York Rangers hockey team and the New York Knicks basketball team.

Patch file photo