Christie Beach Photo Spawns Epic Internet Meme

ISLAND BEACH STATE PARK, NJ — The photos of Gov. Chris Christie and his family sunning themselves at the state park while it was closed to everyone else continued to reverberate around the internet on Monday.

Christie mocked the photos captured by NJ.com photographer Andrew Mills, saying all they showed was the governor doing what he said he would be doing: "They actually caught a politician being where he said he was going to be with the people he said he was going to be with,” he told Fox 29 Philadelphia.

Mills shared the details of how the photos came to be late Sunday:

On Monday, as the fury over Christie's private beach vacation continued to build and spread across the country, some locals took matters into their own hands, paying for a message to be flown over Island Beach State Park: "Gov. Christie, Get The Hell Off Island Beach."

Video by Jersey Shore Hurricane News captured the plane and the banner — and the reaction of beachgoers as it passed overhead.

In the meantime, Mills' photo took on a life of its own, spawning dozens of takes on the meme. We've gathered some of our favorites here, embedded where the Photoshop creators could be traced. To the creative folks who did these, we salute you!

I don't know about you, but the Sopranos reboot looks awful. #ChrisChristie pic.twitter.com/hNPo53SQR7
— brandon® (@brandojerg) July 3, 2017

Even editorial cartoonist Steve Breen, a former Jersey Shore resident, got in on the act from San Diego:

Here's a bonus meme, added Tuesday afternoon:

Related Video: New Jersey Gets Budget Deal, Beaches To Reopen

Main photo: Chris Christie Photoshopped onto the bench in "Forrest Gump"