Chris Christie Kills Spider, PETA Mad For Real

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie killed a spider during a recent visit with school kids, and PETA (People For The Ethical Treatment of Animals) is displeased at the politician’s disregard for arachnid life so callously displayed.

It’s likely Chris Christie slipped into “dad mode” when, during a Friday visit with Jersey schoolkids, a spider was spotted crawling near the phone on his desk.

As he spoke with the kids, Christie thwapped the spider hard, killing it. The kids laughed, and Christie quipped that “part of the fun of being governor” is that you are allowed to kill all the bugs you see on your desk and not get in trouble for it.

Christie’s hard line stance against desk spiders (captured in the clip below from the Governor’s official YouTube account) may be unapologetic, and, later that day, the Jersey Republican tweeted:

“Earlier today I saved a few school children from a spider #nobigdeal #toughdayattheoffice”

But PETA feels that, despite having an office crammed full of excitable children, Chris Christie should have spared the spider’s life.

Ingrid Newkirk of PETA says Chris Christie’s disregard for the spider’s life and liberty was evident, saying of the spider’s death:

“He probably did it without thinking … Some people put the spider outside, but spiders are often scary to people, and that can prevent them from pondering their worth.”

PETA has spoken out about politician on insect violence before Chris Christie rescued the kids from an evil, bitey spider — back in 2009, Barack Obama murdered a fly, prompting the animal rights org to criticize his “executive insect execution” caught on tape.

Do you think Chris Christie should have taken the spider out rather than taking the spider out(Sopranos style) like PETA says, or do you also feel no guilt about injudicious spider squishing?