CLOSE Phil Murphy speaking at New Jersey Working Families Alliance 10th anniversary gala on Dec.14. Ricardo Kaulessar/NorthJersey.com 
 
 Gov.-elect Phil Murphy stands behind a cutout of Chris Christie in a beach chair with Analilia Mejia of the New Jersey Working Families Alliance at an event on Thursday. (Photo: Ricardo Kaulessar/NorthJersey.com) 
 
 Gov. Chris Christie isn’t amused about his successor’s latest photo-op in New Jersey. 
 
 Christie said it “doesn’t matter” to him personally that Democratic gov-elect Phil Murphy posed with a cutout of the now-famous image of the Republican governor lounging on the beach, but he is disappointed by it and the message it sends to the public. 
 
 The photo of Christie sitting on the beach at the governor’s residence on Island Beach State Park during last summer’s government shutdown while the rest of the state-owned park was closed to the public was widely interpreted at the time as a symbol of selfishness but has become an enduring worldwide meme. The image of Christie sitting in beachwear with his hands in front of his chest and looking up at the sky has been used to add instant humor to photos, like a meeting at the White House or next to an elf on the shelf. 
 
 A life-size cutout of Christie in the beach chair was used as a prop at a gala Thursday night in Glen Ridge for the left-leaning New Jersey Working Families Alliance. Murphy, alongside the alliance’s director, Analilia Mejia, bent down for a photo with a large smile. 
 
 “I think someone’s got to remind him that the campaign is over. It’s disappointing because we’ve been so open and so welcoming to him, and not playing politics at all,” Christie said Friday night. 
 
 More: Murphy surveys hurricane damage in Puerto Rico, pledges help 
 
 More: Chris Christie cutout makes appearance at gala honoring Phil Murphy 
 
 More: Facing large financial hurdles, Phil Murphy sticking to costly plan for NJ 
 
 Murphy had campaigned on a message that he would end the “us versus them” style of politics that he saw under Christie, and he has highlighted that promise throughout his month-long transition. But Christie said Murphy’s posing for the photo on Thursday night contradicts that. 
 
 “I just think it sends a really terrible message to people about, if you say you want to bring people together and do all the rest of that, then what you should want to do is focus on the future and not be looking at the past,” Christie said. 
 
 The photo caps a week of tension between Christie and Murphy after the transition appeared to be off to a smooth start. Murphy had visited with Christie and praised his willingness to help him move into the governor’s office. But a letter from Murphy to Christie expressing concerns over budget numbers became public at the beginning of the week, upsetting Christie that it had leaked to the press before he could respond. And his response was at points harsh toward Murphy, who has never held elected office, and his transition team. 
 
 In a brief interview following an event with the New Jersey Devils on Friday night, Christie suggested that Murphy’s transition could be moving quicker. He has announced three Cabinet choices – two of them in the last week. And Murphy’s choice for treasurer, Democratic Assemblywoman Elizabeth Muoio, is already facing questions from Republicans about her experience and qualifications to be responsible for a $35 billion budget. 
 
 “Now it’s time to govern. And, you know, with only three Cabinet members named and some real questions about some of the experience of some of them, he’s got to focus on governing. I would hope he would get to that,” Christie said. 
 
 Murphy was traveling back from Puerto Rico on Friday night. A spokesman for Murphy’s transition team did not respond to a message seeking comment. 
 
 Read or Share this story: https://njersy.co/2ADVw9v 

 SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico -- Gov.-elect Phil Murphy had a light-hearted explanation for why he posed for photos Thursday night next to a cardboard cutout of the now-iconic image of Gov. Chris Christie lounging on the beach this summer. 
 
 "It was right in front of me!" Murphy said, throwing up his arms, when asked by NJ Advance Media about the pictures during a diplomatic trip to hurricane-ravaged Puerto Rico on Friday. 
 
 "I was standing near the cutout," he added with a laugh. "I couldn't resist." 
 
 But not everyone was amused. Some critics said it was a move you might have expected from Murphy when he was on the campaign trail a few months ago -- not weeks before the Democrat is set to succeed the Republican Christie on Jan. 16. 
 
 One longtime Republican strategist called the photos "tacky." 
 
 And Christie himself wasn't laughing. 
 
 "I think someone's got to remind him that the campaign is over," Christie said of Murphy after an event in Newark on Friday, according to a report by NorthJersey.com. "It's disappointing because we've been so open and so welcoming to him, and not playing politics at all." 
 
 Phil Murphy poses alongside cutout of Chris Christie at Beachgate 
 
 Murphy posed for the pictures while appearing at a gala Thursday night in Glen Ridge held by the New Jersey Working Families Alliance. 
 
 The organization -- which has long been critical of Christie -- erected the cutout as a prop. It was a near life-size version of the famous image of Christie sitting in a chair at one of the beaches he ordered closed during the state government shutdown in July. 
 
 Christie, whose poll numbers were already at historic lows, was heavily criticized after NJ Advance Media published the photos. The images also inspired dozens of memes on social media and a series of late-night talk show jokes. 
 
 Photos from Thursday show Murphy posing for one picture by himself next to the cutout and another with Analilia Mejia, the alliance's director. 
 
 That Murphy would mock Christie isn't what's shocking. The Democrat relentlessly attacked the Republican incumbent over his record, his demeanor, and yes, those beach photos. "We will not go to the beach ourselves," Murphy said at multiple campaign stops this fall. 
 
 But Christie said Friday that the photos contradict Murphy's repeated call to move past the divisive politics that have gripped the nation in recent years. 
 
 "I just think it sends a really terrible message to people about if you say you want to bring people together and do all the rest of that, then what you should want to do is focus on the future and not be looking at the past," Christie said, according to the report. 
 
 Carl Golden, a former press secretary for former Republican Govs. Tom Kean and Christie Whitman, said the photos showed a "remarkable lapse in judgement" at a time when Murphy and Christie are tasked with completing a peaceful transition of power. 
 
 "When someone suggested to him he go up there, his immediate answer should have been, 'I'm not going to do that,'" Golden said, adding that it seems "out of character" for the relatively mild-mannered Murphy. 
 
 "What went through his mind that he thought this was a good idea to do this?" Golden asked. 
 
 Golden, who worked on transition teams for both Kean and Whitman, said the period between an election and a new governor is never easy -- especially when the predecessor and the successor come from different parties. 
 
 "But you have to get past that." Golden said. "Posing for a picture like this does absolutely nothing to get past that. That I just think is pretty tacky." 
 
 Matt Hale, a political science professor at Seton Hall University, agreed that the photo was more of "a campaign stunt, not a gubernatorial act." 
 
 But Hale notes that the photo comes days after Murphy sent a letter to Christie asking him not to exacerbate the state's budget problems over the next few weeks before he leaves office -- to which Christie responded with an acid-tinged letter of his own. 
 
 Hale said the photo could be "just another example of that." 
 
 "I think Murphy should just let Chris Christie go away and not keep bringing him up," he said. "But I don't know if that's gonna happen." 
 
 Patrick Murray, director of the Monmouth University Polling Institute, noted that the photo was "perhaps ... a little juvenile." 
 
 "But I don't think there will be any political fallout on this," Murray added. 
 
 Golden said even if Christie did want to punish Murphy, the state budget is already largely in place and Christie has already ordered a renovation of the Statehouse that has will force Murphy to set up his office somewhere else in Trenton the next few years. 
 
 "He's already not in the Statehouse," Golden said. "There really is nothing of really great consequence that Christie can do to make life more difficult for Murphy." 
 
 Matt Arco may be reached at marco@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @MatthewArco or Facebook. 
 
 Brent Johnson may be reached at bjohnson@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @johnsb01.
– Chris Christie has been combative this year with a Cubs fan, his own constituents, and now his successor to the New Jersey governorship. Democrat Phil Murphy beat GOPer Kim Guadagno in November, and at a recent photo op, Murphy got in a low-key dig at Christie. NorthJersey.com reports that while Murphy was in attendance at a gala in Glen Ridge for the New Jersey Working Families Alliance, he posed in front of a cutout of Christie that depicted him lazing in a beach chair—a pic made famous as Christie hung out at Island Beach State Park with his family on July 2 after he'd shut down state beaches to everyone else over the July 4th weekend. The Washington Post notes the pic, which showed Murphy and the NJWFA director with big smiles on their faces next to the cutout, was posted on NorthJersey.com and the NJWFA site. See it here. Christie isn't smiling back. "I think someone's got to remind him that the campaign is over," Christie said Friday. "It's disappointing because we've been so open and so welcoming to him, and not playing politics at all." Christie is especially miffed that Murphy ran on a platform that vowed to take down the "us versus them" mentality, noting that this slam "sends a really terrible message." Still, he says Murphy's photo "doesn't matter" to him personally. There's been a dust-up between the two recently as they prep for the transition, specifically regarding budget numbers and media access to them. Murphy, for his part, tells NJ.com the photo temptation was too great. "It was right in front of me," he said. "I couldn't resist."