The Republican governor killed the spider as he was addressing a group of students in his office Friday, The (Newark, N.J.) Star-Ledger reported.
"Earlier today I saved a few school children from a spider #nobigdeal #toughdayattheoffice," Christie tweeted later in the afternoon, including a link to a YouTube video of event.
In the video, Christie is seen searching for the spider, asking "where is he?"
The children respond "there he is," just before Christie squashes the spider.
Not everyone was impressed, however. People For The Ethical Treatment of Animals released a statement stating: "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."