Trump, trashing N.J. as ‘blue horror show,' again urges support for ex-assemblyman for governor
GOP gubernatorial candidate Jack Ciattarelli and President Trump at Trump's Bedminster country club on March 21. (Courtesy of the Ciattarelli campaign)
President Donald Trump urged his New Jersey supporters during a virtual rally Monday night to vote for Republican Jack Ciattarelli for governor in the June 10 GOP primary, calling Ciattarelli a 'true champion' for the Garden State.
'It's being watched actually all over the world because New Jersey's ready to pop out of that blue horror show and really get in there and vote for somebody that's going to make things happen,' Trump said.
Trump's push for Ciattarelli came on the eve of the early in-person voting period for the primary, which begins Tuesday at 10 a.m. and runs through Sunday.
Ciattarelli is one of five men seeking the Republican nod for governor next week. His opponents include longtime New Jersey 101.5 radio host Bill Spadea, who also competed for Trump's endorsement, and state Sen. Jon Bramnick, a Trump critic. Whoever wins the nomination on June 10 will compete against one of six Democrats in November to succeed term-limited Gov. Phil Murphy, a Democrat.
The president said Monday that Ciattarelli has his 'complete and total endorsement.'
'Other people are going around saying I endorsed them. It's not true,' Trump said.
Trump's support for Ciattarelli came even after Ciattarelli in 2015 called Trump a 'charlatan.' Appearing on Spadea's show last year, Trump said Ciattarelli 'made some very big mistakes' when Ciattarelli sought unsuccessfully to unseat Murphy in 2021.
Spadea has said he was disappointed in Trump's endorsement of Ciattarelli, and has even referenced the endorsement in a recent campaign ad, telling Republican voters that 'it's OK for you to disagree with' Trump.
Several polls have shown Ciattarelli with a substantial lead in the GOP primary. A May 15 Emerson College/Pix 11/The Hill poll shows Ciattarelli with 44% support compared to Spadea's 18%, with roughly a quarter of voters undecided. That poll also shows Trump has a split job approval rating in the state, with 47% approving and 47% disapproving.
Trump on Monday blasted New Jersey as a sanctuary state with 'crippling regulations and rampant corruption.' Just 10 days ago, the Trump administration sued four New Jersey cities and their mayors — including two Democratic candidates for governor, Newark Mayor Ras Baraka and Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop — over their sanctuary city policies.
Trump also touched on his usual rally talking points, like easing illegal immigration at the southern border, transgender issues, crime, congestion pricing, and ending the 'radical left war on suburbs.'
'New Jersey's economy will wither and die, and you'll be living in a nightmare of chaos and crime, and you sort of have that to a certain extent now. But it's going to be changed, and it's going to be changed fast with Jack,' Trump said.
Ciattarelli told the president that his first executive order as governor would be ending the Immigrant Trust Directive — that's the state policy that bars law enforcement from assisting federal agents with civil immigration enforcement — and pledged that his attorney general won't sue the White House. The state's current attorney general, Matt Platkin, a Democrat, has led and joined numerous legal complaints against the Trump administration.
'I'm honored, and I will not let you down, nor will the Republicans across New Jersey,' Ciattarelli said. 'They're going to turn out in record numbers this year because we see what's going on across the state.'
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