TRENTON, N.J. – Governor Phil Murphy used his daily COVID-19 briefing to take a cheap shot at Congressman Jeff Van Drew (R, NJ-02) for announcing that he would vote against certifying the November presidential election results.
“It pains me in particular to see one of our own representatives, Congressman Jeff Van Drew, cynically siding with conspiracy theorists and throwing his fate in with the far-right’s disproven and crackpot theories,” Murphy said. “If that’s the legacy Jeff wants, then I guess it is what is.”
–
Murphy also accused congressional Republicans of being “unpatriotic.”
The Van Drew campaign quickly fired back.
“It’s good to see Phil Murphy taking a break from killing seniors in nursing homes and destroying our friends and neighbors’ livelihoods long enough to refer to hundreds of thousands of his constituents as crackpot conspiracy theorists simply because they want to have the confidence he continues to deny them in the outcome of our elections,” said Van Drew’s Campaign Manager Ron Filan. “As stated in his recent Save Jersey Op-Ed, Congressman Van Drew has been clear from day one that his opposition to certifying the results of the Electoral College isn’t about who won or lost the Presidency, but rather a rejection of the status quo and a no confidence vote in politicians like Phil Murphy who rather dismiss Americans as naive, stupid, or conspiracy theorists in comments exactly like the one he gave today rather than doing the job they were elected and continually fail to do.”
Over 7,000 long-term care patients have died in New Jersey since the beginning of the pandemic. New Jersey’s death rate is the worst in the nation.
Murphy’s lockdown policies – and mishandling of the nursing home crisis – have been widely cited as the leading cause of the state’s stunning nursing home COVID-19 deaths.
–
