Donald Trump offered a “total and complete endorsement” to Congressman Jeff Van Drew (R, NJ-02) on Thursday evening at the former president’s famous Mar-a-Lago club in balmy (and red) Florida.
“Jeff took a chance,” Trump noted, recalling the former South Jersey Democrat’s widely-covered 2019 decision to switch parties over the first impeachment. “And we talked, and we fell in love. But in the truest sense, I respected him immediately from the beginning and before I even met him; he wanted to switch because it was compatible with his views.”
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Trump also delivered a characteristically harsh assessment of the Biden Administration’s first year record, zeroing in on the Afghanistan debacle, cancel culture, urban crime, and the U.S.-Mexican Border.
“The Democrats have gone crazy. There’s something wrong with them,” Trump opined to chuckles from the crowd.
A number of South Jersey notables flew in for the big event including Cape May County GOP Chairman Mike Donohue, Vineland Mayor Anthony Fanucci, and Assemblywoman-elect Beth Sawyer (R-3), one of Ed Durr’s victorious 2021 running mates.
Campaign sources tell Save Jersey that Van Drew raised in excess of $200,000 but that’s only a preliminary number.
A video of Trump’s remarks is posted below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mNv48PVX5mw
Thursday’s endorsement isn’t a surprise, Save Jerseyans, but it’s also notable because Trump recently issued a call for primary challengers to take on a number of Republican representatives including New Jersey’s only other incumbent Republican Congressman: Chris Smith of the Fourth Congressional District.
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