Jack Ciattarelli waded into the latest Trump controversy on Wednesday, tweeting criticism of Donald Trump’s reaction to the death of former Secretary of State Colin Powell.
“Secretary Colin Powell was a Vietnam veteran and a trailblazing statesman,” the GOP gubernatorial nominee tweeted. “He deserves better than President Trump’s petty insults upon his passing.”
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Secretary Colin Powell was a Vietnam veteran and a trailblazing statesman. He deserves better than President Trump’s petty insults upon his passing.
— Jack Ciattarelli (@Jack4NJ) October 20, 2021
Powell passed away on Monday after an apparent bout with cancer. He was covid positive at the time of his passing.
“Wonderful to see Colin Powell, who made big mistakes on Iraq and famously, so-called weapons of mass destruction, be treated in death so beautifully by the Fake News Media. Hope that happens to me someday,” Trump said in a public statement which, given Powell’s past vicious criticism of Trump, didn’t attempt to hide the former president’s loathing for the ex-Republican general.
Powell, who hadn’t supported a Republican for president since at least 2004, had criticized Trump as a “disgrace” and a “racist.”
Ciattarelli criticism of Trump isn’t exactly a new thing; his 2016 refusal to support Trump was an early primary issue. Ciattarelli’s decision to weigh into this latest controversy a full day after Trump’s comments (and when the story was beginning to fade) looks like clearly a calculated decision to reach New Jersey voters who abhor Trump but find themselves conflicted over whether to go Republican in the November 2nd gubernatorial election.
Every potential reward is accompanied by risk; in this case, he’s betting that most in-state voting Trump loyalists hate Phil Murphy more than they’ll be annoyed by his tweet. The decision to weigh in at all on this Trump-Powell story was a gamble, Save Jerseyans, no matter how you slice it.
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