Most of the New Jersey Democrat establishment is standing by Joe Biden, Save Jerseyans, while some notable Democrats around the country (including one Garden State congresswoman) are calling on him to pass the baton. The battle lines are forming as the clock ticks closer to the August convention.
What about the guy running directly under Biden on the ballot?
U.S. Senate nominee Andy Kim (D, NJ-03) is apparently electing to ride the fence as his party descends into chaos over whether the rapidly-declining incumbent president should be allowed to continue as the 2024 presidential candidate. It’s a real profile in courage.
“I’m still thinking this through,” Kim told a reporter earlier this week, adding that the decision was “hard.”
Republicans are obviously trying to make the most of the tumult with multiple polls showing an unusually close contest for president this cycle in a state that hasn’t voted Republican for presidency since 1988.
“New Jersey voters deserve to know where Congressman Kim stands on the issue of President Biden, our Commander-in-Chief, and his ability to run our country and stand for re-election,” said Mike Testa, a state senator who serves as honoray chairman of the Republican challenger Curtis Bashaw’s U.S. Senate campaign. “Nearly three-quarters of our country believe that Joe Biden does not have the cognitive abilities to run for re-election, and yet Andy Kim has been silent on this issue. We’ve seen the disastrous consequences of the Biden Administration’s first term — from crippling inflation to reckless open border policies to chaos on the world stage— which Andy Kim has supported in lock-step, even saying Biden has a ‘mastery of the issues’.
The Bashaw campaign is out with a web ad, too, poking Kim for his indecision.
Rep. Andy Kim, Dem nominee for NJ Senate, said earlier he’s still personally undecided on whether Biden should stay on ticket.
“I’m still thinking this through,” he said, adding that confusion over what an alternate path looks like re: deadlines does make decision “hard” https://t.co/p6M3uPp9hM pic.twitter.com/mPqnytJhX5
— aaron navarro (@aaronlarnavarro) July 9, 2024
Craven and manipulative behavior aren’t new developments in Andy Kim’s character.
The three-term South Jersey congressman drew scrutiny during his first run for the House by embellishing his national security resume; for example, his 2018 campaign ran a television ad lauding him as a “national security officer” for then-President George W. Bush. The truth: Kim was a 22-year-old intern for The United States Agency for International Development. One would think a national security titan would be a little more concerned about Biden’s NATO performance?
In Congress, his only notable accomplishment to date has been donating the blue suit he wore picking up trash (in search of a photo op) after January 6th.
The only ballsy thing he’s ever accomplished was challenging Tammy Murphy – and the entire line system – in pursuit of an unearned promotion.
Stolen valor. Chicken shit behavior.
The sort of man we need in the United States Senate? I’d hope the answer was obvious.
