Deprived of a long-sought after endorsement from President Donald Trump, GOP gubernatorial candidate Bill Spadea and his core supporters have been increasingly critical of the Commander-in-Chief.
On Thursday, Spadea – a former NJ 101.5 morning drive host – criticized the roll out of the President’s reciprocal tariff policy and claimed that it harmed New Jersey businesses. President Trump’s courageous efforts to reform the international trading system stand second only to the “Big Beautiful Bill” in importance to the long-term Trump economic agenda.
“The tariffs are generally a good idea to reign in our foreign enemies and rebuild American manufacturing,” Spadea posted on X. “Problem is the fast roll out has hurt many NJ (and others) companies who are unable to afford to receive shipments they already borrowed or paid cash for the contents. Millions of dollars in products stuck at our ports.”
Spadea’s commentary comes at a time when the President is dealing with attacks from Elon Musk over the Big Beautiful Bill as well as Musk’s anti-tariff remarks.
Meanwhile, the Spadea campaign’s damage control narrative has continued to shift away from their initial post-Trump endorsement line (that the President was somehow duped or tricked by polling into support Jack Ciattarelli) to the newest explanation – that Spadea refused an alleged request from the President to unquestionably support his agenda.
The candidate – who is polling behind Ciattarelli by a double-digit margin – made the claim in a video shot in Cape May and posted on social media, and he extended his criticism of the Trump Administration to multiple other policy areas:
“Donald Trump wanted a guy who would just lay down and do whatever the heck he told them to do,” Spadea explained.
But Spadea account seems unlikely assuming he’s referring to the March Bedminster meeting between the President and Spadea which was reportedly very brief while, in his Cape May video above, Spadea reported that they ate breakfast for about 40 minutes.
