GOP Candidate’s Recorded Comments are Latest Blunder for Struggling Campaign
TRENTON, NJ — In a newly released video recording first published by POLITICO, Republican gubernatorial candidate Assemblyman Jack Ciattarelli is caught on tape exposing his dishonest attempt to mislead voters by hiding his embrace of far-right extremists. Speaking at a campaign event in deep red Hunterdon County, Assemblyman Ciattarelli explained to the assembled crowd of Republicans that “ … you guys got to give me a little wiggle room.” Ciattarelli asked his base for permission to lie to mainstream voters and hide the extremist positions he has adopted on everything from spreading lies about the 2020 election at a Stop the Steal rally with white supremacists, to rolling back common sense gun safety measures, to attacking women’s reproductive rights, to wanting to make it harder for communities of color to vote.
“Assemblyman Ciattarelli told us who he was loud and clear when he spoke at a Stop the Steal rally, defended Donald Trump’s disastrous record, and embraced policies that would take our state right back to the Chris Christie era — there is no amount of ‘wiggle room’ that will hide the fact that he’s a right-wing, partisan Republican. Let’s be clear, when Jack Ciattarelli says ‘wiggle room’ he means lie and mislead,” said NJDSC Executive Director Saily Avelenda. “While Assemblyman Ciattarelli has to lie and hide his true nature to appeal to mainstream voters, Governor Murphy is exactly who he always said he would be: a pro-growth progressive leader who means what he says and delivers on his promises, from raising the minimum wage to instituting the millionaire’s tax to delivering middle-class property tax relief to making New Jersey stronger and fairer for everyone.”