PRESS RELEASE: Gloucester County Republicans Denounce Counter Protesters

Following reports of two Gloucester County men re-enacting the death of George Floyd in front of a group of peaceful Black Lives Matter protesters Gloucester County Republican Chairwoman Jacci Vigilante condemned the actions of the men. Her press release on the matter follows:

Gloucester County Republican Chairwoman Jacci Vigilante called news of a “counter protest” during a peaceful Black Lives Matter march at which two men re-enacted the death of George Floyd, “Disgusting.”

“The Gloucester County GOP and its membership believe everyone has the right to peaceably assemble as guaranteed by our Constitution,” GCGOP Chairwoman Jacci Vigilante said. “It saddens me that anyone would test that right by re-enacting the tragic death of George Floyd.”

Vigilante continued, “Re-enacting the death of George Floyd was disgusting and appalling! Doing it in front of peaceful protesters took it to a level more disgusting than I have words for. The Gloucester County GOP condemns the actions of these men.”

“The two men who staged their re-enactment are not affiliated with Gloucester County GOP nor any municipal committee, if they were they would be thrown out. The actions of these men have no place in peaceful political discourse and will never be tolerated from any member of the Gloucester County GOP,” Vigilante said.

CD2 ACTION: ICYMI - Congressman Van Drew Launches First TV Ad Featuring President Trump's Endorsement

Jeff Van Drew

If you missed it incumbent Republican Congressman Jeff Van Drew has come with his first TV ad. His campaign’s press release on the matter follows:

Featuring President Trump’s endorsement and footage from the President’s January rally in Wildwood, Congressman Jeff Van Drew’s re-election campaign launched its first television ad of the 2020 cycle.

“President Trump’s endorsement of Congressman Van Drew’s re-election campaign has been clear and unequivocal from day one whether it was in the Oval Office following December’s impeachment vote or right here in South Jersey during President’s ‘Keep America Great’ rally in Wildwood,” said Van Drew’s Campaign Manager Ron Filan. “South Jersey’s 2nd Congressional District is going to be one of the most important House races in the country this Fall and President Trump is counting on Congressman Van Drew to defend this critical seat for him and to win a Republican majority in Congress.”  

Over the weekend President Trump renewed his support for Congressman Van Drew’s re-election to Congress tweeting, “Congressman Jeff Van Drew is a Courageous Leader who defended me against Pelosi’s Impeachment Scam and is a conservative who shares our Republican values. Jeff is a fighter for South Jersey and will always put America First. Vote for Jeff!”

President Trump’s endorsements are already being highlighted by the campaign in mailers, text messages, and on social media with a reminder that Trump and Van Drew supporters must return their vote by mail ballots by July 7th as there will be no in-person machine voting as a result of Governor Murphy’s Executive Orders.

Ad transcript:

President Trump: We are truly honored to be here with the newest Republican member of the House of Representatives Jeff Van Drew. 

Voice over: President Trump endorsed Jeff Van Drew because he needs a conservative fighter in congress. Someone who will stand up to the radical left. Securing the border. Growing our economy. Defending our American Values. 

President Trump: He’s a great guy, he’s a brave guy and he shares our values.

Voice over: Jeff Van Drew stands with President Trump and South Jersey.

Van Drew: I’m Jeff Van Drew and I approve this message.

US SENATE: Does He Support The County Organization(s) That Endorsed Him?

Hirsh Singh

Under normal circumstances I probably wouldn’t care about the fact that a Republican US Senate candidate blurred out the names of all the candidates, with the exception of President Donald Trump, in the column with him. Unfortunately, these are not normal circumstances.

On this past Saturday’s radio show Bob and I spent a considerable amount of time discussing the fact that some Cumberland County Republicans have called radio station management complaining we don’t show enough support for Cumberland’s Republican candidates on the air. Apparently, this has been discussed quite a bit, or at least often enough to get back to us, in GOP circles.

Never mind the fact that I still sometimes hear “The Sound of Silence” in my head because we played it on the air so often during our relentless attacks on former temporary state Senator Silent Bob Andrzejczak and his at least 119 days of silence.

Perhaps those Republicans who claim we don’t show support for Cumberland Republicans forgot our quick about face in CD2 after Congressman Jeff Van Drew became a Republican. Bob, in a rare blog post withdrew his endorsement of Brian Fitzherbert and I stopped inviting then CD2 candidate David Richter on the show. In other words, we fell in line. We even had Congressman Van Drew on the show and he has an open invitation. His opponent, Bob Patterson, does not have an open invitation. Quite the opposite, I go out of my way to find a reason to write about Patterson’s thoughts on condoms and “the remarkable chemicals in semen,” mostly because Patterson’s past writings on the topics make me laugh.

Sure, the Cumberland Republicans who claim we don’t show Cumberland Republicans enough support will argue we don’t support former beauty pageant winner Hirsh Singh’s candidacy for US Senate. Neither does at least half our listening audience! While Singh has the line in Cape May, Cumberland and Atlantic – all counties where WVLT is heard – US Senate candidate Rik Mehta has organizational support in Salem, Gloucester, Camden and Burlington – also all counties where WVLT is heard.

Furthermore, those same complaining Republicans should now be asking if Singh supports Cumberland County Republicans.

One would think that after fighting so hard to win the line in Cumberland that Singh would be proud to be in the column with all the candidates. He’s so proud to be in the column with his fellow Republicans that he blurred all their names out in a social media post:

Here it is larger:

He did the same in his home county of Atlantic:

Blurring out the names of those he shares the column with sends a terrible message.

Congressman Van Drew is in the column with Singh. Van Drew has a primary yet Singh blurred his name out.

One has to wonder – does Singh care about anyone else in the column? Does the blurring out of Van Drew’s name mean he supports Patterson?

This time, as opposed to other times, I didn’t go out of my way to pick on Singh, he can thank the Cumberland Republicans that have complained about us not being supportive enough for that. Maybe instead of questioning our party loyalty certain Cumberland Republicans should be calling out the guy they voted for at convention because Singh obviously doesn’t care about the rest of the column.