3 weeks ago
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President Donald Trump's thirst to punish Democrats over his own party's government shutdown is having the unintended consequence of hurting his own party in a critical gubernatorial race.
Trump on Wednesday said that because of the shutdown, he is cancelling the billion-dollar Hudson River tunnel project known as Gateway—a critical infrastructure project that adds an additional train tunnel between New York and New Jersey to help cut back on the delays that plague commuters on both New Jersey's commuter rail as well as Amtrak's Northeast Corridor.
This is in addition to canceling clean energy projects in several states, nixing funding for an extension of the 2nd Avenue Subway line in Manhattan, and putting on hold the Red Line Extension and the Red and Purple Modernization Project in Chicago, all in Democratic areas.
"The project in New York—it is billions and billions of dollars that Schumer has worked 20 years to get," Trump said Wednesday, referring to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY). "It is terminated."
Trump’s mafia boss comment has left New Jersey's Republican gubernatorial nominee Jack Ciattarelli in the awkward position of having to defend his close ties to Trump, whose cruel attempt to punish will screw over the millions of New Jerseyans who are desperate for an end to train delays.
In a gubernatorial debate earlier this month, Ciattarelli gave Trump’s performance in office an “A” grade, saying that Trump is “right about everything that he's doing."
Yet on Wednesday, he had to put his tail between his legs and come out against Dear Leader’s destructive revenge campaign
"New Jersey needs a Governor who has the standing to work with, and when necessary disagree with, the President and advocate for New Jersey’s fair share of federal tax—including the Gateway Tunnel," Ciattarelli wrote in a post on X. "This is a critical infrastructure project and I will fight to get it done."
Of course, the argument that New Jersey needs a Republican governor so that Trump won't punish the state's residents is unlikely to land well in the Garden State—which has voted for a Democrat for president in every election since 1992.
Ciattarelli will need to convince Democratic voters to back his bid in order to pull out a victory.
"NJ is a blue state, & Ciattarelli needs to be winning a big chunk of Harris voters to win. He's not right now," CNN polling analyst Harry Enten wrote in a post on X.
Democrat Mikie Sherrill Saying that the only way for the state to avoid punishment is to put a Republican in charge to work with Trump is not an argument that will sway hardened Democrats.
Meanwhile, Rep. Mikie Sherrill, New Jersey's Democratic gubernatorial nominee, is making the tunnel’s apparent cancellation an issue in the race.
"Donald Trump is trying to terminate Gateway Tunnel funding, the most important infrastructure project in New Jersey, and the country. I'm for Gateway. @Jack4NJ is for Trump," Sherill wrote in a post on X.
Other Democrats are backing Sherrill up.
"The Gateway Tunnel isn't something we need to 'advocate' for. Congress appropriated the money. There is a legally binding funding agreement. No president can lawfully 'terminate' it. And we shouldn't have to elect a governor the president politically owns to get it," former New Jersey Rep. Tom Malinowski wrote in a post on X in response to Ciattarelli.
Amen.
