{"id":241710,"date":"2025-04-15T22:39:29","date_gmt":"2025-04-15T22:39:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thejerseypress.com\/?p=241710"},"modified":"2025-04-15T22:45:56","modified_gmt":"2025-04-15T22:45:56","slug":"silence-is-golden-but-not-in-this-case-mr-president","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thejerseypress.com\/?p=241710","title":{"rendered":"Opinion: Silence is Golden but not in this case, Mr. President"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\n

OPINION – President Trump\u2019s influence has reshaped the Republican Party over the past decade from the grassroots all the way up to the halls of Congress. His endorsements have turned longshots into frontrunners, galvanized working-class voters, and redefined what it means to be a Republican in America. But in New Jersey, a blue state with a red-hot MAGA base, his silence in the 2025 gubernatorial primary could have detrimental consequences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today, the Republican nomination is teetering on a knife\u2019s edge. One candidate, Jack Ciattarelli, is trying to stage the most expensive political reinvention the state has ever seen. Ciattarelli, who ran as a proud Never Trumper just four years ago, is now spending millions of dollars and deploying familiar names to whitewash his record. His top hire, none other than Kellyanne Conway, while still a respected figure in Trump world, is cashing in on trying to convince voters that Ciattarelli is suddenly a MAGA Republican.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the facts do not lie. Ciattarelli\u2019s record reads like a moderate Democrat\u2019s playbook. A divorcee with allegedly multiple affairs and gag orders, Jack supported taxpayer-funded abortions, called for more gun restrictions, and went on the record dismissing Trump\u2019s base as \u201ca cult.\u201d During his failed 2021 campaign, he repeatedly made it clear that he believed Trump was a liability, not an asset, in New Jersey. There was no ambiguity in any of his anti-Trump publicly stated positions. He ran away from the America First agenda as far and fast as he could. Now that the political winds have changed, so does Ciattarelli. He is spending beaucoup bucks to scrub his anti-Trump past and relying on a well-funded PAC led by expensive consultants like Conway to do the heavy lifting for him. But no hired gun, no matter how familiar her face, can erase the fact that Ciattarelli\u2019s newfound \u201csupport\u201d for President Trump is flagrant political opportunism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the other hand, Bill Spadea hasn\u2019t changed a thing. He didn\u2019t have to. A family man who just celebrated his 30th<\/sup> wedding anniversary, a former Marine, businessman, conservative radio host, and grassroots organizer, Spadea has stood with President Trump from the very beginning, not only when it was politically safe, but when it counted. His conservative message has energized New Jersey working-class families, small business owners, and suburban parents. He\u2019s anti-establishment to the core, and most importantly, he\u2019s genuine through and through. In a recent interview, President Trump told Bill unequivocally what everyone in the MAGA movement already knows: \u201cYou\u2019ve been with me since day one.\u201d That kind of loyalty can\u2019t be bought at any price or spun by any consultant. That authenticity is why Spadea is resonating with the MAGA base in a way Ciattarelli never could even with all the money and media spin in the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But Spadea\u2019s path to the nomination is not guaranteed. The establishment class in the NJGOP is still powerful despite the removal of the once cherished county chairs\u2019 endorsements. The consultant crowd is circling the wagons and the big money donors backing Ciattarelli would love nothing more than for President Trump to stay silent, so they can continue pushing their repackaged \u201celectable\u201d threepeat candidate through the primary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That is why Trump\u2019s endorsement matters now more than ever.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

President Trump has always defied the conventional wisdom, ignored the consultants, and trusted his instinct. He did not need focus groups to tell him that the American people were hungry for change, and he doesn\u2019t need them now. This isn\u2019t just a primary. It\u2019s the first major referendum on the President\u2019s second term; it\u2019s also a decision on whether the MAGA movement in New Jersey will be led by someone who helped build it or someone who tried to stop it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mr. President, with your endorsement, Bill Spadea can win this race, energize the base, and give you a true America First ally in Trenton. The people of New Jersey don\u2019t want a candidate who discovered MAGA after it became politically expedient. They want someone who\u2019s been in the fight all along.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Don\u2019t let paid consultants and poll-tested narratives steer this election. The MAGA Republican base in New Jersey is ready. They are ready to elect Spadea, all they need is your voice and your blessing. Let\u2019s hear it!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

George A. Nader, PE is an Engineer\/Businessman and a County Committee person in the Morris Couty Republican Party.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

OPINION – President Trump\u2019s influence has reshaped the Republican Party over the past decade from the grassroots all the way up to the halls of Congress. His endorsements have turned longshots into frontrunners, galvanized working-class voters, and redefined what it means to be a Republican in America. But in New Jersey, a blue state with […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":241653,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"off","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,3,27],"tags":[18,21,12,19,17,16,43],"class_list":["post-241710","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-national","category-new-jersey","category-opinion","tag-2025-nj-primary","tag-bill-spadea","tag-donald-trump","tag-jack-ciattarelli","tag-new-jersey","tag-nj","tag-trump-endorsement"],"yoast_head":"\nOpinion: Silence is Golden but not in this case, Mr. President - The Jersey Press<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/thejerseypress.com\/?p=241710\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Opinion: Silence is Golden but not in this case, Mr. President - The Jersey Press\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"OPINION – President Trump\u2019s influence has reshaped the Republican Party over the past decade from the grassroots all the way up to the halls of Congress. 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