Power of Trump
Strong in New Jersey
Driving along a bucolic, serene, autumnal road in Hunterdon County I was reminded of the photos of the Nazi Park swastika banners which lined the square as thousands of Nazi Party officials took an oath of loyalty read by Rudolf Hess in Munich and broadcast across Germany on Feb. 25, 1934. There were no Nazi flags during my recent trek but there were chilling signs that may portend a return of trump and worse, including two banners which hung from the small country home that blared “Impeach Biden” next to an even larger banner supporting “Trump 2024.” And down the street, a military-style Jeep was parked on the front lawn and it was decorated with a large American flag on one side and a trump flag on the other.
I can so easily imagine how the howling masses who feel disenfranchised, eviscerated, castrated and ignored could feel the overwhelming sense of welcome and belonging and power when their god-like leader howls from the pulpit, making each and every misdirected visitor feel that he was speaking directly to them and that they are the key to saving the nation. And that misguided visitor can see thousands like himself and feel he has been empowered to follow his leader anywhere. These are people who crave attention, who are sorely uneducated and misled and who believe that they are righteous in their numbers. And they are everywhere, including supposedly “blue” New Jersey.
Driving through Hunterdon County and into neighboring Warren County, the trump banners were seemingly everywhere alongside the Gadsden flags, which show a coiled rattlesnake over the phrase “DON’T TREAD ON ME” against a yellow background and has come to mean trump and rebellion and anger. And for those who think I am alarmist, please note that Republican Jack Ciattarelli, almost derailed Democrat Phil Murphy’s reelection bid in the “blue” ocean of New Jersey. Ciattarelli was seen at at least one “Stop the Steal” rally, drawing trump supporters who believe in the unproven and totally repudiated conspiracy theory that trump lost only because of widespread voter fraud. Ciattarelli campaigned on an anti-vaccine and mask mandates and school curricula on sex education and teaching tolerance and diversity, pillars of the right wing, pro-trump movement.
Further on in Sussex County, 24th District Assembly Republicans F. Parker Space and Harold J. “Hal” Wirths easily won reelection as did their GOP colleague, Sen. Steven V. Oroho. They are all strong trump supporters but Space has been the most outspoken. He received the ignominious award of being named “New Jersey’s Most Bigoted Legislator” by Sussex County Pride. Space was one of the only Assembly members to vote against two major pieces of legislation for the LGBTQ+ community. The bill, which passed, despite opposition from Space,Wirths and Orho, requires school districts to include diversity in their curriculum and “encourage safe, welcoming, and inclusive environments for all students regardless of race or ethnicity, sexual and gender identities, mental and physical disabilities, socioeconomic status, and religious beliefs.” Space also voted no and Wirth abstained on a bill that would solidified the rights of LGBTA+ people in long term care facilities.
And then there was Space’s negative vote against a bill to condemn trump and the rioters who stormed the Capitol on Jan.6, after the urging of trump to “Stop the Steal.” In 2017, Space posted to Facebook a photo of him and his wife posing in front of a Confederate flag and he has a Confederate tattoo on his arm. In 2015, Space was the only New Jersey lawmaker to abstain when the Assembly voted 73–0 to condemn Confederate flag displays.
Oroho, Space and Wirths also have sponsored a series of bills that they claim targets voter fraud and aims to “protect the integrity of elections” in New Jersey. One of the proposals, which were all defeated, would have required that all voters show a form of ID at the polls. Another would stipulate that the winner of the Electoral College is based on state election results, as is current practice, and not the national vote. Their efforts came in the wake of similar laws in Georgia, Florida and Texas, where GOP officials had claimed there were widespread voting irregularities in the presidential election, irregularities that have never been proven.
And last week, Oroho was declared by acclamation to be the next leader of the New Jersey Senate Republicans.
Another troubling sign of Trumpian support was that seven Republicans who were at the Jan. 6 “Stop the Steal” rally that preceded the Capitol insurrection won on Election Day. One of the seven was Christine Ead, who was elected to the borough council in Watchung. In her Facebook post, Ead said she attended to “show solidarity to the over 74 million votes for our president in an election that they feel was unfair.” Ead posted there are “boatloads” of evidence of election inconsistencies. HuffPost earlier this year identified at least 57 state and local Republicans officials who were present at the Capitol riot and will face reelection in 2022.
These are the elected officials who have the support of many, many New Jersey residents, including many who believe that trump was robbed of reelection. Be alarmed and be forewarned because what so many of us thought was unthinkable may be realized in three short years.