New Jersey gubernatorial candidate Jack Ciattarelli announced through a campaign strategist on Thursday that he is intending to sue Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-NJ), his election rival, for defamation after she claimed on Wednesday that he had personally “killed tens of thousands of people.”
Rep. Sherrill made the claim during their final election debate on Wednesday, referencing Ciattarelli’s medical publishing businesses. The Congresswoman claimed that, since Ciattarelli’s businesses published content from drug companies selling opioids, he was personally responsible for the deaths of everyone in New Jersey who consumed and became addicted to the drugs.
Rep. Sherrill reportedly doubled down on her homicide claim on Thursday, telling USA Today that she thought it was “not a leap” to call Ciattarelli personally a killer.
“In a time where political violence and violent rhetoric are becoming all too prevalent, Mikie Sherrill baselessly and recklessly accusing a political opponent of mass murder in a televised debate crosses the line,” Ciattarelli strategist Chris Russell said in a statement on Thursday, according to NorthJersey.com, confirming legal action against the lawmaker. Russell referred to Rep. Sherrill’s comments as “a clearly defamatory attack that shocked the moderators, press and public alike.”
NorthJersey.com, which hosted the engagement on Thursday between Rep. Sherrill and USA Today Ed Forbes, senior director for opinion and engagement Ed Forbes, quoted her as insisting to that newspaper that her assertion that Ciattarelli personally killed people was not excessive.
“I guess, to me, it’s not a leap to say that somebody… who was printing [the opioid companies’] misinformation about how safe this was, who then took the next step further to coach people through,” Sherrill reportedly said. “This is a time when, at the U.S. Attorney’s Office, we’re talking about ‘How are we going to stop these pill pushers?’ and so we’re trying to stop the overprescription of pharmaceuticals as he’s trying to help people go around these doctors.”
Her initial attack on Ciattarelli at the debate, which took place in New Brunswick on Wednesday, was part of a heated exchange in which Ciattarelli condemned the Congresswoman for initially voting to honor slain Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk, only to accuse him of racism and sexism in an insulting statement after her vote.
“I applaud her ‘yes’ on that vote. When she came back to New Jersey and caught hell from the left, she issued a statement condemning Charlie Kirk, calling him a misogynist and a racist,” he continued. “The two things are inconsistent to me. The way to tamp down the hateful rhetoric is by having the right kind of leadership in place.”
Rep. Sherrill replied by condemning Ciattarelli for owning a medical publishing business, to which he quipped, “I got to walk at my graduation” – a reference to Rep. Sherrill not being allowed to walk at her graduation from the United States Naval Academy, reportedly as a result of some unspecified involvement in a cheating scandal. Rep. Sherrill has not clarified the situation at press time.
“I’m so glad you went on to kill tens of thousands of people in New Jersey, including children,” Rep. Sherrill replied to Ciattarelli’s taunt.
Fact-checkers with PolitiFact and the New Jersey Globe confirmed following the debate that “there was no evidence Ciattarelli ‘killed’ anyone.” Far from apologizing, the Sherrill campaign has attacked Ciattarelli for taking offense to the claim.
“Jack’s reaction is to hide behind a lawsuit, not to take responsibility,” Sean Higgins, Sherrill’s communications director, said following the news that he would sue. “What’s reckless and irresponsible is Jack Ciattarelli making millions of dollars profiting off the pain of New Jerseyans — publishing misinformation about the dangers of opioid addiction and developing an app to coach patients to ask doctors for more drugs.”
The lawsuit comes as the high-stakes race, one of only two gubernatorial races in America this year, narrows. The latest polls show Ciattarelli, who narrowly lost to incumbent Gov. Phil Murphy in 2021, gaining on Rep. Sherrill, in some cases coming within the margin of error of the poll. Early Vote Action’s Scott Presler has dedicated much of his recent effort to boosting registration in New Jersey, arguing that turnout will be decisive in this race.
“Do you know, Matt, how many Republicans stayed home in 2021, the year after 2020? 600,000,” Presler said in an interview with Breitbart News’ Matthew Boyle last week. “The election was decided by 84,000 votes. Two hundred and fifty thousand gun owners in New Jersey are not registered to vote. If our beautiful gun community or Second Amendment advocates registered and mobilized and voted, New Jersey would be a Republican state — would be a red state,” Presler said, adding greater perspective.
Ciattarelli has taken to campaigning in deep blue areas of New Jersey, including Essex, Hudson, and Bergen counties. On Thursday, Ciattarelli picked up a critical endorsement from longtime North Bergen Mayor Nicholas Sacco, a Democrat. The Hudson County Democratic Organization (HCDO), the most powerful political machine in the county, responded with a vitriolic rant accusing Sacco of sexual harassment. The HCDO endorsed Rep. Sherrill in the Democratic Party, but only within the context of its seething distaste for Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop, who was crushed in the primary and announced this week he would leave the state entirely.
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