Congressman’s appearance at New Jersey coronavirus briefing upsets GOP

Rep. Tom Malinowski | J. Scott Applewhite/AP Photo

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy’s decision Monday to invite a Democratic congressman involved in a tough reelection fight to speak at his daily coronavirus briefing angered Republicans who accused the governor of mixing essential news with partisan politics.

A spokesperson for Murphy said all members of New Jersey’s federal delegation — both Republican and Democrat — have been invited to participate in the briefings.

Freshman Rep. Tom Malinowski spoke for about 10 minutes during Monday‘s briefing in Trenton, and slammed Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell for opposing what the Kentucky Republican has called “blue state bailouts.”

Malinowski noted New Jersey consistently pays more in federal taxes than it receives in funding — about 90 cents on the dollar — while McConnell’s home state gets more in funding than it pays in taxes. New Jersey is one of the wealthiest states in the nation, and Malinowski’s Central Jersey district is one of the richest in the state.

“This is about the survival of small-town America. And at the end of the day, I’m not sure if Mitch McConnell wants to be the person who is responsible for telling small town America to go to hell. That’s what he’s doing right now,” said Malinowski, who said he’s sponsoring a bill that would provide $500 billion in relief to state and local governments.

McConnell said last week that he would rather see states go bankrupt than extend them a federal bailout, casting Democratic states in particular as irresponsible spenders and labeling the request for federal funding “blue state bailouts.”

While Malinowski accused McConnell of injecting partisan politics into a nonpartsian issue, Phil Valenziano, executive director of the New Jersey Republican State Committee, took to Twitter to denounce the “shameful hyper-partisan political attacks launched by Malinowski at an official briefing.”

Malinowski, who defeated former Republican Rep. Leonard Lance in 2018, is expected to face state Senate Minority Leader Tom Kean Jr. (R-Union) in November. The race is considered one of the most competitive in the state.

Harrison Neely, a spokesperson for Kean and the Republican State Committee, called Malinowski’s appearance at Monday’s briefing a “shameful display of partisan politics.”

This is not the first time Murphy has hosted a vulnerable freshman Democratic House incumbent at one of his daily briefings. Earlier this month, Rep. Andy Kim (D-N.J.) attended a briefing during which he criticized the Federal Emergency Management Agency for not setting up a coronavirus testing site in South Jersey.

Kim’s appearance did not draw much attention from Republicans.

“We extended an open invitation to every member of our congressional delegation, both Democratic and Republican members, to attend the governor’s daily coronavirus briefing,” Murphy spokesperson Mahen Gunaratna said in a statement.

“To date, Senator [Cory] Booker, Congressman [Josh] Gottheimer, Congressman Kim, and Congressman Malinowski have joined,” Gunaratna said.

Booker, Gottheimer, Kim and Malinowski are all Democrats. There are only two Republicans in New Jersey’s congressional delegation — Reps. Chris Smith and Jeff Van Drew. In December, Van Drew switched parties from Democrat to Republican.