Notes from Tom: Kean Jr. remains silent

͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ Dear {NAME}, Last week, during the Florida-Georgia football game in Jacksonville, Florida, a stadium video board was hacked to display the message: “Kanye was right about the Jews.” Elon Musk’s announcement that he would be bringing “free speech” back to Twitter inspired a coordinated campaign to post thousands of anti-Semitic and racist slurs on the platform. Meanwhile, a man obsessed with right wing conspiracy theories broke into the home of the Speaker of the House and tried to kill her 82 year old husband. Many politicians in our country responded not by condemning the attack, but by ridiculing the victim. Racists and political extremists have always existed in America, but on the far out fringes of the political right and left. Until recently, respectable political parties were embarrassed to be associated with them. When Ronald Reagan was endorsed by white supremacists during his 1984 presidential campaign, he said: ”Those of us in public life can only resent the use of our names by those who seek political recognition for the repugnant doctrines of hate they espouse. The politics of racial hatred and religious bigotry practiced by the Klan and others have no place in this country, and are destructive of the values for which America has always stood.” Today, I’m not sure if Ronald Reagan could win an election in a Republican primary. The majority of Republicans running in House, Senate, Governor, and Secretary of State races around the country say that the 2020 election was stolen. Some have run campaign videos showing themselves firing weapons at so-called “RINOs” — at moderate members of their own party. The MAGA Republicans have created a massive echo chamber of lies in which millions of Americans are becoming radicalized. January 6th was one consequence, but there will be more. After all, if people sincerely come to believe that a cabal of illegitimate leaders stole an election and are “destroying” America, some of those people are going to decide that violence is a logical, and morally justified response. And that brings me to our race in New Jersey’s 7th District. During our last debate, the moderator asked my opponent Tom Kean Jr. if he agreed with his own father that Donald Trump is not fit to be president of our country. That same day, Trump had put out another one of his blatantly anti-Semitic statements. But Kean Jr. evaded the question. He suggested New Jerseyans were more interested in cheap gas prices than in protecting our country from violence and lies. My opponent may not be an anti-Semite. But he won’t stand up to anti-Semitism coming from the leader of his party. He may not approve of a man smashing Nancy Pelosi’s husband’s head with a hammer. But has spent this entire campaign playing to the people who do, attacking her incessantly in campaign ads, while remaining silent on the attempt on her life. His strategy is to let his Party sow the hate, and then reap the votes. I think that’s disgraceful. I also think he’s misreading the voters in our District. We may be evenly divided among Democrats, Republicans, and Independents. But most of us want leaders in Washington who will fight inflation AND protect our democracy. Most of us want more infrastructure bills, and fewer insurrections. We want more problem solvers in Congress, and fewer performance artists. We expect our representatives to compromise for common ground, but be uncompromising in defense of common decency. We would choose moderation over MAGA any day. Our race will be a bellwether in these midterm elections. It will help decide whether moderation continues to prevail in Congress, or the crazies gain actual power. We have eight days to go. [I hope you’ll do all you can to help us win it.]( Thanks so much, Tom --------------------------------------------------------------- Tom Malinowski served as a diplomat in the Obama administration, standing up to dictators overseas. Now he's standing up for our democracy as a Congressman representing New Jersey's 7th district — which experts say could be THE deciding race for control of the House this year. ONCE]( MONTHLY]( [Twitter]( Paid for by Tom Malinowski for Congress Tom Malinowski for Congress P.O. Box 263 Somerville, NJ 08876 United States If you need to you can unsubscribe here: [unsubscribe]( You can also [click here to donate](.