President Donald J. Trump just weighed in on New Jersey’s state budget.
On Monday July 1st, the president took to twitter to praise the Garden State’s Democratic-controlled Legislature, which rejected Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy’s proposal for a millionaires tax. “Congratulations to legislators in New Jersey for not passing taxes that would have driven large numbers of high end taxpayers out of the state. Many were planning to leave, & will now be staying. New York & others should start changing their thought process on taxes, fast!” Trump tweeted.
As reported by NJ.com, Murphy welcomed the opportunity to start another tweeting war with Trump, as it might actually bode well for the governor to criticize the President in New Jersey. President Trump’s disapproval rating in the state of NJ was 59 percent, with only nine states showing higher disapproval ratings for the President, as per a Gallop poll this year that assessed the president’s approval rating throughout the 50 states. Only 35 percent of New Jersey’s population polled approved of the President’s performance.
Murphy wasted no time, tweeting back: “We all know @@realDonaldTrump is fighting for millionaires like himself. I’m fighting for New Jersey’s middle class and all those working to get there.”
On Sunday, at an event in Trenton, Murphy went on, vowing not to give up in his bid to create a millionaires tax. He continued to rally against the legislature, as progressive activists cheered him on. “The legislative leaders refused to give it a fair hearing and refused to put it up for a vote just to deny the people of New Jersey a clear tally of who stands with them and who stands against them,” Murphy said at the event.
Phil Swibinski, a spokesman for pro-Murphy advocacy group, New Direction New Jersey, was quick to condemn those praised by the President’s tweet. Swibinski tweeted: “@GovMurphy asking legislators ‘Whose side are you on?’ has never had more meaning than it does right now. When you’re a Democrat being congratulated by Donald Trump, you’re doing it wrong.”
The President’s support was mostly directed at state Senate President Stephen Sweeney (D-Gloucester), and state Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin (D-Middlesex), who both rejected the millionaires tax.
Steve Sweeney made a tweet of his own in response, showing that he wasn’t flattered, and shaking off any allegiance with the President. “@realdonaldtrump, what you missed is our budget is both fiscally responsible and fair to working people, caring for those most in need – things you have failed to do. Budgets should not serve to punish the poor, the middle class, the rich or anyone.”
State Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin, D-Middlesex, did not comment on the President’s tweet.
