Democratic governor candidate unveils Trump Protection Plan
BEDMINSTER, N.J. (AP) — A Democratic candidate for governor seized on Republican President Donald Trump's unpopularity in the state and launched what he called a Trump Protection Plan to push back against the president's agenda.
Jim Johnson, an attorney and former Department of the Treasury official under Democratic President Bill Clinton, held a news conference on Tuesday in Bedminster, where he called Trump's handling of the office a "nightmare" and depicted the June 6 Democratic primary as a choice between fighting for or abandoning progressive ideals.
Johnson purposely set the event in Bedminster, a town tucked among green hills and horse farms about 4 miles from where Trump owns a golf club he's expected to use as a summer retreat.
"President Trump has tried to set the full force of the federal government against our core values," Johnson said. "We either fight or we fold."
The event comes as Trump, who lost New Jersey to Democrat Hillary Clinton in November, pushes back against allegations of damaging intelligence disclosures to Russian officials and after last week's firing of FBI Director James Comey, who was investigating possible connections between Trump campaign officials and Russians. It also comes in a Democratic primary in which Johnson is among three leading rivals to front-runner Phil Murphy.