New Brunswick, NJ – Understanding the high stakes in this election, former Bergen County GOP Chairman Bob Yudin endorsed Bob Menendez for re-election to the U.S. Senate and encouraged all New Jerseyans to vote for Democrats for federal office on Nov. 6. After penning an op-ed for the Record, Yudin confirmed to NJ Globe that he’ll be voting for Menendez, saying “I don’t support fascists.”
“Our nation is in crisis. After almost two years of President Trump, the very foundations that America rests on are beginning to crack. The checks and balances built into our form of government are under attack and they are no longer always working,” Yudin wrote in an op-ed appearing in the Record and on Northjersey.com. “We need Congress to exercise its oversight duties. That means when you vote on Nov. 6, it is imperative to vote for people who are not Trump supporters. In this case it will be mostly Democrats.”
Menendez’s opponent, Bob Hugin, is a Trump Republican who donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to help elect Donald Trump, served as his New Jersey finance chair, a Trump delegate to the Republican National Convention, and on Trump’s transition team. The greedy, drug company CEO also donated millions to candidates and causes who support Trump’s extreme, right-wing agenda, including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Speaker Paul Ryan, who have enabled Trump’s behavior and failed to provide any real check on his power.
Full text of Yudin’s op-ed is below:
Opinion: Vote Democrat, hold Donald Trump accountable
By Bob Yudin
There is so much at stake in the Nov. 6 election, when America goes to the polls to cast their votes on the congressional and Senate races. Our nation is in crisis. After almost two years of President Trump, the very foundations that America rests on are beginning to crack. The checks and balances built into our form of government are under attack and they are no longer always working.
The oversight powers of Congress over the President are meaningless due to the Republican abandonment of this most important obligation. Except for a very small minority, almost all Republicans in the Congress are petrified of the President and do his bidding out of fear of his wrath — no matter how outrageous Trump’s demands.
Nothing Trump says can be believed. Everything Trump says must be crosschecked for truthfulness. Since becoming president his lies are in the thousands. His description of women and his mocking of Christine Blasey Ford are just two examples of the level of Trump’s animal behavior. The man has debased the office of the presidency beyond anyone’s ability to describe. It will only get worse.
Last week Trump spoke of possibly sending the U.S. military to seal our southern border. This is truly frightening. Trump does not realize he does not possess the authority to issue such an order and if he did it would be an illegal order. A federal statute known as the Posse Comitatus Act forbids the use of the military for law enforcement without the approval of Congress. Also, a recent directive from the Secretary of Defense prohibits the use of the military for law enforcement.
Every member of our military subject to the UCMJ (Uniform Code of Military Justice) would be obligated to disobey such an order. Just broaching the subject shows how dangerous Trump is and were he to issue such an order we would have a crisis of unparalleled proportions.
Our American values, our many freedoms, and our very core rights are far more important than tax breaks, a booming economy, and jobs. We Americans must continue to oppose the evil that is President Trump.
Which brings me back to what can the American people do. We need Congress to exercise its oversight duties. That means when you vote on Nov. 6, it is imperative to vote for people who are not Trump supporters. In this case it will be mostly Democrats.
The minimum that has to be accomplished is for the Democrats to take control of the House of Representatives. That will result in a substantial crosscheck on Trump. It is just a start but from there we can all work to deny Trump’s re-election in two years. I cannot imagine what we are in for if Trump maintains control of both houses of Congress.
Bob Yudin is former chairman of the Bergen County Republican Organization.
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