Gottheimer: Garrett's Support of "Most Extreme Platform in Recent Memory" Places Him at Odds with New Jersey Voters -- Even Republicans

Press Release

Josh Gottheimer, Congressional Candidate in New Jersey's 5th District, slammed incumbent, Tea Partier Scott Garrett today for Garrett's announced support of the most extreme parts of the 2016 Republican Party Platform. Garrett's most recent comment of support came in a July 27 Wall Street Journal piece, where he said, "I agree with the Republican platform and the Republican platform supports traditional marriage and so I will be supporting those who support traditional marriage."

The Platform, which was written and agreed upon at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, includes more than just support of "traditional marriage." The document has been called the "most extreme in recent memory" and includes language that discriminates against women and the LGBT community.

Among other planks, the Platform includes:

support for businesses who deny service to gays and lesbians;
policies that would allow suspects on the FBI Watch List to purchase assault weapons;
support for putting offshore oil rigs off the East Coast, including on the Jersey Shore;
and the banning of a woman's right to choose, even in cases of rape and incest.
"It's no surprise that Garrett endorses the most bigoted, anti-women and extreme parts in the Republican Party Platform" said Gottheimer, referring to the GOP platform, "He's so out of step… that I don't even know many Republican elected officials in New Jersey who support those views."

Garrett's bigotry, especially when it comes to gays and lesbians, is well documented. Last summer, Politico reported that Garrett had refused to pay his Republican Party dues because the Party had backed gay candidates for Congress. This past March, however, Garrett attempted to explain away that bigotry, telling The Star-Ledger that he simply "supports anyone who supports what's in the Republican Platform, which includes support for traditional marriage."

"I support the Republican Platform," has become Garrett's stock response to questions about his bigotry, and yet he's never expounded on what, specifically, is in the Republican Platform. The answer, according to America's largest organization of gay conservatives, is more bigotry and extremism.

"This is the most anti-LGBT Platform in the Party's 162-year history," Gregory T. Angelo, the president of the Log Cabin Republicans, has said. "Opposition to marriage equality, nonsense about bathrooms… it's all in there." According to NBC News, the Republican Party even rejected language that condemned Islamic Terrorists for targeting LGBT people in Orlando.

Garrett's support of the platform's extremism, particularly on a woman's right to choose, places him at odds with several prominent New Jersey Republicans, including Congressman Rodney Frelinghuysen, who told the Record in 2014, "I've always supported a woman's right to choose." Garrett is also the only member of the New Jersey Republican delegation that supports oil drilling off the Jersey Shore.

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