President Donald Trump will join Republican gubernatorial nominee Jack Ciattarelli in a telephone rally Friday night, Ciattarelli’s campaign announced tonight.
The “Early Voting Eve Tele-Rally” will come a little more than 12 hours before early in-person voting starts in the tight race to succeed term-limited Gov. Phil Murphy. Ciattarelli, once a skeptic of Trump, embraced the president in the lead-up to this year’s GOP primary, a race he won handily with Trump’s endorsement. He has rarely strayed from the president during the general election campaign, giving Trump an “A” rating at a debate this month.
The president hosted a similar tele-rally for Ciattarelli in the lead-up to June’s primary election. While Trump’s in-person rallies are known for their unpredictability and length, the June tele-rally only went about five minutes and focused on Ciattarelli’s talking points.
Trump is the second president to get involved in the race. Former President Barack Obama will join Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-Montclair), the Democratic nominee for governor, at an in-person Newark rally on Nov. 1.
Trump lost New Jersey in all three of his runs for president, but made up ground in 2024, when he lost to Kamala Harris in the Garden State by about 6 percentage points. Earlier this month, Axios reported that Trump was planning tele-rallies but not expecting to hold an in-person event.
Polls generally show Trump’s favorability to be underwater in New Jersey, and Sherrill has worked hard to tie Ciattarelli to the president. Trump has attacked Sherrill via social media in recent weeks.
Trump’s tele-rally is on Friday at 7 p.m., and listeners can call in at (855) 962-1280.
