Monmouth County Democratic Chairman Vin Gopal and Democratic sheriff challenger Jeff Cantor issued a press release on Thursday asking Republican Monmouth County Sheriff Shaun Golden what his stance was on Donald Trump for president in light of the candidate’s call for the reinstatement of waterboarding and torture techniques. Golden is also the Monmouth County Republican chairman.
The statement from the Democrats said that, “While it may be a bit unorthodox for both the Democratic Chairman and the Democratic candidate for Sheriff to both call on Shaun Golden to say whether he endorses Donald Trump for President, it is entirely appropriate in this case given the fact that Golden serves two very important and influential roles in Monmouth County.”
The statement continued: “Serving as Monmouth County Sheriff, Shaun Golden is the top law enforcement official in Monmouth County, and county residents deserve to know if he stands in support of someone who strongly and proudly advocates in favor of torture. As the Monmouth County Republican Chairman, Shaun Golden most certainly needs to take into consideration the fact that the head of the Republican Party in New Jersey, Chris Christie, has been among Donald Trump’s most outspoken supporters. While these two positions may be at odds, it is time for Shaun Golden to let everyone know if he stands in support of Donald Trump. We would appreciate the Chairman’s answer before his hand-picked Freeholder candidates pass the budget for his Sheriff’s Department tonight.”
Golden said that the call for comment about Trump was an effort by Gopal to “divert attention” away from a loss for Democrats in Neptune City this week. In the city’s first special election, Republican Richard Pryor was declared the council victor (multiple recounts since November and an eventual tie had him pitted against Democrat Michael Skudera).
Golden issued the following statement: “I understand Vin is coming off of a stinging Special Election loss in the LD11 town of Neptune City, a race in which the County Democrats, State Democrats, and Senator Booker dumped significant resources, and that he needs to divert attention away from that. But in all the excitement of Vin busing in dozens of out of town canvassers to Neptune City, we must have missed HIS statement announcing support for either Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders.”
Gopal endorsed Clinton in August.
