Rep. Scott Garrett, R-N.J., told Newsmax TV he is unfairly being blamed for a vicious flier depicting his Democratic opponent Josh Gottheimer as a horned devil wielding a pitchfork.
Last week, fliers appeared at schools and train stations in the Garden State's 5th congressional district, which Garrett has served since 2003, ripping former Bill Clinton speechwriter Gottheimer on list of hot-button campaign issues.
Gottheimer is shown as mustachioed, goatee-wearing devil and it is suggested he favors partial-birth abortions, open borders, all-gender bathrooms and "gay sex" education, and is owned by "big media."
Garrett told "The Steve Malzberg Show" that Gottheimer — who is Jewish and calls the fliers "blatantly anti-Semitic" — is totally off base on laying blame.
"We condemned it because it's a nasty flier. We don't do that sort of thing. He comes back, blames us," Garrett said.
"There's an article in one of the state papers over here blaming us as well — going after my campaign manager, who by the way is Jewish. Half of my campaign people, I guess, are Jewish."
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Garrett added Gottheimer's campaign has called him "everything from an extremist terrorist to I-hate-kittens literally and everything in between."
"My opponent . . . [is] basically attacking me saying that I'm anti-Semitic, saying that I've never voted for Israel, saying that I've never supported Israel," Garrett said.
"Everyone who knows my record knows that's all untrue. I'm not anti-Semitic. I support Israel. I support a funding for the military and economic aid. I see Israel as a strong ally. The only ally in the Middle East."
The Garrett-Gottheimer battle has been described as one of the nastiest political races of the year.
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