Democratic New Jersey Rep. Mikie Sherrill and Republican nominee Jack Ciattarelli sparred in a heated exchange Wednesday during their second and final gubernatorial debate after Sherrill attempted to link Ciattarelli to New Jersey’s opioid deaths.
Sherrill and Ciattarelli took the debate stage for the final time before the state’s gubernatorial election, which is less than 30 days away. While discussing opioids and their respective backgrounds, Sherrill claimed during her 30-second argument that one of Ciattarelli’s medical publishing companies allegedly helped addicts gain easier access to opioids.
“My opponent likes to talk a lot about being a businessman, but I think what New Jersey doesn’t know is much about his business, how he made his millions, by working with some of the worst offenders and saying that opioids were safe, putting out propaganda, publishing their propaganda while tens of thousands of New Jerseyans died,” Sherrill said.
“As if that wasn’t enough, then he was paid to develop an app so that people who were addicted could more easily get access to opioids,” Sherrill added. “So as he made millions, as these opioid companies made billions, tens of thousands of New Jerseyans died.”