For days Steve Fulop had remained silent as mayors throughout Hudson County lined up behind Rob Menendez’s reelection as U.S. Representative for the Eighth Congressional District. Yesterday, he broke his silence in a tweet on X.
“I’m not on board with supporting Rob Menendez for another term in Congress. It’s time to move on. When the Senator first got indicted, I thought maybe I could separate the father and son, and I even expressed that to Rob. As time went on, I realized it is impossible to do that and the situations are tied together. It’s not a secret that Rob got to Congress only because of his dad’s influence, so it’s fair to move on from Rob now because of that same influence,” he wrote.
In a statement Rob Menendez replied, “With respect to Steve, he has been running for governor unsuccessfully since he was elected mayor in 2013, always at the expense of Jersey City residents. Steve’s absence from the city – whether spending time at his Rhode Island mansion preventing people from accessing the beach or traveling the state for his own political ambition – has led to a housing affordability crisis, a broken budget and 911 calls that go unanswered. Steve Fulop is right that it’s time to move on – time to move on from his failed leadership in Jersey City.”
Referring to the senior Menendez’s legal woes, Fulop responded, “I’m sure Dad wrote this response for Rob, and he just hit ‘send,’ so I’ll address the Senator directly in my response. Senator – I’m not mad at this silly statement from you. If I was headed to spend the rest of my life in prison, I too would probably do and say desperate things.”
Then it was Rob Menendez’s turn again. “It seems like someone calling you out on your policy failures makes you more mad than the surfers outside your RI estate.”
Menendez was referring to Fulop’s Rhode Island beachfront home that became a source of controversy after it was learned that a Jersey City developer and Fulop political supporter had built it and that Fulop had used questionable tactics to prevent surfers from parking nearby.
Bad blood between Fulop and the Menendez family is nothing new. Fulop challenged Robert Menendez, Sr. in his 2004 congressional primary and then reportedly lobbied to replace now Sen. Menendez in the event he was convicted in his 2017 federal corruption trial that ended with a deadlocked jury.