Republican pushes back on claim he ‘killed tens of thousands’ through opioids

Heading into the final days of a particularly chaotic New Jersey gubernatorial election, Republican candidate Jack Schiattarelli’s campaign criticized his Democratic opponent, Rep. Mickey Sherrill, for promoting a narrative that he “killed tens of thousands of people.”

Cheryl Ciattarelli was accused of being responsible for printing “propaganda” through the medical publishing company he founded that downplayed the dangers of opioids and designing an app to help people access dangerous drugs. She made the claims during the gubernatorial debate on Oct. 8 and doubled down during a news conference on opioid addiction on Monday.

“Jack made millions, the opioid companies made billions, and thousands of New Jerseyans were dying,” Sherrill said at the news conference.

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Chris Russell, Ciattarelli’s campaign strategist, told Fox News that if Sherrill “had any decency, she would retract her outrageous comments and apologize.”

“Whether it’s tripling her net worth in Congress, concealing details of her stock trades, or concealing the true extent of her role in the Naval Academy cheating scandal, Mikie Sherrill is a liar, a lawbreaker, and her desperation shows,” Russell said.

“Her reckless and defamatory claim that Jack killed tens of thousands of people, including children, has been harshly criticized by members of the press, legal scholars and people of both parties,” he added.

“The fact is that Jack Ciattarelli’s medical publishing company helped create an online tool that allowed a small group of chronic pain sufferers to educate themselves about treatment options and better advocate for their health care choices when meeting with medical professionals,” Russell explained.

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In response, Sean Higgins, a spokesman for Sherrill’s campaign, told Fox News Digital: “After years of hiding his role in fueling the opioid epidemic, Jack Ciattarelli finally admitted that he received money from an opioid company to create an app to coach patients to get a prescription for hydrocodone, all at a time when the opioid crisis was raging and killing residents.” New Jersey.

“He has made millions off the pain and suffering of New Jerseyans, and he clearly cannot be trusted as governor,” Higgins said.

Ciattarelli threatened to sue Cheryl for defamation if she did not stop raising these accusations.

Despite this, Sherrill insisted on the charges on Monday.

She backed away from threatening to file lawsuits over the accusations, saying, “I’m amazed that this perennial candidate, who has now run for three elections, says he’s a small businessman. The minute we start talking about that small business, he wants to shut it down. He wants his lawyer to shut it down. I mean, that’s ridiculous to me.”

“I think we’ve made it clear that Jack is in league with these opioid companies,” Sherrill said.

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When pressed to clarify whether she was confirming that Ciattarelli killed tens of thousands of New Jerseyans, Sherrill responded: “Yes. Look, I think he’s up there with the people who, again, paid billions of dollars. So, I think the line is very clear.”

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For his part, Ciattarelli responded to Sherrill at a campaign rally on Monday, saying: “Her entire campaign is based on a pile of lies about me.” [and] “Her disdain for the president.”

He said he would focus the remainder of the campaign on discussing his plan for his first day as governor, saying he would immediately issue an executive order banning sanctuary states for illegal immigrants, bringing state employees back to in-person work, appointing a state attorney general “who supports both police and parents,” reforming the public education system and eliminating green energy initiatives in New Jersey.