U.S. Rep Tom MacArthur (R-3) today chastised challenger Andy Kim, citing comments the Democrat made at the Democratic Club of Waretown on January 16.

“Andy Kim has increasingly shown himself to be an extreme partisan who operates on the fringes of our politics,” MacArthur complained. “That was never more clear than in his shameful politicization of the opioid and addiction crises plaguing so many of our local families.”

Here’s what Kim said:

“Tom MacArthur is literally the co-chair of this opioid task force in Congress. (Laughing) I literally don’t know what they’re up to. A whole year has gone by and we’ve seen nada. 142 Americans die every day from drug overdoses. As someone who works in war and counter terrorism issues my entire career, that number is astronomical, when 62,000 Americans are dying a year from drug overdoses. I was dealing with wars in Iraq and Afghanistan where it’s a couple thousand Americans that were being killed. This is a national security crisis and we need to treat it with the urgency it deserves. And when The President calls is a public health emergency but puts zero dollars in new money in, when MacArthur, who is leading the task force, and all they do is pass two bills over the course of an entire year, without moving forward with the level of urgency and desire and need, especially in communities like here…that are feeling this in a way that are devastating people’s families and their communities. Those are the types of issues I want to focus in on.” 

MacArthur was unamused, calling his challengers comments irresponsible, uninformed and offensive.

“I don’t need nor want his apology, but he absolutely owes one to the 100 Members of Congress who have put partisanship aside and worked together on the Bipartisan Heroin Task Force to tackle this incredibly challenging issue,” said MacArthur, who co-chairs the Bipartisan Heroin Task Force in Congress. “To hear Andy Kim, on this tape, laughing while talking about the addiction crisis and mocking our bipartisan efforts to combat it, makes it even more clear how completely unqualified he is to represent Burlington and Ocean Counties in Congress.”