Donald Trump did what he does best Tuesday, upending the political world by declaring he wants to end birthright citizenship – a practice embedded in the Constitution of the United States.

A few hours after the news broke, Republican Senate candidate Bob Hugin said he was against the idea.

Hugin said he “firmly believes” in a concept that dates back to 1868 when the Fourteenth Amendment was adopted. It clearly states that all persons born in the United States are citizens. Hugin went on to offer customary, but also very accurate, remarks about the nation being a country of immigrants.

The president has a habit of saying whatever pops into his head at the moment and that can be the case here. Ending birthright citizenship could mean amending the Constitution, no easy task.

In the event the idea comes to a vote in the Senate, Hugin said he would support the status quo.

This is a hypothetical (it must come to a vote) atop another hypothetical (Hugin has to win), but it afforded the Republican a chance to show his independence from Trump. This is something he’s been doing a lot of lately.

But as Hugin probably realizes, this episode also demonstrates the hurdles just about any Republican faces these days.

You can claim to be independent all you want, but you also must live in fear about the next off-the-cuff pronouncement or tweet coming from the White House.

Hugin commented during a visit to Patriot American Solutions, a manufacturer of electrical products in Rockaway.

The candidate – and all others on hand, press included – donned blue smocks for a walk-around the plant. Later, Hugin faced about three dozen employees assembled around him on the warehouse floor.
One worker, Brendan Christie of Wharton, asked what the senator could do about the state’s high cost of living.

A very truthful answer would have been that one senator can’t do anything about the state’s high cost of living, but that’s not something a candidate can say.

Hugin talked about how New Jersey sends much more tax money to Washington than it gets back in aid and grants.

Later, as Hugin talked to about a dozen business executives, one said the issue of New Jersey needing to get back more money from Washington has been kicking around for a very long time.

He was right about that.

The overall problem is that as one of the most affluent states in the union, New Jersey by definition sends more income tax money on average to the feds than virtually every other state. Hugin acknowledged that, but said he still wants to see more aid or grants to urban areas for security. He said a disproportionate amount of such aid ends up in New York City and Philadelphia.

One of Hugin’s arguments against Bob Menendez is that the incumbent has been in the Senate for 16 years and has not solved this and other problems.

That’s true, but unless New Jersey incomes sharply drop, which would not be a good thing, the hunch here is that no one is going to fix New Jersey’s imbalance between tax money and federal aid.