The New York Young Republicans (NYYR) were too afraid to hold their annual gala on December 3 in their home state so they fled to New Jersey for an evening of COVID code violations that got their venue shuttered. The Jersey City Department of Health ordered Maritime Parc closed for failing to comply with Governor Phil Murphy’s orders regarding capacity and mask wearing.
Pictures posted by the club online showed the group’s members crowding around special guest Matt Gaetz, a flamboyantly right-wing US House member from Florida — all without masks — while the venue servers cowered on the sidelines with masks on.
Selfish GOP crowd, notorious right-wing guests “own the libs” by putting lives at risk
At his COVID briefing the next day, Murphy said, “It is beyond the pale that anyone would willingly endanger people in another state never mind their own. It is also beyond the pale that a member of Congress would participate in this, and that guy is Representative Matt Putz — sorry Matt Gaetz — based on his past performances being a knucklehead is not beyond the pale for him.”
Murphy showed a picture of Gaetz mockingly wearing a gas mask in the US House during the early days of the pandemic.
“What a fool. He is never welcome back in this state,” Murhpy said, adding that law enforcement was investigating and will take action as appropriate.
Check out Governor Phil Murphy’s comments at the 2:48 mark:
James O’Keefe of the right-wing group Project Veritas — notorious for deceptively edited videos dishonestly seeking to discredit progressive groups — keynoted the super-spreader event and tweeted, “There is a beautiful thing about this country, freedom. We should get back to it.”
O’Keefe worked the event shaking hands and asked, “Is it illegal for me to be here?”
When he asked who was from New Jersey, no one in the crowd responded.
After criticism from Governor Andrew Cuomo’s office about the event originally planned for Manhattan, NYRR put out a statement saying, “Our event will be conducted to the letter of the law, and we will observe all necessary and proper safety precautions with our guests. We have been planning this Gala for a year and, unlike Governor Cuomo, we are not amateurs.” The event violated multiple regulations in New Jersey and would have run afoul of the New York regs as well.
No word on whether the Log Cabin Republican holiday party came off on December 4. It had been scheduled for the Women’s National Republican Club at 3 West 51st Street but may have been moved or canceled after state health authorities were notified. The Women’s club did not respond to calls for comment.
To sign up for the Gay City News email newsletter, visit gaycitynews.com/newsletter.
