{"id":1056237,"date":"2025-09-25T12:32:22","date_gmt":"2025-09-25T16:32:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/?p=1056237"},"modified":"2025-09-25T13:55:42","modified_gmt":"2025-09-25T17:55:42","slug":"dnc-slams-jack-ciattarellis-appearance-with-anti-vax-conspiracy-theorists","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/news\/dnc-slams-jack-ciattarellis-appearance-with-anti-vax-conspiracy-theorists\/","title":{"rendered":"DNC Slams Jack Ciattarelli\u2019s Appearance with Anti-Vax Conspiracy Theorists"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" height=\"449\" width=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Black-Logo-White-Fill-For-Email.png?w=1024\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1050776\" srcset=\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Black-Logo-White-Fill-For-Email.png 1101w, https:\/\/democrats.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Black-Logo-White-Fill-For-Email.png?resize=300,132 300w, https:\/\/democrats.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Black-Logo-White-Fill-For-Email.png?resize=768,337 768w, https:\/\/democrats.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Black-Logo-White-Fill-For-Email.png?resize=1024,449 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Tonight, New Jersey gubernatorial candidate Jack Ciattarelli is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/photo.php?fbid=1108187884733361&amp;set=pb.100066264800845.-2207520000&amp;type=3\">set to take the stage<\/a> at the NJ Public Health Innovation PAC\u2019s gala \u2014 an organization that has <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/NJPHIPAC\/status\/1912478308387729759\">repeatedly<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/NJPHIPAC\/status\/1912548178257408425\">pushed<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/NJPHIPAC\/status\/1867681311269503408\">claims<\/a> that vaccines cause autism and other related conspiracy theories. Given the organization&#8217;s anti-vax fearmongering, it should come as no surprise that Jack Ciattarelli will <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/photo.php?fbid=1111932717692211&amp;set=pb.100066264800845.-2207520000&amp;type=3\">share the stage<\/a> tonight with some major anti-vaxxers:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sherri Tenpenny thinks COVID-19 vaccines could <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/nation\/2021\/06\/09\/sherri-tenpenny-magnetized-vaccine-ohio\/\">make people magnetic <\/a>and suggested that vaccines \u201cinterface\u201d with 5G towers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Mary Holland, an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/news\/2025\/01\/29\/rfk-jr-anti-vaccine-group-vindication-senate-testimony-00201436\">RFK apologist<\/a> who <a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/news\/2025\/01\/29\/rfk-jr-anti-vaccine-group-vindication-senate-testimony-00201436\">claimed<\/a> measles, mumps and rubella are not particularly dangerous to children \u2014 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/news\/2025\/01\/29\/rfk-jr-anti-vaccine-group-vindication-senate-testimony-00201436\">in defiance of extensive medical evidence<\/a>, has <a href=\"https:\/\/www.inquirer.com\/politics\/new-jersey\/jack-ciattarelli-vaccines-new-jersey-gala-20250924.html\">compared vaccine candidates to slavery<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Tonight\u2019s appearance is nothing new for Ciattarelli \u2014 he has <a href=\"https:\/\/newjerseyglobe.com\/governor\/state-democrats-attack-ciattarelli-over-campaign-video-featuring-anti-vaccine-candidate\/\">long been associated with anti-vaxxers<\/a> and has an anti-vax record himself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>In response to Ciattarelli\u2019s appearance, <\/em><strong><em>DNC Deputy Communications Director Abhi Rahman released the following statement:&nbsp;<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cJack Ciattarelli\u2019s decision to speak at tonight\u2019s anti-vax gala with some of the nation\u2019s most fringe conspiracy theorists, including one far-right-winger who thinks COVID vaccines make people magnetic and another who has compared vaccine mandates to slavery, puts New Jersey kids in harm&#8217;s way. It\u2019s also no surprise, since Jack Ciattarelli has long been associated with anti-vaxxers and is an ardent defender of Trump\u2019s budget, which kicks <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kff.org\/medicaid\/how-will-the-2025-reconciliation-law-affect-the-uninsured-rate-in-each-state\/\">390,000<\/a> New Jerseyans off their health insurance. New Jerseyans deserve a governor who will protect our kids\u2019 health and well-being while lowering health care costs, and that leader is Mikie Sherrill.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Read more below in the Inquirer:&nbsp;<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.inquirer.com\/politics\/new-jersey\/jack-ciattarelli-vaccines-new-jersey-gala-20250924.html\"><strong>The Philadelphia Inquirer:<\/strong><\/a><strong> Jack Ciattarelli scheduled to be a \u2018distinguished guest\u2019 alongside anti-vaccine conspiracy theorist<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>[Aliya Schneider, September 24, 2025]<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Jack Ciattarelli, the Republican nominee for New Jersey governor, is scheduled to be honored at an event featuring an anti-vaccine conspiracy theorist on Thursday<\/strong>, days after he appeared to moderate his tone on vaccines in the first gubernatorial debate.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The candidate is advertised as a \u201cdistinguished guest\u201d and the keynote speaker is Sherri Tenpenny, a <strong>doctor known nationally for peddling conspiracy theories about the COVID-19 vaccine.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Ciattarelli\u2019s presence at the gala is advertised alongside Tenpenny and Jamel Holley, Leah Wilson, and Mary Holland.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Tenpenny, the keynote speaker,<a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/nation\/2021\/06\/09\/sherri-tenpenny-magnetized-vaccine-ohio\/\"> told legislators in Ohio<\/a> in 2021 that the <strong>COVID-19 vaccine could make people magnetic and suggested that vaccines interact with 5G towers<\/strong> \u2014 both<a href=\"https:\/\/www.politifact.com\/factchecks\/2021\/jun\/09\/sherri-tenpenny\/sherri-tenpenny-makes-false-covid-19-vaccine-magne\/\"> unfounded claims<\/a>. She<a href=\"https:\/\/counterhate.com\/research\/the-disinformation-dozen\/\"> was listed as one of 12 anti-vaccine activists<\/a> responsible for almost two-thirds of anti-vaccine content on social media that year by the Center for Countering Digital Hate, which called them the Disinformation Dozen.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Holland, CEO of Kennedy\u2019s nonprofit Children\u2019s Health Defense,<a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/news\/2025\/01\/29\/rfk-jr-anti-vaccine-group-vindication-senate-testimony-00201436\"> <strong>claimed<\/strong><\/a><strong> in an interview with Politico that mumps, measles, and rubella are not particularly dangerous to children, contrary to extensive medical evidence.<\/strong>\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>On Steve Bannon\u2019s War Room, <strong>Holland compared mandated vaccines to slavery. <\/strong>The group hosting the gala calls her a \u201ccourageous health freedom leader.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Holley, a former Democratic Assembly member from Union County, was described by Politico in 2020 as <strong>\u201cNew Jersey Democrats\u2018 most high profile anti-vaccination activist.\u201d<\/strong> The gala organization calls him \u201ca powerful voice for the MAHA movement.\u201d\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Sherrill said in a statement that she is \u201cappalled that Jack is taking his cues from fringe activists, conspiracy theorists, and the likes of Donald Trump and RFK, Jr. whose extreme policies will result in reduced access to vaccines and more of our children catching preventable illnesses.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>\u201cPeople are getting sick because of politicians like Jack who campaign with anti-vaxxers and spread dangerous lies about our public health, and it\u2019s clear we can\u2019t trust him to keep our kids safe and healthy,\u201d<\/strong> she added.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Tonight, New Jersey gubernatorial candidate Jack Ciattarelli is set to take the stage at the NJ Public Health Innovation PAC\u2019s gala \u2014 an organization that has repeatedly pushed claims that vaccines cause autism and other related conspiracy theories. Given the organization&#8217;s anti-vax fearmongering, it should come as no surprise that Jack Ciattarelli will share the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":303,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1056237","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-press-release"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>DNC Slams Jack Ciattarelli\u2019s Appearance with Anti-Vax Conspiracy Theorists - Democrats<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/news\/dnc-slams-jack-ciattarellis-appearance-with-anti-vax-conspiracy-theorists\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Democrats\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-09-25T16:32:22+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-09-25T17:55:42+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Black-Logo-White-Fill-For-Email.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1101\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"483\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jared Carmeli\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Jared Carmeli\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/news\/dnc-slams-jack-ciattarellis-appearance-with-anti-vax-conspiracy-theorists\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/news\/dnc-slams-jack-ciattarellis-appearance-with-anti-vax-conspiracy-theorists\/\",\"name\":\"DNC Slams Jack Ciattarelli\u2019s Appearance with Anti-Vax Conspiracy Theorists - 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