Crazy take on mid-terms by former NJ Gov. Whitman

Former New Jersey Gov. Christine Todd Whitman, who has separated herself from the Republican Party over frustrations with Donald Trump, has become increasingly frustrated by the party that she once embraced.

That frustration boiled over when she appeared at an Axios News Shaper event on Wednesday.

Whitman labeled the current Republican Party a "cult" with "no set of central principles."

About next week's mid-term elections, Whitman said, "I hope all the crazies win."

She then quickly walked that statement back, and said, "Then I realize no, I don't want to live in that world and I don't want to leave it for my grandkids either, the damage they can do."

Whitman predicted bad things if the GOP gained control of congress, warning it would "be a rough two years."

The former New Jersey Governor has been highly critical of Trump and his supporters. In July, she withdrew from the Republican Party and joined with former Democrat Andrew Yang. Yang is a former presidential and New York mayoral candidate who claimed his party had become too liberal.

Whitman and Yang formed the Forward Party, proclaiming their endorsed candidates would not be right or left, but forward thinking.

Despite the splash they made when they announced the formation, Forward has yet to gain any real traction.

They have endorsed 27 candidates in federal, state and local elections. None of the national candidates are considered front runners.

Only one Forward endorsed candidate is on the ballot in New Jersey, and that is West Orange Mayoral hopeful Joe Krakoviak.

Whitman, 76, left the New Jersey Governor's Office in January of 2001 to join the cabinet of President George W. Bush as EPA Administrator.

Many Republicans are resentful of Whitman for her criticism of the party. She has largely been shunned in New Jersey's political circles for years.

On Wednesday, current Governor Phil Murphy gave a shout out on MSNBC to Whitman and and other Republican moderates of days past.

"In New Jersey, you had Christie Todd Whitman and Tom Kean Sr. Really great Americans, all of them," Murphy said, "I beg for that brand, that wing of the Republican Party to reassert itself."

Eric Scott is the senior political director and anchor for New Jersey 101.5. You can reach him at eric.scott@townsquaremedia.com

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