WATCH: Hidden camera inside Murphy’s campaign: Spadea’s take (Opinion)

New Jersey journalist and head of a group called Project Veritas joined me on-air this week to announce the release of the first of two undercover videos demonstrating what many of us have been saying for months.

The Murphy administration will pursue vaccine mandates if elected. Here are some of the highlights from the video:

• Wendy Martinez, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy Campaign senior advisor: “He [Murphy] is going to do it [COVID vaccine mandate], but he couldn’t do it before the elections. Because of the independents and the undecided.”

• Martinez: “They [independents and undecideds] are all into all the sh*t. My rights, my sh*t -- and they don’t care if they kill everybody.”

• Martinez: Gov. Murphy “will [implement COVID vaccine mandate], but right now is about him winning. It will be fine.”

• Matthew Urquijo, Manager of New Jersey Forward: “The problem is right now -- because it’s election season – he [Gov. Murphy] is not going to have people [in the campaign] say like, ‘We're gonna have a [COVID vaccine] mandate now.’ Because, you know, for some people that’s going to piss them off. I think once, you know, we have a win, he’s like, ‘Alright, guns blazing, like, who cares, I’m in it. Let’s do the mandates, let’s do this, X, Y, and Z.’ - Project Veritas video

Here's my take

First of all, we have known the entire time that Murphy was headed in this direction. It's no secret that despite the fact that the curve flattened before the vaccine was readily available thanks to the fact that, according to Johns Hopkins top doc Marty Makary,  natural immunity is powerful compared to the vaccine.

He discussed how a third to half of unvaccinated Americans already have natural immunity.

We have very strong population immunity in most parts of the U.S. – and these areas are resilient to the delta variant that's driving severe illness right now. This stems from a combination of natural immunity and vaccinated immunity. Roughly a third to half of Americans who are unvaccinated have natural immunity, based on an analysis of California residents. So it does change the outlook. - Dr. Marty Makary via U.S. News Staff on www.usnews.com

Secondly, we have ample evidence across the world that the virus has flattened without restrictions and mandates. If you look at Norway, Denmark, and Sweden, the curve was flattened with barely any restrictions in Sweden and well before the vaccine was readily available. Although the vaccine rates are high in these nations, there is no push to vaccinate kids because unlike American officials, the Scandinavians are following science and recognizing that kids are simply not vulnerable to COVID. As a result, life is back to pre-COVID normal.

We see the same thing in the U.S. without nearly the vaccination rate of the Scandinavian nations in Florida, Texas, and dozens of other states where life is normal and people are packed into stadiums and other venues without any significant health concerns. When you travel the country, outside of the northeast, you see no COVID, no talk of COVID, barely any masks, and certainly no vaccine mandates. Life has simply returned to pre-covid normal. Instead of being a sign for New Jersey and New York politicians, they are pretending that we are still in the middle of a crisis.

Third point: It's clear from this video that the governor has no intention of honoring science and following the great examples of normal all around us. Instead, he's obviously looking at a push for more restrictions and mandates.

For his part, Murphy's opponent Jack Ciatterelli, instead of making a statement as a future governor, went through a spokesperson no one has ever heard of. The statement itself questions the authenticity of the video casting doubt before even addressing the issue of what is coming down the pike. I don't remember Jack waiting for "verification" when it came to blaming Donald Trump for what I call the "fake insurrection" on January 6th. He pounced and went full "Never Trump."

Instead of raising doubts about the methods, Jack should be shouting from the rooftops that Murphy is lying and hiding from voters. When a race is getting close, the only way to win is to attack and hit hard. Politics is not a board game. It's a brass knuckles fight for power. Someone should inform the GOP candidate.

Why didn't Jack come out swinging knowing that this has been Murphy's plan all along? Even Murphy didn't deny the authenticity of the video. They just attacked the source. Jack would have come out and stood up for the rest of us. He should have immediately proclaimed that he will use the emergency powers of the governor granted by the legislature to issue one executive order after another to undo any remaining mask and vaccine mandates. Then aggressively pursue compensation and reparations for anyone who lost a business or job based on the arbitrary and unscientific lockdown and mandate policy.

He should have called out the governor as a coward for hiding from the voters and a criminal for his part in the thousands of excess deaths in our nursing homes. Instead, he used weak political speak through a campaign hack.

How can we expect Jack to stand up for medical freedom, civil liberties, and economic liberty after he stayed silent for more than a year during the lockdowns?

The post above reflects the thoughts and observations of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Bill Spadea. Any opinions expressed are Bill's own. Bill Spadea is on the air weekdays from 6 to 10 a.m., talkin’ Jersey, taking your calls at 1-800-283-1015.

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