The Van Drew Rule: Why ex-Democrats are so rare

U.S. Rep. Jeff Van Drew, R-N.J., speaks at the Republican National Convention on Thursday, Aug. 27, 2020 (RNC video screenshot)

U.S. Rep. Jeff Van Drew, of New Jersey, is a former Democrat who turned around and became a Republican – a MAGA Republican who was praised by President Donald J. Trump.

There’s a price to pay for someone who does that in America.

Last Monday, Van Drew got a “death threat” on his home telephone from a South Jersey newspaper columnist, John McCall of the Ocean City Sentinel.

It was wild.

“I would swear to your demise as a politician and I believe that you personally are a degenerate,” McCall said. “As a member of the New Jersey Press Association, I will do everything in my power to ensure that you are deposed if not dead. Anything I can do to basically get you out of office, I will do. You are a traitor Jeff Van Drew and you deserve the fate of all traitors.”

But that was not even the worst of it.

In a March 10 column, McCall states about Van Drew, “And as a traitor, he has forfeited his right to protection under the law. Know this V.D.: It doesn’t stop here. … God save you.”

Think that’s as bad as it gets? Think again.

McCall also recently wrote speculatively about sexually assaulting the congressman’s wife and storming his house to “violate his family.”

No wonder that even in New Jersey, where such journalism is tolerated, Jeff Van Drew had had enough.

Van Drew disclosed the threat at a news conference flanked by Cape May County Sheriff Bob Nolan, and identified the columnist as John McCall of the Ocean City Sentinel.

David Nahan, the editor and publisher of the Sentinel, had this to say about the multiple threats delivered both in print and by telephone: “Because you felt threatened and felt your wife was threatened, I am sorry,” he said. “There are no two ways about that. I blame that on my judgment. I knew in advance that the guest column was vitriolic and highly critical of you and your support for the former president. The way it was written, I do not believe it contains any threats of harm because if I did, I would not have allowed it to appear in my newspaper.”

Wait a minute! Nahan doesn’t think the way the article was written, it “contains any threats”? He published a column threatening Van Drew’s life, and then another vicious column about sexually assaulting the congressman’s wife and storming their home to “violate his family.”

But hey, Nahan did admit he “let the readers down” by not exercising more control over McCall’s writing. No kidding.

“By not editing this column – or asking the guest writer to edit it – in a way that would ensure the congressman and his wife did not feel threatened, the net result is adding to the anger, not diminishing it,” he wrote.

Nahan, though, seems still to be making excuses. He insists, for instance, that McCall is “a local resident and freelance journalist who periodically submits guest columns and letters to the editor.” He added that McCall is not a staff member or paid contributor – just a non-public figure who uses his position to threaten people.

Van Drew said threatening violence against people over their party choices is “Communism” and “Nazism.”

“Argue with me about issues,” he said.

There was a day when Democrats and Republicans were not so far apart that they couldn’t see these things more clearly. Those days are OVER! Long over. It’s tyranny by Big Tech that led us down the primrose path. And life may never be the same.

“Congressman Van Drew didn’t offer himself or his family up for public service to be the targets of threats or violence, let alone by a newspaper columnist,” said Sheriff Nolan. He said his office takes the threat seriously. “Any threats of political violence will not be tolerated,” he said.

Van Drew said death threats are not new to him, having experienced them even while a state legislator. But McCall and the Sentinel had shocked him with the phone call and the columns. He felt a responsibility to his family, community, and law enforcement to make a complaint.

“I knew when I got in this business you’ve got to be tough and you’ve got to be strong,” Van Drew said. “But it has nothing to do with my family and the sanctity of my home. For far too long, violence has gone unchallenged. But today, right here in Cape May County, with a small group, I was convinced we’re going to start and draw a line.”

From his mouth to God’s ears. What will it take?

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