Stomping Grounds: The TikTok Judge, Arthur Barclay, Tom Moran, and Coke in the White House

New Jerseyans aren’t always civil, but it’s still possible for a liberal Democrat and a conservative Republican to have a rational and pleasant conversation about politics in the state.  Dan Bryan is a former senior advisor to Gov. Phil Murphy and is now the owner of his own public affairs firm, and Alex Wilkes is an attorney and former executive director of America Rising PAC who advises Republican candidates in New Jersey and across the nation.  Dan and Alex are both experienced strategists who are currently in the room where high-level decisions are made.  They will get together weekly with New Jersey Globe editor David Wildstein to discuss politics and issues.

New Jersey Globe: This is an amazing allegation, even for New Jersey: Superior Court Judge Gary Wilcox created TikTok videos, sometimes wearing his robe in his court chambers, sometimes partly undressed in his bed, containing profanity, graphic sexual references to female and male body parts, violence, misogyny, and racist terms. Should the judge resign, or wait until the process plays out?

Alex Wilkes: We need all of the judges we can get in Murphy’s current judiciary crisis, but I think Judge Wilcox ought to resign. I’m not in the business of “canceling” people, and I obviously don’t think singing and dancing on a social media site is automatically grounds for axing a public official, but context is everything. You can’t sing profane lyrics while wearing judicial robes and expect people to have faith in the professionalism and seriousness of our judicial system.

And, no joke, I think the bigger issue is the TikTok one. This judge posted these videos under an alias. How many other of our public officials are doing the same, putting sensitive data and compromising information right in the hands of the Chinese government? Seriously, stop downloading and using this app. Please.

Dan Bryan: Alex is right – although we’re in desperate need of judges, Judge Wilcox should resign. His actions here show a shocking lack of judgment. I think judges are certainly allowed to have a personal life, even one they post about on social media. But the content described here is way too far over the line, and I would worry that it shakes the public’s confidence in his competency.There’s a conversation to be had that everyone should be allowed a presence on social media, regardless of their station. But that’s not what we’re discussing here.

As far as TikTok itself is concerned, I think it’s the best media content app around. It does a far better job than Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and the rest of the competition at providing content that is compelling, interesting, and educational (and plenty that isn’t, of course). But there are legitimate concerns about its security risks. The Biden Administration should assess those concerns and take action if needed. In the meantime, we can’t fault anyone for using an app that the vast majority of younger people use every day.

I will take this opportunity to plug another issue: the bipartisan effort to ban children under 13 from social media. In theory, the age to join social media should be 16 or 18, but 13 is a good start. We are experiencing unprecedented levels of depression and suicidal thoughts in young people, and there is plenty of evidence linking it to the effects of social media. Congress should step in and take action.

NJ Globe: Arthur Barclay was forced out of the Assembly five years ago after being charged with punching his girlfriend in the face.  Now he’s got a chance for redemption as a Camden City Council candidate, but last weekend he was charged with hitting a pedestrian with his car while his license was suspended.  He’s unopposed in the general election, so should he just ride this out, or drop out?

Dan: He should absolutely drop out. There is no room in the Democratic party for Domestic abusers. The local party should change course now and find another candidate worthy of the support of Camden residents.

Alex: It’s pretty unlikely that the leadership of his own party will call for him to drop out (or that a reporter will seriously press someone to condemn a Democratic candidate), so why would he? It’s despicable and unacceptable, but our politics have become very tribal and ugly like that.

NJ Globe: Speaker Craig Coughlin’s StayNJ plan passed with overwhelming bipartisan support despite the vociferous objection of the Star-Ledger’s editorial page editor, Tom Moran.  What does that say when the state’s largest newspaper can only muster two no votes in the Assembly and none in the Senate?

Alex: You need strong, well-resourced, and critical news divisions to bolster the weight editorial boards carry. (To be fair, I was actually surprised to see the legacy media wake up a bit in covering StayNJ as an obvious election year ploy.)

The problem is that it’s hard to kickstart a culture of accountability when you’ve let so much slide under one-party rule. When Governor Christie was elected, the media were instantly activated by the election of a Republican governor in a blue state with national ambitions. We saw a whole class of reporters, who have now gone on to bigger outlets, truly cut their teeth in that electric and exciting environment. No stone was left unturned.

All Phil Murphy had to do, by contrast, was be a Democrat (with a fat COVID credit card from Joe Biden). Regardless of his own presidential dreams and his leadership roles within the national party, Murphy was left fairly unscathed by scandals, like widespread fatalities during COVID in long-term care facilities and reports of rampant mistreatment of women in his campaign and administration. Even his frequent gaffe-filled word salads have largely gone untouched.

This year, though, the Democrats may have gotten just a little too fat and a little too happy. I’ve been encouraged to see critical coverage, for example, of the Governor’s takeover of ELEC and the NJ Transit headquarters giveaway to a Murphy donor. Too little too late? Time will tell.

Dan: To be fair here, I’m not sure editorial pages matter anywhere anymore. If they did, we’d be looking at co-Presidents Warren and Klobuchar right now. But it’s long been clear that they don’t matter in New Jersey.

This is partly a byproduct of how people get their news today – print circulation has plummeted for the Star-Ledger and the Bergen Record, to name just two. And now that people aren’t thumbing through pages of a print edition, we self-select the news we’re interested in reading about online. I don’t know anyone that purposefully seeks out editorial page endorsements or their opinions on current events. It’s simply a byproduct of a different era, and in the case of endorsements, one that should probably go away.

But let’s be clear about one thing: StayNJ got overwhelming bipartisan support because it delivers historic property tax relief to the New Jerseyans that need it the most. If it was such a bad plan, such a gimmick, why didn’t Republicans vote against it? Once again, Governor Murphy, Speaker Coughlin, and Senate President Scutari delivered real results and real property tax relief for the people of New Jersey.

NJ Globe: How Cocaine found its way into the West Wing is a mystery that might never get solved.  How many days will this story last? 

Dan: It depends on how the White House handles it from here on out. From the beginning, it felt to the world like they were downplaying the story and trying to deflect attention, rather than conveying a feeling of being up front and transparent about the situation. And now the media is digging, because they feel like there’s a story there and they want to hold the White House accountable.

It’s a good lesson in how to handle situations like this: the more you deflect and evade, the hungrier the press corps gets.

I’ll be honest and say that I can’t really get worked up over the substance of the story itself, but it’s another proof point of a communications operation in the Biden administration that has never quite found its footing.

Alex: Look, it lasts for as many days as the White House changes the story from the recorded tapes of first responders and other published reports. And what were they thinking telling members of the White House press corps (obedient as they may be under this Administration) from the outset of a story that it’s a mystery that cannot be solved? Even the most ardent liberals among them will want to flex their access, knowledge, and sources on television and social media.

This came from MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell’s show yesterday (not exactly a right-wing bulwark):

“The big change is… where this was found. It was found, by my observation, in a much more secure place — limited-access place, in that West Wing reception area,” Mitchell said. “It’s still a frequently traveled place, but it’s down near the Situation Room, right off Executive Drive, down below. And, normal people just — average people just can’t get in there even with the entry for the northwest gate.”

Drugs in the West Wing: it’s a headline that’s irresistible to even the most sympathetic media. It also doesn’t help that this is brought to you by the same team that insisted to the media and the American public that other salacious matters involving the Bidens were no big deal – claims that ultimately proved to be untrue. Cocaine, though? She don’t lie.