UPDATE: Murphy brushes off ‘silly’ pro-Trump convoy that stopped traffic on the Garden State Parkway
With the contentious 2020 presidential election just two days away, a large motorcade of President Donald Trump’s supporters brought the northbound express lanes lanes of the Garden State Parkway to a standstill early Sunday afternoon, before the caravan drove north to Union County.
Trump supporters also packed the Mario M. Cuomo Bridge in New York on Sunday. Similar caravans have clogged roadways in Texas, Arizona, and Washington state the last two days. It’s unclear if they were coordinated.
Sentiment was mixed on social media about whether the New Jersey motorcade boosted or harmed the president’s campaign.
Social media videos of the parade showed vehicles flying Trump flags and other banners coming to a standstill in the Parkway’s express lanes at one point, where some supporters got out of their cars and cheered the effort at one point.
“We shut it down, baby! We shut it down,” a man is heard saying in one clip.
Another Twitter video claimed to showed the motorcade traveling in the right lane and letting other traffic pass. However, on closer examination, that video shows a mile marker for an interstate highway, not the Parkway.
Officials of the New Jersey Turnpike Authority, which runs the Parkway, confirmed the event took place.
“I can confirm there was a motorcade," said Thomas Feeney, a Turnpike Authority spokesman. "It stopped at Cheesequake (Service Area) and eventually continued north. It backed traffic up for about five miles. The vehicles exited at (Interchange) 135 (Clark/Westfield).”
Feeney referred questions about any arrests or traffic violations to the New Jersey State Police. A State Police spokesperson didn’t have immediate answers about the demonstration.
The motorcade didn’t inspire some of the support organizers might hoped for on social media.
The event occurred during the final weekend of the presidential race between incumbent Trump, a Republican, and Democratic challenger Joe Biden.
It also comes two days after Trump supporters surrounded a Biden campaign bus in Austin, Texas on Friday. Biden campaign staff called 911 and canceled at least one event in the state after the incident. The former vice president said Sunday the Trump supporters tried to run the bus “off the road.”
“Folks, this is not who were are,” Biden said during a campaign stop in Philadelphia.
The FBI‘s San Antonio office said it’s investigating the matter.
Trump tweeted on Sunday “these patriots did nothing wrong.“
”Instead, the FBI & Justice should be investigating the terrorists, anarchists, and agitators of ANTIFA, who run around burning down our Democrat run cities and hurting our people!” the president added.
Jason Miller, the Trump campaign’s chief strategist, responded to the motorcades by saying he’s more worried about businesses in Washington, D.C. “having to board up their windows in anticipation of lawless, violent Biden supporters rioting and looting” Tuesday night on Election Day, according to a report by the New York Times.
Some businesses in Atlantic City were also boarding up windows in preparation for the election.
Trump has strong ties to New Jersey, owning three private golf clubs here (including one in Bedminster he frequently visits) and having once owned three casinos in Atlantic City.
But New Jersey has gotten bluer in recent decades, with registered Democrats now out-numbering Republicans 2-to-1. A Rutgers-Eagleton Poll released last week found Biden leading Trump by 24 percentage points in the Garden State.
NJ Advance Media staff writers Brent Johnson and Katie Kausch contributed to this report.
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Larry Higgs may be reached at lhiggs@njadvancemedia.com.
Allison Pries may be reached at apries@njadvancemedia.com.
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Pro-Trump convoy stops and snarls traffic on the Garden State Parkway - NJ.com
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