Democratic Party - Democratic National Committee

09/26/2025 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 09/26/2025 16:18

Jack Ciattarelli Owes New Jerseyans Answers About His Anti-Vax Views Arrow

Last night, New Jersey gubernatorial candidate Jack Ciattarelli took the stage at the NJ Public Health Innovation PAC's gala - an organization that has repeatedly pushed claims that vaccines cause autism and other related conspiracy theories.

As a "distinguished guest," he shared the stage with someone who thinks COVID-19 vaccines could make people magnetic and someone else who compared vaccine mandates to slavery.

His appearance last night came as no surprise to those who know him best: Jack Ciattarelli has long been associated with anti-vaxxers and is an ardent defender of Trump's budget, which kicks 390,000 New Jerseyans off their health insurance.

While he tried to flip-flop once again about how anti-vax he is, New Jerseyans deserve answers: what does Jack actually believe?

Read more below in the New York Times:

New York Times: As Immunization Rates Fall, Vaccine Skepticism Grows as a Wedge Issue

[Tracey Tully, September 26, 2025]

  • Mr. Ciattarelli was a featured guest at an event hosted by a group that has emerged as one of New Jersey's main opponents of mandatory vaccination.
  • The keynote speaker was a doctor who has falsely claimed that the Covid-19 vaccine magnetizes patients. ("They can put a key on their forehead. It sticks," the doctor, Sherri Tenpenny, testified in 2021 in Ohio. "They can put spoons and forks all over them and they can stick.")
  • On Sunday, Mr. Ciattarelli, who is running for governor for the third time and has been endorsed by Mr. Trump, said, "I support the vaccine schedule."
  • Earlier this month, however, in answering a question at a town hall, he said: "I would never mandate a vaccine. That's up to you."
  • Mr. Ciattarelli was interviewed by leaders of the Public Health Innovation PAC during the 2021 campaign.
  • "I've always been about bodily autonomy," he said, according to the group's website. "I don't think government has any right to tell any individuals that they have to take a vaccine or a medicine."
Democratic Party - Democratic National Committee published this content on September 26, 2025, and is solely responsible for the information contained herein. Distributed via Public Technologies (PUBT), unedited and unaltered, on September 26, 2025 at 22:18 UTC. If you believe the information included in the content is inaccurate or outdated and requires editing or removal, please contact us at [email protected]