HACKENSACK, N.J. (AP) — Two Republican officials in New Jersey are switching political parties over what they say are racist comments made by presumptive GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump.
Hackensack Mayor John Labrosse and Deputy Mayor Kathleen Canestrino changed their party affiliation to independents on Thursday.
The pair said in a written statement that Hackensack is a diverse city and the “divisive and racist statements that Trump keeps making are insulting to many of our people and completely unacceptable.”
Labrosse and Canestrino say there was not a specific comment that influenced their decision. They say it was the general tone of the campaign.
Even though Labrosse and Canestrino were registered Republicans, Hackensack selects council members in a nonpartisan election.
Census figures show about 17,000 of the city’s nearly 44,000 residents were foreign-born.
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