Republican rejects claim he ‘killed tens of thousands of people’ with opioids

As the final days approach a particularly complicated New Jersey gubernatorial election, Republican candidate Jack Ciattarelli’s campaign criticized his Democratic opponent, Rep. Mikie Sherrill, for pushing the narrative that he “killed tens of thousands of people.”

Sherrill accused Ciattarelli of being responsible for printing “propaganda” through the medical publishing company he founded that downplayed the dangers of opioids and of designing an app to help people access dangerous drugs. She made the claims during an Oct. 8 gubernatorial debate and doubled down Monday during a news conference on opioid addiction.

“Jack made millions, the opioid companies made billions, and thousands of New Jerseyans were dying,” Sherrill said at the news conference.

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Democrat Mikie Sherrill, left, and Republican Jack Ciattarelli during a debate on the New Jersey gubernatorial race, Wednesday, Oct. 8, 2025, in New Brunswick, NJ (Rutgers University/WABC-TV)

Ciattarelli campaign strategist Chris Russell told Fox News that if Sherrill “had any decency, she would retract her slanderous comments and apologize.”

“From tripling her net worth in Congress and hiding the details of her stock transactions to concealing the true extent of her role in the Naval Academy cheating scandal, Mikie Sherrill is a liar and lawbreaker whose desperation is visible,” Russell said.

“His reckless and defamatory assertion that Jack ‘killed tens of thousands of people, including children,’ was sharply criticized by members of the press, legal scholars and members of both parties,” he added.

“The truth is that Jack Ciattarelli’s medical publishing company helped create an online tool that allowed a small group of people with chronic pain to learn about treatment options and better advocate for their own healthcare choices when meeting with their healthcare professionals,” Russell explained.

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New Jersey GOP gubernatorial candidate Jack Ciattarelli answers questions from reporters following a debate October 8, 2025 in New Brunswick, New Jersey. (Paul Steinhauser-Fox News)

In response, Sean Higgins, a spokesperson for Sherrill’s campaign, told Fox News Digital that “after years of hiding his role in the opioid epidemic, Jack Ciattarelli finally admits to being paid by an opioid company to create an app to help patients get a prescription for hydrocodone, all at a time when the opioid crisis was raged and killed the people of New Jersey. »

“He has made millions off the pain and suffering of New Jerseyans and he clearly cannot be trusted as governor,” Higgins said.

Ciattarelli threatened to sue Sherrill for defamation if she does not stop making these accusations.

Despite this, Sherrill was adamant about the accusations on Monday.

She pushed back against the threat of legal action over the accusations, saying: “I’m stunned that this perennial candidate, who’s run in three elections now, saying he’s a small businessman, as soon as we start talking about this small business, he wants to shut it down. He wants his lawyers to shut it down. I mean, that’s ridiculous to me.”

“I think we’ve demonstrated that Jack is… in cahoots with these opioid companies,” Sherrill said.

NJ DEM MIKIE SHERRILL DOUBLES IMPLEMENTATION THAT CIATTARELLI “COMPLICIT” IN THOUSANDS OF OPIOID DEATHS

Rep. Mikie Sherrill, D-N.J., and Rep. Abigail Spanberger, D-Va., have both launched gubernatorial bids for their respective states in the 2025 elections. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)

Pressed to clarify whether she was claiming that Ciattarelli killed tens of thousands of New Jerseyans, Sherrill replied: “Yes. Look, I think he’s up there with the people who, again, paid billions of dollars. So, I think the line is pretty clear.”

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For his part, Ciattarelli fired back at Sherrill at a campaign rally Monday, saying, “his entire campaign is based on a pile of lies about me (and) his contempt for the president.”

He said that for the remainder of the campaign, he would discuss his plan for his first day as governor, saying he would immediately issue an executive order banning sanctuary jurisdictions for illegal immigrants, returning public officials to in-person work, appointing a state attorney general “who supports both police and parents,” repairing the public education system and eliminating green energy initiatives in New York. Jersey.