New Jersey Gym-Owners Outmaneuver Governor’s Vendetta With “Political” Workaround

Authored by Andrea Widburg via AmericanThinker.com,

One of the lockdown stories that’s earned a lot of coverage concerns Ian Smith and Frank Trumbetti, who own Atilis Gym in Bellmawr, New Jersey.  

Because the Wuhan virus is now the status quo, rather than an emerging threat, they have pushed back against Governor Phil Murphy’s insistence that his continuing “emergency” executive powers can force them into bankruptcy.  They re-opened, and, despite observing social distancing, masks, and disinfection rules (and no cases of Wuhan viruses can be traced to their gym), Murphy has engaged in a full-on vendetta against the gym, including yanking their business license.

Help may be on the way, though.  

The gym’s owners have allied with Rik Mehta, a pharmacist who is running for the U.S. Senate. 

 If Mehta wins, he’ll bump Cory “I am Spartawuss” Booker, one of the smarmiest leftists in the Senate.  The gym’s owners and Mehta had a great idea — they’ve turned the gym into Mehta’s campaign headquarters:

The gym will serve as a campaign headquarters and rally spot for Republican US Senate candidate Rik Mehta, a pharmacist who is challenging Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ), the owners said.

Gym co-owner Frank Trumbetti, asked whether the pair thought the state might try to mess with them this time around, responded, “We believe they can’t. It doesn’t mean that they’re not going to.”

“We hope it gives us a reprieve until Nov. 3,” he said of potential government interference at the gym. “Everyone who comes in here will be a volunteer for the Mehta campaign, and we’ll be here to exercise our rights.”

“And we’re not requiring masks, either,” Trumbetti added defiantly.

Bravo, guys, for standing up to the petty tyranny of yet another Democrat governor who turned his elder care facilities into slaughterhouses.  (At a certain point, you have to wonder if the Democrat governors who did this were merely stupid or if they were deliberately trying to ease the financial burden that the needs of elderly people can impose on state budgets.)

“We took a stand for our constitutional rights and for the rights of all small business owners throughout the country,” Smith told “Fox & Friends Weekend” Sunday.

“And it wasn’t intended to become political. We were trying to offer a solution to a problem where the government was failing, and it turned political. And that was because of Gov. Murphy’s actions. So now we made it political just as much as he has.”

Without knowing any of the inevitable details about in-kind donations, insurance, etc., it sounds like an excellent idea for GOP candidates to join together with those locally owned businesses that Democrat governors seem determined to destroy.  While the governors are making sure that the big stores (Walmart, Lowes, etc.) see sales soar, they’re systematically destroying restaurants, gyms, hair care establishments, mom-and-pop stores, and all sorts of other places that can’t afford big donations to Democrat politicians.