Hartford, CT – GOP candidate for Governor Peter Lumaj held a press conference attacking reporters for their coverage of him. Given that the party takes their lead from CT GOP Chairman J.R. Romano, it’s unsurprising that the favored party candidate would attack the press for unfavorable coverage.

In 2016, J.R. Romano banned a Hearst Media Reporter from their convention, citing ‘unfair’ coverage. These attacks on the press lauded by the Connecticut Republicans and their candidates are directly from the Trump playbook. Donald Trump has denigrated the integrity of the press and shown blatant disrespect for the freedom of the press throughout his campaign and his time in office. It’s clear that these tactics have trickled down to the Republican Party in Connecticut.

“Peter Lumaj’s attacks on the media are jarring, but it’s not hard to see where he got the idea,” said Connecticut Democratic Party Communications Director Christina Polizzi. “J.R. Romano has turned the CT GOP into a race to the right and seeks out candidates who will emulate Donald Trump. And we would like to know if the other gubernatorial candidates are going to follow Peter Lumaj and J.R. Romano’s lead. Would they accept help from the White House if they were the nominee? Would they follow J.R. Romano’s lead and ban certain members of the press from their events based on how they viewed their coverage? Connecticut needs elected officials who are going to stand up to Donald Trump, whether that’s standing up for freedom of the press, gun violence prevention, or protecting women’s reproductive health. And so far every single member of the CT GOP has made it clear that not only will they capitulate to the Trump agenda, they will go out of their way to replicate Trump’s tactics.”