Why N.J. lawmaker who helped Trump just rejected the president

TRENTON --  A South Jersey congressman and recent beneficiary of a fundraiser hosted by President Donald Trump after helping the president in the Obamacare repeal drama is breaking with him for equating neo-Nazis who marched in Charlottesville with those who came out to oppose them.

Rep. Tom MacArthur (R-3rd Dist.), whose southern New Jersey district includes Burlington and Ocean counties, on Wednesday rejected the President's claim that "some very fine people on both sides" had attended Saturday's deadly white power rally in Virginia, where one person was killed after a Nazi sympathizer plowed his car into a group of march opponents.

"I do not believe that good people participate in white power rallies," MacArthur said. "I do not believe that good people hold racist beliefs. I do not believe that good people resort to violence - ever."

MacArthur had declined to criticize Trump at a Tuesday evening town hall and was one of the few New Jersey lawmakers who did not issue a statement following the president's comments.

"There's too much political gamesmanship going on and I'm not interested in criticizing every last comment that the president or anyone else makes," MacArthur told Politico after saying he did not see the president's Tuesday press conference in New York City.

Trump told reporters at Trump Tower that there were some "very fine people" marching alongside swastika-toting white supremacists chanting anti-Semitic slogans, and that "the press has treated them absolutely unfairly."

He also equated the counterprotesters with the white supremacists, neo-Nazis and Ku Klux Klan members who staged the march.

"I think there's blame on both sides," he said.

MacArthur rejected that argument.

"People tragically died and were injured in Charlottesville as a result of a vile gathering of white supremacists that I have completely and repeatedly condemned," MacArthur said. "I live my life as a Christian -- that is who I am at my core -- and I openly accept those who are different than me."

MacArthur was the only member of the state's congressional delegation to attend the 2016 Republican National Convention in Cleveland, where Trump was nominated.

He played a key role in winning approval of a House Republican health care bill that the Congressional Budget Office said would leave 23 million more Americans without coverage than under the Affordable Care Act it would replace.

MacArthur then joined Trump and other House GOP members at a Rose Garden ceremony to celebrate passage of the legislation.

Trump returned the favor in June, hosting a fundraiser for MacArthur at his Bedminster golf club, which raised more than $800,000. Trump also benefitted  from the event; his golf club was paid $15,221 for rent and food.

He later said the House Republican bill, which he initially called a "great plan," actually was "mean."

Following MacArthur's support of the health care bill, the Cook Political Report, a Washington-based publication that tracks congressional races, rated him as more vulnerable but still a favorite for re-election.

Andy Kim, a former national security adviser in President Barack Obama's administration, and Katherine Hartman, a civil rights lawyer, have said they would run against MacArthur next year.

Claude Brodesser-Akner may be reached at cbrodesser@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @ClaudeBrodesser. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook.

Jonathan D. Salant may be reached at jsalant@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JDSalant or on Facebook. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook.

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