An Atlantic County official who called for the state to reopen without restrictions was called "totally and completely irresponsible" by the governor Saturday.
"Atlantic County Officials need to sound the alarm," Atlantic County Surrogate Jim Curcio wrote in a Facebook post Saturday.
"Reopen New Jersey immediately without restrictions. Trust American freedom ingenuity and the US Constitution. Untie the hands of the Private Sector so it can rescue NJ from this nightmare."
Gov. Phil Murphy read the post during his daily briefing on the coronavirus pandemic Saturday.
"If we 'untie the system' right now there will be blood on our hands," Murphy said.
"This is literally life and death," Murphy continued. "And what we need now is responsible leadership. We don't need irresponsible leadership."
In apparent response to the governor's comments, Curcio posted that things on his page "are my personal opinions as a private citizen." He then put a link to the Atlantic County Surrogate's website for his "official positions." Curcio later updated the status to change "without restrictions" to "sensible restrictions."He did not immediately respond to requests seeking comment.
