Rep. Jeff Van Drew Addresses Alleged Death Threats From Columnist

CAPE MAY COURTHOUSE, NJ — Congressman Jeff Van Drew condemned an Ocean City newspaper on Monday after published columns allegedly contained threats against him and his wife.

Van Drew identified the columnist as John McCall of the Ocean City Sentinel during a news conference outside the courthouse on Main Street.

“For far too long calls for violence have gone unchallenged, but today, right here in Cape May County we are drawing a line in the sand. You can come after me with loud words and threats, but if anyone, let alone a member of the press, thinks they can threaten my wife and my family they’ve got another thing coming,” Van Drew said.

Van Drew, a former Democrat who switched to the Republican Party in 2019, is referencing a Jan. 13 column, which the Ocean City Sentinel has retracted from its website.

In the column, McCall wrote, “Like all Trump loyalists, Van Drew and DeVlieger are guilty of subverting the peaceful and equitable functioning of our government. This is not just a moral failing. This is treason. And the penalty for treason is execution. That applies to the great and the small, to presidents, congressmen and smalltown councilmen. It’s the trickle down theory of responsibility.”

According to Van Drew, McCall’s most recent column published March 10, "vividly describes invading and destroying his home, and graphically ponders what it would be like to sexually assault his wife over the hood of her car."

McCall also left a voicemail message to Van Drew's office on Feb. 28, which he classified during the news conference as a "death threat."

In the voicemail, which was provided in a news release, McCall said, “I would swear to your demise as a politician and I believe that you personally are a degenerate. As a member of the New Jersey Press Association, I will do everything in my power to ensure that you are deposed if not dead. Anything I can do to basically get you out of office, I will do. You are a traitor Jeff Van Drew and you deserve the fate of all traitors.”

According to the Press of Atlantic City, Ocean City Sentinel editor and publisher David Nahan issued an apology to Van Drew that appears on the commentary page in this week’s newspaper.

“Because you felt threatened and felt your wife was threatened, I am sorry,” Nahan wrote. “I don’t have a problem with giving readers space to put their names to criticism of any elected official. However, in this instance, I have let the readers down.”

Nahan told the Daily Journal that McCall is a local resident and freelance journalist who occasionally submits guest columns and letters to the editor.

“I am calling on the New Jersey Press Association and the Ocean City Sentinel to forcefully denounce and condemn the threats McCall made against me and my family, to immediately retract his hate-filled editorials, and issue a public apology to my family — until then any and all legal options remain on the table,” Van Drew said.

In the voicemail McCall identified himself as a member of the New Jersey Press Association, but the Daily Journal reported that McCall has never been a member of NJPA, since individual journalists cannot join the association.

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