MOUNT OLIVE – Tom Malinowski has solid foreign policy credentials, so it was no surprise he was asked Tuesday night about how foreign leaders perceive the United States in the age of Trump.

Malinowski, the former State Department assistant secretary for human rights, replied, “They are utterly mystified.”

That really captured the tone of Malinowski’s “Coffee with your congressman” event at the After Char-Broil, a burger and ice cream joint on Route 206.

Malinowski talked about the president’s fondness for dictators at the expense of traditional American allies and his most recent idea to buy Greenland from Denmark. Malinowski said he didn’t think the proposal in itself was all that silly, but he took exception to the president’s juvenile behavior when Denmark said the massive island was not for sale. Donald Trump complained about being insulted and cancelled a planned visit to Denmark.

Malinowski’s foray into Republican Morris County was another stop on his tour of the sprawling Seventh District during the August recess.

The congressman did relatively well in Morris last year, losing the county part of the district by about 2,500 votes. That was far better than previous Democratic congressional candidates had done.
Nonetheless, there were apparently few Republicans among the 50 or so people who attended the gathering. Two exceptions were GOP township councilmen Alex Roman and Greg Stewart. The only one who spoke was Roman, who thanked the congressman for coming to the township and expressed a willingness to work together.

Malinowski followed up, assuring Roman that responding to the needs of municipalities in the district is a truly bipartisan endeavor.

Other than that, the congressman fielded a lot of friendly questions that gave him a chance to talk about gun control, climate change and health care. He backs “universal” care but is not sold on Medicare For
All, preferring a system in which people of all ages would have access to a public health insurance option.
But he often came back to Trump, describing him as acting “increasingly unhinged,” as a continuing trade war with China threatens to bring on a recession.

It was at one of these meetings last week when Malinowski observed that those in the country illegally take jobs many Americans do not want.

The reaction from the right was quick and a bit silly; the congressman was criticized for saying something reasonable people know is true.

Tonight, he admitted he was a bit “flippant” in discussing the matter last week. But his views have not changed.

He said that in visiting farms around the district, he was told that their number one challenge is finding workers.

His flippant remark at this evening’s event is unlikely to provoke as much outrage as what he said about undocumented workers.

Referring to the size of a district that covers parts of six counties, Malinowski said he hopes it may get even bigger “when we buy Greenland.”  Yep, Malinowski said he’d offer to represent the new land in Congress.

“Why not?” he asked.