HACKENSACK – Up for reelection this year, U.S. Senator Bob Menendez (D-NJ) this morning wafted oratorical incense in the direction of Bergen County Executive Jim Tedesco, with whom he will run for reelection.

He drew a contrast between Tedesco and President Donald J. Trump.

“In the nation, we have a great divider,” Menendez said. “It is the county executive who diversified government. First American business administrator. A celebration of all the walks of life of those who call Bergen County home. Jim Tedesco is bringing together people in common cause.”

Having shaken off a federal corruption case against him when the feds tossed the case last week after a 2017 hung jury result, Menendez lingered publicly on his trials.

“We find our way through Him,” he said. “I give testimony that sometimes God puts a Goliath in your path to find the David within you.”

When Bergen County Democratic Chairman Lou Stellato introduced him as a warrior, an apparently humbled senior senator corrected the record.

“I’m really a lover not a warrior,” Menendez said.