Gov. Ned Lamont might display saint-worthy patience when critics denounce his tolls plans, but his political affability was placed on the back burner when another state tried to claim national dominance as the epicenter of high-quality pizza.
On Feb. 7, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy took to Twitter ahead of the Feb. 9 National Pizza Day to announce: “NEW JERSEY: THE PIZZA CAPITAL OF THE WORLD”¦ get ready.” Lamont, who never had a previous public spat with Murphy, decided to up the ante with his own tweet playing up the Nutmeg State”™s pizza while serving up some Garden State stereotypes.
“Relax, New Jersey,” Lamont tweeted. “I will proudly proclaim Crimped Hair Day, Wearing Socks With Sandals Day, and Don”™t Pump Your Own Gas Day in your honor. But Connecticut is clearly the Pizza Capital of the World.”
Lamont punctuated his tweet with a link to a Matador Network article praising Frank Pepe Pizzeria Napoletana, the New Haven landmark that also has a satellite eatery in Fairfield.
For his part, Murphy retweeted a Twitter tribute to New Jersey pizza from television host Dr. Mehmet Oz under the message “Listen to your doctor.” And while Murphy did not specifically cite Lamont by name in a rebuttal, there was no mistaking the subject of his response tweet: “Haters still mad.”
