On Martin Luther King Jr. Day in 2016, the Bergen County Sheriff Michael Saudino took offense that the Bergen Republican Party chairman attacked him for switching to the Democratic Party.

How crass of the chairman, Bob Yudin, to raise a petty, political fuss on such a hallowed national holiday celebrating the civil rights icon, Saudino suggested in a news release. The attack was "inappropriate and insensitive,'' Saudino said.

Two years later, we are now confronted with a different Michael Saudino, captured on tape grousing to colleagues after attending Gov. Phil Murphy's inaugural. Suddenly, the high-minded Saudino was down in the gutter.

"He (Murphy) talked about the whole thing, the marijuana, sanctuary state...better criminal justice reform,'' Saudino says, according to an account published by WNYC-FM in New York, which obtained a copy of the tape.

"Christ almighty, in other words let the blacks come in, do whatever the f...k they want, smoke their marijuana, do this do that, and don't worry about it. You know, we'll tie the hands of cops."

The radio station reports that the tape also has Saudino, who is white, offering up a few other crude asides. He questions the sexual orientation of lieutenant Gov. Sheila Oliver because she's unmarried. And Saudino asserts that Murphy selected Gurbir Grewal, a Sikh, to be Attorney General solely because of "the turban."

Saudino stepped into it — as the expression goes — and stepped into a moment when intolerance is no longer tolerated. It is a time when the racist or homophobic quip, or of the Good Old Boys variety of the past instantly ricochets around the Internet, upending careers and carefully plotted political campaigns within the heat of a one-day Twitterstorm.

Full story:Murphy calls for Saudino's resignation after racist tape

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Ron DeSantis, the Republican candidate for governor in Florida, is on the defensive over a since-deleted tweet penned by a top ally, which called President Barack Obama the n-word and a Muslim. In New Jersey, Seth Grossman, the Republican candidate for Congress in south Jersey, was taped saying diversity is "a bunch of crap" and "un-American" and came under fire for posting on his Facebook page an article written by a white nationalist.

And it is an era where the raw, unfiltered and racist remarks are no longer sealed in the sanctuary of the political backroom — or, in this case, a Bergen County office building. Cameras and smartphones with recorders are everywhere. They don't capture carefully scrubbed remarks for a news release. They capture candor.

Saudino, now serving his third term, became a turncoat Democrat during Republican Gov. Chris Christie's tenure and left the struggling Bergen GOP in rubble. Now, he's incurred the wrath of a liberal Democratic governor, who routinely boasts of the historic diversity of his Cabinet.

"Without question, the comments made on that recording are appalling, and anyone using racist, homophobic, and hateful language is unfit for public office," Murphy said in a statement to WNYC. "If indeed that is Sheriff Saudino’s voice on the recording, he must resign."

Saudino was a political prize for the Bergen Democrats when he switched, helping the party solidify its grip on the county apparatus for the first time since the legendary boss Joe Ferriero ran the party. Now, Saudino is a liability in the Age of Murphy.

The WNYC report said a copy of the recording was provided to a spokesperson for Jim Tedesco, the Bergen County executive. By late Thursday, Tedesco said in a statement that he was "shocked and disappointed to hear these comments" and called on Saudino to resign.

"Bergen County’s diversity is our strength and his statements are clearly inconsistent with our values,'' Tedesco said in a statement.

And Grewal in his own statement said he has "thick skin" and has been called "far worse."

"But the comments about the African-American community are wrong, racist, and hurtful. The comments about our lieutenant governor are inappropriate and homophobic," Grewal said. "New Jersey and Bergen County deserve better.”

Saudino, meanwhile, issued an apology late Thursday claiming that the remarks "are not representative of the person that I am and they are in no way consistent with the manner in which I have conducted my life personally and as a law enforcement professional with over 46 years of service to the residents of Bergen County."

Yet, nowhere in his lengthy mea culpa does Saudino suggest that he intends to step down. He will strive to be a better person, but it appears he staying put.

Saudino's rant makes him sound very much like one of the vulgar, racist "deplorables" -- as Hillary Clinton described them — who were drawn to Republican Donald Trump's campaign. In fact, he doesn't sound that much different from Trump, who privately complained of immigrants from "Sh...hole" countries."

News of the Saudino tape rippled through the New Jersey Democratic Committee, which began a two day conference in Atlantic City, a kind of pre-election pep rally. The goal was to help build momentum for the midterm elections, which Democrats hope to tape anti-Trump fervor to retake the House and possibly the Senate.

"Don't sit back and watch — help the Blue Wave reach the shore,'' according to the committee's website, promoting the event. Cory Booker, the progressive U.S. senator who preaches the value of love and diversity, was scheduled to speak Thursday night. So was Murphy.

And now the party has a deplorable in its midst.

State Sen. Loretta Weinberg, D-Teaneck, who didn't attend the conference, said there is no place for Saudino in the party or as one of the county's top law enforcement officers, responsible for overseeing its jails and county police.

"This isn't some average citizen spouting off in a bar,'' she said.

Up until Thursday, Saudino, the Democrat, was a member of the rising anti-Trump wave. Now, Saudino is being swamped by the anger that helped build that wave.