New Jersey Republicans are facing an identity crisis thanks to Donald Trump.

Should they stand by their party's standard bearer in hopes of a second-term salvation or openly condemn Trump now and unhitch the New Jersey party from the Trump bandwagon before it takes it over the cliff?

Consider Jack Ciattarelli.

Four years ago, the Republican lawmaker from Somerset County didn't mince words when it came to then-presidential candidate Donald Trump.

Ciattarelli called Trump a "charlatan" who is out of step with American values and "preys upon our worst instincts and fears."

But now Ciattarelli, who intends on running for governor in 2021, has abandoned his role as a Trump-bashing attack dog. That's because he finds himself in a political box.

If Ciattarelli does run for governor, he can't snub the Trump die-hards who stick with him through thick and thin, and who are, by and large, unfazed by Trump's incendiary, racially charged rhetoric. They cheer Trump on when he tells four congresswomen of color to "go back" to the countries where they came from. They come to his defense, as they did last week when Democrats accused the president of encouraging white supremacists, like the shooter in the El Paso massacre that left 22 dead.

But Trump's brand is deeply unpopular in New Jersey beyond that base. He converted scores of suburban moderate Republicans — the reliable and affluent lifeblood of the New Jersey GOP for generations — into "never Trumpers" and possible Democratic voters. Those voters helped fuel the Democratic rout in the midterm elections in New Jersey last year.

"Trump is just an example of a style that, at the end of the day, may not work in states like New Jersey,'' said Ciattarelli, a solutions-oriented moderate. "What that means is the New Jersey [Republican] Party needs to consider what it is that is going to make us successful here in our home state. If we don’t do that, we could very well face extinction.”

State Republican Chairman Douglas Steinhardt remains a Trump stalwart.

"President Trump has made incredible progress in growing our economy, supporting our military and securing our borders. Americans of all races, genders and income levels are benefiting from his policies,'' he said in a statement.

"Liberal Democrats and media members have promoted a false narrative that President Trump has in some way contributed to racial tensions in our country. This is a simple and divisive claim that only deepens a very complicated issue."

Yet former Gov. Christie Whitman, a classic New Jersey moderate Republican, whose father single-handedly kept the party afloat during the 1960s, fears that Trump has put the GOP on the road to ruin. In a recent op-ed column, Whitman suggested that the GOP should abandon Trump in 2020 — for the sake of party and for Democracy.

"Will Republicans be characterized by the hate language of our candidate, or will we finally try to heal the partisan division within our country?" she wrote.

The concern can't be easily dismissed. The state GOP is already on the brink of irrelevance. The state Democrats have full command of both houses of the Legislature and the governor's office and hold a commanding 11-1 margin in the congressional delegation.

Both U.S. senators are Democrats. And Democrats now maintain a 1 million advantage in voter registration, which means Democrats are making inroads in once-impenetrable GOP strongholds.

Patrick Murray, director of the Monmouth University poll, says establishment GOP leaders are wary of taking on the Trump "acolytes," fearing an angry backlash.

He suspects that many leaders are holding their breath and biding their time, hoping Trump is bounced from office in 2020 and political life will return to normal. But Murray believes that's a vain wish.

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"Trump has taken over the party, and they are not going to get it back unless they fight for it now,'' he said.

Some Republicans would rather change the subject.

State Sen. Thomas H. Kean Jr. is a candidate for the House of Representatives for the 7th Congressional District in 2020 — and presumably will be on the ballot with Trump if he wins his primary. A Kean spokesman said the race is "about the people’s House, not the White House. Our campaign isn’t going to respond to every tweet that makes it into the news cycle or the news of the day regarding President Trump or other presidential candidates."

And Ciattarelli is struggling to navigate a middle ground in a state Republican Party that remains roiled in the Trump era.

He is quick to echo the conservatives alarmed and angered by the assertive left, like New York Rep. Alexandria Ocascio-Cortez and her brand of "identity politics." Yet he acknowledges that Trump's own incendiary style has made life difficult for Republicans.

"I think a great many New Jerseyans, including a good number of Republicans, are conflicted because of the president’s style,'' he said. "Trump has been successful on things like the economy, the war on ISIS, and the need to establish borders. The conflict comes from the style, the tweets."