In the past two weeks, Donald Trump tightened his MAGA grip on the Republican Party and dispatched the nation’s loudest Never Trumper, ex-New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie to the dustbin of failed presidential hopefuls.

Yet Republican Jon Bramnick, the veteran state legislator from Union County, ignored the recent past on Saturday as he announced his bid for governor in 2025 at a comedy club in New Brunswick. He declared himself an avowed Never Trumper moderate, but without the bare-knuckled vehemence of Christie.

That’s not surprising. Bramnick, after all, moonlights as a standup comedian. He’s known to test out some of his Borscht Belt-flavored jokes on politicians in the hallways of the Statehouse where he’s served for nearly two decades. His affability has won him friends on both sides of the aisle, ranging from Christie to the current governor, Democrat Phil Murphy.

Christie went right at Trump’s character, calling him a coward and a reckless narcissist who places his own ego ahead of the interests of the nation. In Bramnick’s kickoff ceremony in front of close to 300 friends and supporters, the state senator took aim at the ethos of the Trump cult, but not so much at its leader.

Yet at its heart, the 70-year-old personal injury lawyer’s anti-Trump message was identical to Christie’s  And it is this: There is no way that the New Jersey GOP can regain relevance as long as its brand is wedded to the “hateful” rhetoric of the Trump era.

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“We’ve been losing election after election after election,’’ he told the crowd. “We have always been a party of law and order. But we cannot continue to be the party of law and order if we make excuses for the rioters of Jan. 6 who were beating police officers over the head with sticks.”

The crowd erupted in thunderous applause. He continued on this theme, arguing that close to 60 court rulings rejected challenges to the 2020 presidential election.

Respecting the court, he said, is also an essential requirement for a party that once prided itself on its orderly reputation. Bramnick asserted that the party must “call out” those railing against the courts, “even if it’s Donald Trump.”

It was his only mention of the Bedminster golf club owner’s name. Still, Bramnick immediately drew a sharp contrast with former Assemblyman Jack Ciattarelli, another Republican more closely aligned with the party’s moderate wing and who is planning his third run for governor in 2025. Ciattarelli, who once labeled Trump a “charlatan,’’ refuses to criticize him, saying that if elected governor, he may need to work with Trump if he returns to the White House.

Ciattarelli is staring out at a Republican Party now in the throes of MAGA fever. Bramnick is betting that the fever may break by 2025, and the party will un-yoke itself from a figure dragged down by 91 felony counts.

Moderate manifesto

Bramnick’s kickoff was a defiant manifesto of Republican moderation. Instead of retreating from the pillars of the GOP establishment of the past, Bramnick reverentially summoned the hallowed names of Eisenhower and the Bush family, names that make the MAGA crowd fume with fury.

In fact, the campaign shared video endorsements of George P. Bush, the grandson of President George H.W. Bush and a former Texas state official, and former U.S. House Speaker John Boehner, an Ohio moderate who was run out of Washington by the Tea Party activists, the pro-MAGA right wing faction of the GOP.

“The history of my Republican Party has always been defined by humility and service to our country, virtues and concepts that I was proud,’’ he said. “The voters we need no longer view our party that way.”

Bramnick also vowed to restore “balance’’ to Trenton, where the Democrats have ruled the legislature for two decades. He promised compromise and enactment of tough-on-crime measures that he believes appeal to the Main Street centrism of New Jersey. (One position he championed, however – a return to mandatory minimum sentencing guidelines for judges – has long been discredited as a failed policy that sent generations of low-risk offenders to prison and into the endless treadmill of the state’s criminal justice system.)

The question now looming for Bramnick: Is his moderate manifesto a legitimate strategy or just wishful thinking?

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Some believe Bramnick could make a formidable general election candidate in 2025. His vow to restore bipartisanship and compromise could appeal to a New Jersey electorate that normally takes a chance with the opposition party after a governor has held the office for two consecutive terms.

Micah Rasmussen, director of the Rebovich Institute for New Jersey Politics at Rider University, believes Bramnick could actually draw some encouragement from the recent New Hampshire primary performance of former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, who finished in second place.

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Even though Trump beat her by 11 points, she captured 58% of independents. Exit polls also found that four out of 10 Haley voters declared that they would vote for Biden rather than Trump in November.

“It would be very unusual, historically, for us to have a third Democratic term in a row,’’ Rasmussen said of the coming governor’s race. “So I think he can probably make the case for balance and for giving the Republican side a chance.”

But getting through a Republican primary will be the key challenge. Right now, Bramnick and Ciattarelli are likely fighting for the middle, but right-wing radio host Bill Spadea has been raising money. He’s forged ties with influential Ocean County GOP leader George Gilmore (who was at Saturday’s event.)

Bramnick may hope the fever breaks, but right now, the GOP remains in the grips of MAGA voters, who have no patience for Never Trump attacks.

The senator’s moderate pitch is “not going to fly up here,’’ said Robert Kovic, executive secretary of the Sussex County Republican Party, where Trump is overwhelmingly popular.

Some officials say the race is light years away, and that Bramnick’s skills and experience and Jersey guy amiability might just work. It’s too early to worry about the dynamics of the primary.

“Eighteen years ago, I started in the state Assembly and made a few friends on both sides,’’ Bramnick said. “And I think I know the process pretty well.”

But he is also new to the process of running for governor. And he’s an untested candidate testing a Never Trump message that seems out of step with his party.