N.J. Gov. Mikie Sherrill doubles down: ‘The best cheesesteaks actually aren’t in Philly.’

New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill dissed Philadelphia cheesesteaks earlier this summer, and she just doubled down.

“The best cheesesteaks actually aren’t in Philly,” she declares in a video posted to her social media Wednesday afternoon centered on a recent visit to Donkey’s Place in Camden. “They’re right here in Jersey, and we’re about to go have one.”

In the video, Sherrill leans against the bar next to a customer drinking a beer and sporting a Phillies cap. The first-term Democrat notes with a grin that a “real-life” Philadelphian is “here in Jersey, getting a cheesesteak!”

She noted in the post that a friend of hers from California had mentioned the cheesesteak place to her — showing that the acclaimed Haddon Avenue spot, founded in 1943, is known across the country. She said she “never doubted that New Jersey has the best cheesesteaks,” but had to visit Donkey’s to “confirm” for herself.

Anthony Bourdain felt similarly.

In 2015, Bourdain, who grew up in North Jersey, opined on an episode of his Parts Unknown show that finding the best cheesesteak in “the center of the cheesesteak universe” may require crossing the Benjamin Franklin Bridge. The restaurant proudly displays his quote on its website: “The best cheesesteak in the area might well come from New Jersey.”

During her visit to Donkey’s, Sherrill got in on the cheesesteak action with owner Rob Lucas Jr., whose father, Bob Lucas, previously owned the restaurant. The younger Lucas’ grandfather, Olympic boxer Leon “Donkey” Lucas, was the founder.

Equipped with plastic gloves and a griddle spatula for each hand, the governor assists Lucas by shaking loads of seasoning on a pile of onions.

“Take three pieces of cheese, put it right on top of that,” he directs her in the video.

Sherrill noted she loves onions, in contrast to the three orders of “no onions” ahead of her.

Donkey’s steaks are endowed with white American cheese and come with fried onions on a poppy-seed kaiser roll.

“Guys, the verdict’s in, and you probably know I’ve been going to Army-Navy in Philly for years,” Sherrill, a former Navy helicopter pilot, proudly says, sitting with her creation. “I’ve had a million cheesesteaks. There is no better cheesesteak than here at Donkey’s.”

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The historic Army-Navy football game was first played in Philadelphia in 1899 and it has been hosted in the City of Brotherly Love more times than any other city. The last time it was in Philly was in 2022, and it will be hosted by New Jersey, in East Rutherford, this year before returning to Pennsylvania’s largest city in 2027.

Sherrill visited Donkey’s in late June the same day she visited Camden’s World Cup fan fest at Wiggins Waterfront Park just days before the deadline for her first New Jersey budget. During that appearance, local officials praised the governor for showing up for South Jersey.

During a speech on the fan fest stage, Sherrill boasted that as visitors flood to the region for the World Cup, “the best cheesesteaks are not across the river, they’re right here at Donkey’s.”