TRENTON, NJ – New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy on Monday defended his decision to take a family vacation to the Central American country of Costa Rica. Upon his return, it was revealed that his wife Tammy contracted COVID-19.
Murphy defended that decision, even though he has been harshly critical of other elected officials in the past taking vacations during times of emergency.
Murphy has been a critic of former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie’s decision to vacation at the Island Beach State Park Governor’s Mansion, even though Christie had closed the park to the public during a statewide government shut down.
Earlier this year, Murphy slammed Texas U.S. Senator Ted Cruz for taking a family vacation to Cancun during a major snowstorm that crippled the Lone Star State’s electrical grid.
When it comes to Murphy abandoning New Jersey during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, he said that’s his right and brushed off his critics.
“It’s been about 650 days of this pandemic, I’ve gone away for two eight-day periods, so that’s 16 days out of 650,” Murphy said. Why? You got to, at some point, spend time with your family and reboot. Secondly, I’ve got the best lieutenant governor in America as my partner with great leadership around her and around me, including Judy, Pat, Ed, and many others. Invariably in today’s day and age, I’m in my home in Middletown but if I told you I was somewhere else, the fact of the matter is we run a state today overwhelmingly remotely on phones, on Zooms, and trust me, we’re never far from where we need to be. I promise you that. By the way, I would say that to everybody. The reward for spending time with your family is worth it. Do it responsibly, safely, you stay in touch. You get a lot back from that.”