TRENTON, NJ – New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy has insisted he intends to finish out his term as Governor of New Jersey, but the wealthy former Goldman Sachs capitalist turned progressive Democrat appears to have an eye on D.C.
A report in the New York Times suggests the New Jersey Governor has something up his sleeve. First, he attacked Ron DeSantis, a front-running candidate for the GOP for President in 2024. Then he flew to Ukraine.
“On a Tuesday in mid-February he publicly chided Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida, a Republican, by name, calling his education policies “shameful.” The New York Times reported. “The next day at noon, he proposed requiring all new cars sold after 2035 to be electric, following California’s lead. By early Thursday, Mr. Murphy, a Democrat, had made an unannounced stop in Ukraine en route to a security conference in Germany.”
Then there’s Murphy’s push for building the world’s largest offshore wind energy farm off the Jersey Shore.
There is speculation that Murphy could jump into the Presidential race if President Joe Biden declines to seek re-election. Others speculate Murphy could be jockeying himself for a role in Biden’s inner circle in D.C. if he wins re-election in 2024.
One thing is sure. Murphy has one eye on New Jersey and one eye somewhere else. The question is “Where?”
This weekend Murphy denied the Times report saying he is, “1000% behind Joe Biden.”
“And I haven’t really looked beyond that he certainly is going to run. He deserves to run. He’s earned that right. I think he’s had a great run here. And I’m gonna be 1,000% behind him,” he told Margaret Brennan on CBS “Face the Nation” this week.
So what’s going on with Murphy? Here’s what he had to say.
“It’s a very good question, I’m incredibly honored to serve as the governor of New Jersey, we inherited a state that was basically a train wreck, and we got elected to fix it and got reelected to continue to fix it. That is job number one, period full stop. I’m a former U.S. ambassador, which in my case was the Federal Republic of Germany. And therefore the international stuff is – continues to be important to us,” Murphy said. “New Jersey is one of the most international American states. So direct investment relations abroad matter a lot. I’m honored to chair the National Governors Association and the Democratic Governors Association. So we have a few balls in the air, but New Jersey is job number one.”