Phil Murphy clearly fancies himself the Dirty Harry of the Garden State.
Over the weekend, the wannabe Jersey tough guy essentially told the Trump administration and border czar Tom Homan: “Go ahead, make my day.”
Then he ran and hid behind his spokesperson.
In an interview with Blue Wave New Jersey, a progressive grassroots organization, Murphy boasted that he and the first lady were hiding an illegal alien in the room above the garage of their Middletown mansion.
“Tammy and I were talking about — I don’t want to get into too much detail, but there is someone in our broader universe whose immigration status is not yet at the point that they are trying to get it to. And we said, you know what? Let’s have her live at our house above our garage,” he said.
“And good luck to the feds coming in to try to get her,” he added — issuing a challenge to the Trump administration while ensconced in the safety of the far left’s bosom.
This man is living in a Hollywood fantasy: casting himself as an ICE-fighting superhero with some imaginary migrant damsel in distress to save. But that movie will never come to theaters because Murphy only fits in the suit of Bulls–t Man.
The guv’s rep was quick to clean up his mess, saying his statements were “misinterpreted” and “no one has ever lived in the home” under such circumstances.
Murphy, who grew up in Massachusetts, isn’t new to cosplaying that stereotypical Jersey attitude honed by watching too many “Real Housewives” reruns. At the Democratic National Convention’s state roll call last August, he puffed out his chest as “Born in the USA” blared over the speakers.
“Everybody, I”m Governor Phil Murphy. We’re from Jersey, baby. And you’re not,” he said.
Err … okay. He then bragged about New Jersey caring about women’s rights — before handing the microphone to a man in a purple dress who declared that he used she/her pronouns.
But Murphy, a former Goldman Sachs exec, has Hollywood casting competition for the role of a wannabe street fighter in the statehouse.
Illinois Democrat governor JB Pritzker issued a blustery warning to Trump back in November, saying, “I want to remind you that a happy Warrior is a Warrior. You come for my people, you come through me.”
Nearly two weeks ago, Pritzker participated in an egregious case of what folks on the left like to call “disinformation” — something they regularly remind us is a threat to our democracy.
A story circulated in Chicago that ICE had come to raid Hamline Elementary School but were held at the door by a principal who said, “We will not open our doors for ICE.”
An eager Pritzker then spread the false story on X.
“After a week of Republicans sowing fear and chaos, the first reports of raids in Chicago are at an elementary school,” Pritzker posted on X. “Targeting children and separating families is cruel and un-American.”
Except it wasn’t ICE officers — who are rounding up actual criminals. It was the Secret Service, investigating a threat in the neighborhood. Oops.
Fox News’ Bill Melugin noted that no one in Pritzker’s office checked with law enforcement agencies before spreading the lie. Maybe, just maybe it’s the Dems who are “sowing fear and chaos.”
Hey, as long as these stories keep the activists engaged and enraged.
Both Murphy and Pritzker aren’t sending a message of strength, but rather one that laws are meant to be broken — by virtuous leaders like themselves, picking and choosing rules they like and outwardly opposing the enforcement of others.
They’ll do anything in service of their selective adherence, whether that’s inventing an imaginary migrant in the garage or spreading false stories about law enforcement.
Both their scripts have a lot of holes in them.
