“Blue Dog Democrat” Rep. Stephanie Murphy has embraced, but at the same time put a little daylight between herself and the Progressives of the Democratic Party in the U.S. House of Representatives.
We caught up with Rep. Murphy shortly after votes were cast on Wednesday and asked her what her take was regarding the new breed of Progressive Democrats, and if she thought they could hurt her political party and ultimately President-elect Joe Biden.
“Look, we all know that the Democratic Party is a big tent party,” said Murphy. “We benefit from the variety of ideas, the enthusiasms, and the passions, and I think everybody has the ability to contribute.”
Murphy appeared enthusiastic about the prospects that “ a President Joe Biden in the White House” could unite all the factions in the Democratic Party, and get legislation passed through a “potentially divided Congress or at least a narrowly divided Congress.”
Murphy added that she “looked forward to working with all members of the Democratic Caucus,” including members of the Progressive “Squad.”
When then asked her about one of those Progressive members, Rep. Rashida Tlaib, and the recent story by The Jerusalem Post where it was uncovered that Rep. Tlaib deleted an anti-Israel retweet she made.
Tlaib removed her “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” retweet, a known phrase used by Islamists that propagate the destruction of Israel.
Murphy didn’t denounce Tlaib’s anti-Israel retweet, instead spoke about her commitment to the existing “US-Israel relationship,” adding that she “can’t control what people” do or say.
“You know I know where I stand, and I stand committed to the US Israel relationship,” said Murphy. “That’s you know as they say and what I tell my children all the time is, you can control what you do and how you respond to the things that happened to you in your life, but you can't control other people.”
Murphy, who has been openly critical of, and has supported the impeachment of President Donald Trump, and has been critical of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis over his handling of the pandemic, is rumored to be considering a senate run in 2022 against Sen. Marco Rubio.
