Sen. Chris Murphy’s comment calling ships bypassing the U.S. blockade in the Strait of Hormuz “awesome” earned him the beratement of Senate Republicans and the White House, even though the Connecticut Democrat said he was being sarcastic.
Mr. Murphy reposted an article titled “At least 26 Iranian shadow fleet vessels bypass US blockade” and added the caption “awesome.”
The contents of the link detail the ships that have transited past the U.S. blockade in the critical oil chokehold since President Trump’s terms with the Iranian regime were reconfigured.
Senate Republicans laid the accusations on thick, accusing Mr. Murphy of publicly rooting for Iran amid the U.S.-Israeli war against the Islamic republic.
“Senate Democrats are so far to the left that they’re now cheering on Iran,” Sen. John Barrasso, Wyoming Republican, said on social media. “Weak Democrats are siding with an evil terrorist regime over America.”
GOP Sens. Tim Scott of South Carolina and John Cornyn of Texas questioned where Mr. Murphy’s loyalties lie.
The White House rapid response social media account dubbed Mr. Murphy a “loser” and “moron.”
“You were literally cheering for the enemy — gleefully regurgitating Iranian propaganda to undermine your own country’s interests,” the post reads.
The Democrat clarified that his comment was sarcasm.
“Ok Twitter, I can’t believe I need to clarify this but obviously Trump’s bungled mismanagement of this war is not ’awesome’. As I have said a million times here, it’s a disaster and he should end the war immediately,” Mr. Murphy posted. “My tweet was something called ’sarcasm.’”
Former Rep. Adam Kinzinger, Illinois Republican, came to Mr. Murphy’s aid, criticizing those who he said faked their indignation.
“I love how everyone is pretending to be outraged about @ChrisMurphyCT clearly sarcastic tweet, and ignoring the fact that Iranian ships are blowing past the US ’blockade,’” he said. “It really is a masterclass in distraction. Seriously.”
Mr. Murphy, a fierce critic of the president and the way the Trump administration is going about the Mideast conflict, turned his attention toward Tuesday’s vote on another war powers resolution to rein in the president’s military authority in Iran.
He said Republicans will “spend today trying to distract you (like pretending they’ve never heard of sarcasm)” while the war is “making Iran more powerful.”
“And Republicans want to talk about anything other than their blind support for a war that is ruining our economy, setting the world on fire, giving Iran control of the Strait, and drawing Iran/Russia/China closer together,” he added. “They could stop this war now. But they won’t. So they throw up obviously disingenuous smoke screens.”
Democrats plan to continue to flood the Senate floor with such measures until the war in Iran ends or Mr. Trump has to seek congressional approval for further military action in Iran. All resolutions have failed.
