7 of Gov. Murphy’s dumbest moves as his time comes to a close

I never voted for Phil Murphy either time he ran for governor. I always voted for the Republican candidate. So I am owning up to my bias. Feel free to dismiss my thoughts or wholeheartedly agree with them or anything in between. It’s America.

As his days in office wind down, I thought back over these eight years to some, in my opinion, less than Mensa-qualifying moments he’s had. In no particular order, here are seven of Gov. Phil Murphy’s dumbest moments.

1 — The Brine

He’d been in office less than a year, and the first huge snowstorm we got hit with was handled horribly. A colossal failure. People were stuck for hours on highways that were impassable because plows weren’t there. Former Gov. Chris Christie was even one of the thousands of people stuck on untouched roads and he was livid. I know this because he called in to my show as a private and very pissed off citizen.

It’s what Murphy did next that was even more dumb than being ill-prepared. He made excuses. Then for many weeks after in the ultimate flop sweat panic Murphy over-brined New Jersey’s highways to the point you thought the man had a pickle fetish. It could be a forecast for a drizzling rain with temps of 50 and he would brine. It was as embarrassing as it was stupid.

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2 — Legalizing Marijuana

Remember the 100-day promise? He ran on the progressive issue of legalizing recreational marijuana and swore he could get it done in his first 100 days. Instead, after bungling the project it took over three years to pass the law then more than another year to implement it.

SEE ALSO: Ultimate guide to legal marijuana in NJ

3 Policy 5756

This was the policy that said a student who presents as transgender at school could not be outed to their parent. Teachers who could get reprimanded for slipping up and referring to a student by their non-preferred pronoun had to consciously make the effort to revert to their birth pronoun when calling home about a kid.

Then it turned out Policy 5756 was never a hard law as the administration let it be believed but rather just a very strong suggestion.

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4 — Motor Vehicle Commission

Another dumb moment under Murphy was his pandemic closure then reopening of Motor Vehicle Commission offices. When they reopen,ed it was a nightmare. What did they expect would happen with no streamlining and no additional staff upon reopening to the motoring public who hadn’t been able to get right with the law for months? It was people camping in parking lots and chaos all around.

SEE ALSO: I almost had a nervous breakdown at the MVC

5 — Labor Department

So follow this. Murphy forced all non-essential businesses to close for months during the pandemic, throwing huge numbers of people out of work. Then they needed to apply for unemployment benefits, and the Labor Department couldn’t figure out how to help people. It was the ultimate cluster-you-know-what and an excellent example of how not to govern.

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6 — BLM

Our fifth dumbest moment is when Murphy ordered social distancing and limited how many people could get together in a group even outdoors. Then proceeded to break his own law by marching in a Black Lives Matter protest. Stupid on steroids

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7 — Missing Softball Debate Question

It was October 2017, a few weeks before Election Day. In a debate between him and opponent Kim Guadagno, the ultimate softball question landed in his lap.

“What is your favorite fruit and favorite vegetable?”

Clearly the answer to court playful favor with New Jersey would be Jersey tomatoes and cranberries. Instead, Murphy, who was not born and raised here, blurted out, “Grapefruit and broccoli.”

Really dude?

The softball then went to Guagdagno who probably couldn’t believe her luck. She landed it. Too bad she didn’t land the election.