Murphy: Democrats Must Draw Firm Moral Line In The Sand

WASHINGTON-U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) on Sunday appeared on ABC's This Week to hammer Trump's lawlessness and corruption: from obstructing the release of the Epstein files to doing nothing to stop the disaster American families face once ACA premium subsidies expire at the end of the year. With stakes this high, Sen. Murphy made clear Democrats must draw a firm moral line for the survival of our democracy.

Murphy implored Senate Republicans to follow the House's bipartisan lead in taking up a vote to release the Epstein files this week: "John Thune should bring that vote to the Senate floor as soon as it passes the House of Representatives. It's true that Donald Trump is trying to cover up for, I think, a host of really powerful and rich people, but he's frankly, not that selfless. He wouldn't be going through all of this effort to try to stop the release of these files, if he wasn't seriously implicated in those files. This is most likely the biggest corruption scandal in the history of the country. We know that, because Donald Trump is going to these extraordinary lengths to stop these files from coming out. The Senate should take this vote. I think it will be likely another big bipartisan vote, and I'm grateful to our House colleagues for sending it our way."

Murphy emphasized that while he didn't support the deal to re-open the government, his fight to protect Americans from catastrophic premium increases is not over: "I thought it was a mistake for Democrats to give up what was real political advantage coming off the elections, that could have allowed us to reduce these premiums. In the end, I thought we had a real shot to get a continuing resolution passed that would have lowered prices for people. And I also worry that by capitulating, we have empowered Donald Trump, that Donald Trump is going to act even more brazenly and more lawlessly in the future because of how this vote turned out. Now, what did we get? We got a commitment for a vote in December on the cancellation or the postponement of these massive premium increases. If Republicans don't vote with us, then it is even more clear to the American public who is responsible for the horror - the horror - that is going to happen when millions of people lose their insurance starting in January. That's a very thin silver lining to me, but I'm going to work very hard to make sure that that vote passes, and if it doesn't, hold Republicans accountable."

In speaking to where Democrats go from here, Murphy outlined the path forward to protect Americans and save democracy: "Democrats didn't want this shutdown, but we have values, and so if you want Democratic votes for a budget, it has to be a moral budget that doesn't destroy our democracy. The fact of the matter is, if you don't put constraints on Donald Trump's illegality, this democracy isn't going to be here next November. It isn't going to be here in 2028. So Democrats, yes, have to draw firm moral lines in the sand right now. We would be suckers if we were to sign on to a long-term budget that, for instance, fully funds the Department of Justice to engage in a witch hunt operation against Democratic senators. So we don't want a shutdown. But the situation is unique. Donald Trump is trying to weaponize our compassion against us. This is how we lose democracies all over the world. When despots, or would-be despots, say, 'I'm going to hurt the people. Use their pain as extortion to try to get you to give me more power to corrupt the nation.' So there is not an easy path to saving the democracy. There is not a path that doesn't involve some pain. We will have to find unique ways, as the Civil Rights Movement did, to mitigate the pain for people. But there's no simple, pain-free path to saving our democracy. And I hope that my colleagues, who I respect greatly, realize that."

Murphy pointed to Donald Trump's brazen, illegal military operations targeting Venezuela as further proof that Democrats must be uncompromising in their defense of democratic principles and the rule of law: "It seems pretty clear it's just an effort to distract people from rising prices and from the Epstein scandal. No one wants a war with Venezuela. To the extent they're claiming it has something to do with the drug trade coming to the United States - the majority of drugs don't come through the Caribbean. They come via a land route - a land route that the President is ignoring because he is so focused on this absurd, illegal military campaign against Venezuela. So I don't think you'll find much support amongst Republicans or Democrats in this country for it. And, by the way, it's wildly illegal. The President can't start a war with the nation without congressional authorization. It's just another sign of how out of control and how lawless this President is, and another signal to Democrats as to why we need to draw those firm moral lines in the sand right now to constrain his growing illegality."