New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy (D) quashed conjecture that he was contemplating the prospect of mounting a 2024 campaign.
Joining other similarly situated Democrats, Murphy lavished praise on President Joe Biden and heartily affirmed that he was fully behind him in 2024.
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"I have 1,000%, behind President Biden," Murphy told CBS's Face the Nation. "I haven't really looked beyond that he certainly is going to run. He deserves to run. He's earned that right. I think he's had a great run here. And I'm gonna be 1,000% behind him."
Recently, Murphy embarked on a trip to Ukraine, proposed a rule mandating all new cars sold to be electric after 2035, and took swipes at Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. A recent New York Times piece titled, "A Trip to Ukraine A Jab at Ron DeSantis What Is Phil Murphy Up To" suggested that Murphy, who is term-limited, has higher political aspirations beyond New Jersey.
"I'm a former U.S. ambassador, which in my case was the Federal Republic of Germany. And therefore the international stuff is — continues to be important to us. New Jersey is one of the most international American states. So direct investment relations abroad matter a lot," Murphy said. "So we have a few balls in the air, but New Jersey is job number one."
Last week, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D) ruled out a 2024 run and threw his weight behind Biden after an article suggested he was the Democrats' "SOS candidate" in the event that Biden declines to run. Biden has indicated that he intends to run and is rumored to be eyeing April as a campaign launch date.
"I'm not sure I've got any insight information on that," Murphy replied when asked why Biden hasn't declared yet. "I don't think historically that he's necessarily out of line when other incumbents have announced reelection. I know, we're all sort of expecting it's next week, next month, whatever it might be. My guess is it's sooner than later."
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Murphy narrowly won reelection in 2021, beating Republican Jack Ciattarelli 51.2% to 48% in the Garden State's off-year election cycle. His predecessor, Republican ex-Gov. Chris Christie, has also been subject to 2024 speculation.
"I'm incredibly honored to serve as the governor of New Jersey, we inherited a state that was basically a train wreck, and we got elected to fix it and got reelected to continue to fix it. That is job number one, period full stop," Murphy added.