New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy denies 2024 rumors, says he’s ‘1,000% behind President Biden’

Democratic New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy denied rumors he was planning a run for the White House in 2024. 

When asked if he has considered running for president, Murphy told CBS “Face the Nation” host Margaret Brennan, “I have 1,000%, behind President Biden.” 

“And 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.”

Brennan pointed to a profile piece published Saturday in the New York Times titled, “A Trip to Ukraine. A Jab at Ron DeSantis. What Is Phil Murphy Up To?”

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“It’s a very good question,” Murphy said Sunday. “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. 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. I’m honored to chair the National Governors Association, as well as the Democratic Governors Association. So we have a few balls in the air, but New Jersey is job number one.” 

On Saturday, Murphy, along with former Vice President Mike Pence, was slated to speak at the annual Gridiron Club dinner, which the Times categorized as “a famously irreverent white-tie-and-tails roast that draws Washington’s top journalists and political insiders.” 

Brennan also asked the Garden State’s governor why Biden has not formally announced his candidacy for 2024. 

“I’m not sure I’ve got any insight information on that,” Murphy said. “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. But that’s something that the president himself will decide.”

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On other issues, Murphy said he was “concerned, but not panicked” about Silicon Valley Bank (SVB).

“Depositors and workers in the companies whose deposits are in that bank need to be job number one,” Murphy said. “We’ve got a big innovation economy in New Jersey, so we’ve spent the weekend trying to make sure we’re out ahead of this. We don’t have a whole lot of exposure to SVB, per se, but we do have a lot of tech companies. So our Economic Development Authority is preparing a package largely focused on liquidity to be there in case we need to be there. So concerned is you have to be when you have a bank of this size go down. But I don’t think there’s any need to panic. And I’m certain that the authorities at the federal level are working feverishly to come up with some sort of a solution sooner than later.”

The governor was also grilled on his decision to expand AP African American Studies in a perceived dig at Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis despite the course’s potentially “flawed academics.”

“Do we believe in teaching our whole history? The Good, the Bad, the Ugly, nothing but the truth? The answer affirmatively is yes. So in this case, AP African American Studies, New Jersey has one high school teaching it this year, we’re expanding it to 26 next year,” Murphy said, accusing DeSantis “just trying to divide us.” 

“The fact of the matter is, it must be taught. And you do have latitude in terms of constructing that curriculum at the district level. And that’s what we’re going to do in New Jersey.”