Phil Murphy’s Rhetoric Doesn’t Match His Actions When It Comes To Women

Gov. Phil Murphy

Gov. Phil Murphy

Here at The Bob & Steve Show we’ve talked a lot about Governor Phil Murphy’s double-standard problem when it comes to his treatment of women.

More than 30 times, on this blog, we’ve mentioned the mistreatment of women on Murphy’s professional soccer team (forcing young women to live with a dirty old man, forcing players to live in a house with plastic bags for windows, reports that “Suburban recreation leagues for 8-year-olds have better accommodations” when it comes to the professional team’s practice facilities and the list goes on).

And, I can’t count how many times the mainstream press mentioned the piss poor way Murphy handled the Katie Brennan situation.

There was the much less covered Allison Kopicki who said she was resigning from her position in the Murphy administration because she alleged she has faced retaliation from Murphy’s administration. To refresh your memory about the Kopicki story here is an excerpt from an NJ.com article:

Shortly after Murphy was elected in November 2017, Kopicki told members of Murphy’s transition team about concerns that Kelley created a hostile work environment for women, according to the Journal report.

That included allegations that Kelley threw a chair while a female subordinate was in the room. NJ Advance Media later confirmed those accusations.

Kopicki was a deputy policy director to Murphy’s transition.

Murphy’s transition team hired an outside attorney to look into the complaints. The probe found that Kelley did throw the chair but did not find evidence that he treated women unequally, the Journal reported.

Kelley was later hired as a deputy chief of staff after Murphy became governor last January.

The women’s soccer, Katie Brennan and Allison Kopicki situations all add up to a track record of Phil Murphy not believing women. In fact, the only instance of Murphy believing women I could find was involving Brett Kavanaugh.

All this has had me wondering if “#MeToo” and “#BelieveWomen” are nothing more than political tools to Murphy.

If those three situations weren’t enough to cause anyone else to wonder if “#MeToo” and “#BelieveWomen” are nothing more than political tools to Murphy then yesterday’s Bob & Steve Show blog post should get you asking questions.

I wrote about the very kind words Murphy had for Nick Sacco at a recent Sacco campaign event. To refresh your memory Murphy said of Sacco:

“I talk about a stronger and fairer New Jersey all the time, and if you want to see an embodiment of strong and fair, look at the leadership we have on stage tonight,” Murphy said. “I know the mayor as a friend, supporter, and confidante when times are tough. I know him as one of the most senior, distinguished, and respected state senators in Trenton, and most importantly I know him as Mayor Nick Sacco of the great North Bergen.”

Governor Murphy said all these nice things about Sacco despite the fact that in 2010 North Bergen paid April Tricoli-Busset $90,000 because she sued over sexist remarks. Keep in mind those sexist remarks included Sacco allegedly discussing “boobs” with Tricoli-Busset.

And, there’s the voicemail messages left on Lydia Coleman’s phone allegedly by Sacco. An expert said the recordings were authentic. Coleman said the alleged voicemail messages came after she rejected Sacco’s sexual advances in a bar in 2003.

All this adds up to one big question: Does Phil Murphy really believe women?

I say the answer is no. Even if you want to believe in Phil Murphy and give him a pass on the women’s soccer, Katie Brennan and Allison Kopicki situations, at the very least the fact that Murphy had no problem standing with and supporting Nick Sacco even though Sacco has been accused of sexual harassment and/or sexist remarks at least twice and his town settled one of those instances for $90,000 you have to wonder if Murphy really believes women.

Murphy is always ready with the rhetoric to make it appear he supports women, like the time during the Brett Kavanaugh confirmation hearings when Murphy said Kavanaugh "ought to just pack up and leave town." Unfortunately for Democrats, the reality is Murphy’s rhetoric doesn’t match his actions.

If Murphy’s rhetoric truly matched his actions he wouldn’t have stood with Sacco and instead said “he ought to just pack up and leave town.”

The only question left is will Murphy follow his own advice and pack up and leave town since his record on women doesn’t match his rhetoric?