Phil Murphy’s greatest weakness: He just can’t say he’s sorry | Opinion

We all know something about having responsibility. Whether it’s to our kids, our community, or an aging parent, we get up every day and take care of the people who need us. We also know the consequences of shirking those obligations.

No one has avoided taking accountability like Gov. Phil Murphy.

This was most apparent recently when he was caught maskless — in violation of his own guidelines — at several parties. Murphy was indignant, and he offered a tortured explanation for his hypocrisy both on the debate stage and at two of his press conferences. He just couldn’t bring himself to say, “I messed up, and I’m sorry.”

It’s not the first time.

Just a few weeks ago during Hurricane Ida, people tragically drowned in their cars trying to escape the floodwaters. When the governor was asked on CNN if earlier warnings might have helped these lost souls — warnings, by the way, that were sent much earlier by our neighboring states — Murphy offered a two-word response: “not sure.”

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This is a pattern with Murphy. When Katie Brennan, a campaign aide, who had been assaulted by someone who also worked on the Murphy campaign, bravely brought the matter to the Governor’s attention, he replied “on it” and then did nothing. In subsequent investigations by the legislature, he blocked his top advisers from testifying and agreed to a taxpayer-funded settlement to make it go away.

When COVID-19 restrictions threatened our freedoms, he quipped that the Bill of Rights was “above his paygrade.” When asked at various points during the pandemic if beleaguered business owners and schoolchildren could return to normal, he’d cryptically reply with “not there yet,” while offering no supporting data for his conclusions. And most disturbingly, when his team was warned on a call that that thousands of seniors and veterans would go on to die in long-term care facilities as a result of his COVID-19 protocols, silence was all that could be heard on the other end of the line.

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He’s told New Jersey residents frustrated with the complete meltdown at the unemployment offices or their skyrocketing tax bill that they can simply move to other state. When crime was rising this summer, he blamed the heat and humidity. He won’t even allow journalists and concerned citizens to obtain the information to which they are entitled under open public records law. The list goes on and on.

Guys like Murphy are only too happy to take credit for their flimsy achievements like Murphy does with the pomp and circumstance of televised press conferences and signing ceremonies, but when it comes to the harder, more humbling moments, he falls woefully short.

Being a leader anywhere means saying: “I screwed up,” or “I can and I will do better next time.” Most of us don’t get through life without saying those words, so what makes Murphy so special? He consistently has abdicated his responsibility to the people of New Jersey, and this November, we will finally do something he has failed to do himself: hold him accountable.

Alexandra Wilkes is an attorney and serves as communications director for the New Jersey Republican Party. She resides in Ramsey with her husband and daughter.