Opinion: Murphy’s Daily Press Conference is a Disgusting Insult

For months now, the governor sits at a wide dais flanked by other state officials and puts on an embarrassing dog and pony show, designed to show how much he cares and how well he is doing at keeping us safe.

It is NOT his job to keep us from catching a virus by locking down a state and causing the utter destruction of thousands and thousands of peoples' livelihoods and dreams.

Many people are taken-in by his folksy, compassionate millionaire routine, but it's a farce. He puts up a score board of "new deaths" from COVID-19 up on the screen at the beginning and through his painful press conferences. Monday's number was four. I'm not saying losing four people from COVID just Monday isn't horrible, but it's not true.

Later in the broadcast, if you had the stomach to stay with it, his health commissioner, Judy Persichilli will quickly read a statement saying that these deaths were probable cases related to complications of COVID-19 that occurred during April, May, and July, not in this month of August.

She said it at 40:06, if you care to verify. But if you didn't hang in there through 45 minutes of this performance, you wouldn't have heard that. And they're hoping you didn't. They just want you to see the pictures and stories of people who've probably died from this virus. It's a shameful exploitation of real people from New Jersey, and he uses it to justify his control thirst power grab.

Many other people die every day in our state from a myriad of other causes and many, many more will die in the coming months and year from this shutdown. Important cancer screenings, heart check-ups and other important medical visits are being missed. Not to mention the incredible stress that many people are feeling, that tragically leads to a variety of serious illness. Most people in this state are buying what Murphy is selling, and that's sad. More sad than his daily display of naked ambition for more power and control.