Sen. Cory Booker and Republican challenger Justin Murphy offered sharply different views on the Iran conflict during a New Jersey debate, according to the source account.
Asked what he would tell President Donald Trump if the president sought his advice, Murphy said the United States should complete the war “in a positive manner.” He argued that the conflict should not be abandoned midway and criticized Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Murphy later urged Trump to “get this done and done right,” prompting Booker to mouth “Wow.” The response drew applause from the audience, the account reported.
Booker, a Democrat, said Murphy’s remarks reflected the kind of “Yahoo” foreign policy that had pulled the United States into costly Middle East wars. He questioned the financial and human consequences of using force with what he characterized as false bravado.
Booker also joked about the premise of Trump asking him for counsel, referring to the president’s past claim that he knows more than his generals. He then criticized Trump’s record and described the president as someone who often ignores advice.
Murphy, an attorney and former deputy mayor of Tabernacle, is challenging Booker for New Jersey’s U.S. Senate seat. The source notes that Republicans have not won a Senate election in the state since 1972, though Republican appointees later held the seat briefly.
The debate exchange highlighted divisions over Trump’s military campaign and how it should end. The source also describes a separate debate discussion about illegal immigration, including Murphy’s account of a child-abduction and rape case. That allegation is attributed in the source to Murphy and reporting by WRNJ; it is not independently established here.
