TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Republicans, who have repeatedly knocked Democratic congressman Patrick Murphy for allegedly exaggerating or being untruthful about his accomplishments, seized Thursday on what they called a new gaffe by the U.S. Senate candidate.
Murphy, born in Florida, claimed to be an immigrant.
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The line came from an interview with Jorge Ramos on Fusion TV. The words "I'm an immigrant" did, strictly speaking, come out of Murphy's mouth --- as several news outlets reported.
"Murphy should probably take some time off, figure out what he needs to do to be able to stop lying, and then maybe get back into politics once he learns how to tell the truth," said Ian Prior, a spokesman for the conservative Senate Leadership Fund.
A quick look at the context of Murphy's comments shows that they might have been more rhetorical flourish than outright whopper.
Ramos had asked Murphy, who faces fellow Democratic congressman Alan Grayson in an Aug. 30 primary for the Senate nomination, whether he was afraid of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump winning the White House.
In the course of his answer, Murphy said: "All of us -- I'm an immigrant; we're all basically immigrants here."