Noah sums up the latest controversy surrounding Connecticut Democratic Senator Chris Murphy quite well. The only thing I would add is the context: Murphy wants the 2028 Democratic presidential nomination the way Gollum wanted its “precious,” even if he often ranks last or close to last in early polls.
Murphy isn’t yet a household name, and he’s not well known for any accomplishments as a senator, so the best path to the nomination he can discern is to be the most outspoken, most incendiary, most boundary-breaking Democrat in the field.
This past weekend, Murphy spoke at the Global Progressive Mobilisation event in Barcelona, Spain, rallying alongside Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez of the Socialist Workers’ Party and Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of the Brazilian Workers’ Party. (According to the event’s website, “This initiative was warmly welcomed by the Socialist International Council at its 2025 meeting in Malta and by the Progressive Alliance Presidium meeting in Berlin.”) Murphy said he was there to “help unite progressive parties from around the world in a defense of democracy and a war against corruption,” and the event was “necessary to beat back the forces of fascism.”
(Hey, it’s just a bunch of leftist socialists denouncing their opponents as fascists in Spain, what’s the worst that could happen?)
The irony is that President Trump has, on and off, pursued the approach to Iran that Murphy said he preferred. Back in February 2020, Murphy wrote about his multiple meetings with Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif.
For years, I have met on occasion with Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif, during both the Obama and Trump Administrations. I have no delusions about Iran — they are our adversary, responsible for the killing of thousands of Americans and unacceptable levels of support for terrorist organizations throughout the Middle East. But I think it’s dangerous to not talk to your enemies. Discussions and negotiations are a way to ease tensions and reduce the chances for crisis.
Apparently, no one in Washington wants to believe that the Iranian regime has broken just about every treaty it has ever signed. At heart, Murphy’s complaint about Trump’s policies on Iran is that he’s not negotiating with the Iranians the way Murphy would.