Sen. Chris Murphy's 'emergency' message about Trump is connecting with Democratic voters

SAXAPAHAW, N.C. (AP) — Connecticut Sen. Chris Murphy isn’t drawing arena-size crowds like Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez are as he tours the country talking to voters. But in a packed concert hall in rural North Carolina, people are starting to view the Democrat as worthy of the national spotlight.

Murphy and Rep. Maxwell Frost, D-Fla., have been staging events in Republican congressional districts in recent weeks, trolling GOP lawmakers such as Rep. Richard Hudson, who represents the area they visited Thursday. Hudson, the chairman of the House GOP campaign arm, has discouraged Republicans from holding town halls, so Murphy and Frost decided to hold one on his home turf in North Carolina.

“We are doing the job that these Republican congressmen and senators won’t do,” Murphy told the hyped-up crowd of mostly older voters at the event, while acknowledging that Democrats need to do more to soothe their anxiety and counter President Donald Trump. “I want to make sure that everywhere, in every corner of this country, people are willing to stand up and fight.”

As other Democrats grasp for a response to Trump’s election, unsure of how to confront him, Murphy is channeling his own frustration and anger into a sustained blitz of television appearances, fundraising appeals, Senate floor speeches and events like the one in North Carolina. He also is talking directly to voters on social media, including through lengthy live videos on Instagram where he sits in his kitchen with a cocktail and tries to explain what he sees as “the central story” of Trump’s presidency — “the billionaire takeover of our government made possible by the destruction of our democracy.”

It's a methodical approach for Murphy, 51, a serious-minded legislator who has been most well known for his yearslong fight to stem gun violence in the aftermath of the 2012 shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut that killed 20 first-grade students and six educators.

While the kitchen talks on Instagram seem to come more naturally to Murphy than riling up a crowd, his message is clearly resonating with his party's base of voters, many of whom are angry at Democrats in Washington for inaction. He raised around $8 million in the first quarter of the year, a significant sum that could rival the totals for Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez, who have been drawing much larger crowds on a tour together.

“I mean, I’m not Bernie Sanders,” Murphy said in an interview after the event in Saxapahaw. “I’m not going to draw 70,000 people. But that doesn’t mean that I don’t still have an obligation to try to go out and support a national mobilization.”

Frustration with the Democratic Party’s leaders came to a boil last month, with most of the anger directed at Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York after he voted for a Republican bill to keep the government open just as the base was hoping to see more fight from their elected officials. Murphy was strongly against the bill, even if opposing it meant Democrats would trigger a government shutdown.

“When people see us engaged in risk-adverse behavior, then they are much less likely to show up for rallies to ultimately engage in the kind of civil disobedience we might need to save the democracy,” Murphy said.

His fundraising haul, and his barrage of media and events, begs questions about his future ambitions. But it is unclear where Murphy’s moment might lead. He insists that he is not thinking about a presidential bid or a future in Senate leadership after the No. 2 Democrat, Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, announced this week that he will retire next year.

“It's probably not a coincidence that my content is breaking through and more people are listening to me at a time when I’m not getting up every day thinking about my personal political future,” said Murphy, who was reelected to the Senate last year. “There’s not going to be an election in 2028 if we don’t win this fight right now.”

The answer isn't a cop out, he says. “It seems kind of silly to think about anything other than the emergency that exists today," he said. "That is legitimately what drives me.”

Ron Osborne, the chairman of the Democratic Party in Alamance County, where Thursday’s event was located, said he had not previously considered Murphy a major contender for the presidency in 2028. But “he’s doing the right things," Osborne said.

"He is speaking out where others could do the same thing and have not,” Osborne said, and “that takes courage.”

Terry Greenlund, a 78-year-old Democrat who was also in the audience, said he thinks Murphy “has a way of talking with people.”

“I think it’s time for a new generation to move in with some new views and insight and energy,” Greenlund said, echoing many others in the room.

A spokesman for the National Republican Congressional Committee said Hudson would not comment on the event in his central North Carolina district. The spokesman, Will Kiley, said Murphy had “parachuted in” and his “extreme, far-left values couldn’t be more out of step with these communities.”

Murphy, 51 and the father of two teenagers, seems to be enjoying the attention. He joked at the event that he may not be as “cool” as Frost, who is the youngest member of Congress at 28. But Murphy is still decades younger than Schumer, Durbin and other Democratic colleagues who have controlled the party for years.

“I’m trying to be dad cool,” Murphy said.

Murphy, who did a similar event in Missouri on Friday, is not the only Democrat venturing into red states. In addition to Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, the 2024 vice presidential nominee, and Rep. Ro Khanna of California have also recently traveled to talk to voters in Republican areas.

He said he does not want to “reinvent the wheel” with his fundraising haul, but he does not want to sit on it, either. Murphy said he plans to help organizations mobilize voters before the 2026 midterm elections and also put pressure on Republicans as they try to push tax and spending cuts through Congress.

“The only way that history tells us that you stop an elected leader from converting a country away from democracy is mass mobilization,” he said.

"Our party has made mistakes, and if we don’t learn from those mistakes," Murphy said, “we're cooked.”

Rep. Maxwell Frost, D-Fla., speaks from the stage of the Haw River Ball Room during a town hall in Saxapahaw, N.C., Thursday, April 24, 2025, as Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., listens. (AP Photo/Allen G. Breed)

Flyers calling for the defeat of Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., sit on a table outside a town hall with Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., and Rep. Maxwell Frost, D-Fla., in Saxapahaw, N.C., Thursday, April 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Allen G. Breed)

Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., holds a phone as he, Rep. Maxwell Frost, D-Fla., with folded arms, and others, record a message to a Republican lawmaker during a Democratic town hall at the Haw River Ball Room in Saxapahaw, N.C., Thursday, April 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Allen G. Breed)

Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., speaks from the stage of the Haw River Ball Room during a town hall in Saxapahaw, N.C., Thursday, April 24, 2025, as Rep. Maxwell Frost, D-Fla., right, listens. (AP Photo/Allen G. Breed)

A woman wears a sticker saying "My GOP Rep Won't Meet With Me" during a town hall at the Haw River Ball Room in Saxapahaw, N.C., Thursday, April 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Allen G. Breed)

Rep. Maxwell Frost, D-Fla., speaks from the stage of the Haw River Ball Room during a town hall in Saxapahaw, N.C., Thursday, April 24, 2025, as Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., listens at left. (AP Photo/Allen G. Breed)

People line up outside the Haw River Ball Room to attend a town hall with Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., and Rep. Maxwell Frost, D-Fla., in Saxapahaw, N.C., Thursday, April 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Allen G. Breed)

People wave signs during a Democratic town hall at the Haw River Ball Room in Saxapahaw, N.C., Thursday, April 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Allen G. Breed)

Rep. Maxwell Frost, D-Fla., speaks from the stage of the Haw River Ball Room during a town hall in Saxapahaw, N.C., Thursday, April 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Allen G. Breed)

Laura Stillman, 75, of Raleigh, N.C., attends a Democratic town hall at the Haw River Ball Room in Saxapahaw, N.C., Thursday, April 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Allen G. Breed)

Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., speaks from the stage of the Haw River Ball Room during a town hall in Saxapahaw, N.C., Thursday, April 24, 2025, as Rep. Maxwell Frost, D-Fla., left, listens. (AP Photo/Allen G. Breed)

Karen Mallam, dress as lady liberty, talks at a Democratic town hall at the Haw River Ball Room in Saxapahaw, N.C., Thursday, April 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Allen G. Breed)

Rep. Maxwell Frost, D-Fla., speaks from the stage of the Haw River Ball Room during a town hall in Saxapahaw, N.C., Thursday, April 24, 2025, as Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., right, listens. (AP Photo/Allen G. Breed)

Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., speaks from the stage of the Haw River Ball Room during a town hall in Saxapahaw, N.C., Thursday, April 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Allen G. Breed)

U.S. forces have boarded another oil tanker in the Caribbean Sea. The announcement was made Friday by the U.S. military. The Trump administration has been targeting sanctioned tankers traveling to and from Venezuela.

The pre-dawn action was carried out by U.S. Marines and Navy, taking part in the monthslong buildup of forces in the Caribbean, according to U.S. Southern Command, which declared “there is no safe haven for criminals” as it announced the seizure of the vessel called the Olina.

Navy officials couldn’t immediately provide details about whether the Coast Guard was part of the force that took control of the vessel as has been the case in the previous seizures. A spokesperson for the U.S. Coast Guard said there was no immediate comment on the seizure.

The Olina is the fifth tanker that has been seized by U.S. forces as part of a broader effort by Trump’s administration to control the distribution of Venezuela’s oil products globally following the U.S. ouster of President Nicolás Maduro in a surprise nighttime raid.

The latest:

Richard Grenell, president of the Kennedy Center, says a documentary film about first lady Melania Trump will make its premiere later this month, posting a trailer on X.

As the Trumps prepared to return to the White House last year, Amazon Prime Video announced a year ago that it had obtained exclusive licensing rights for a streaming and theatrical release directed by Brett Ratner.

Melania Trump also released a self-titled memoir in late 2024.

Some artists have canceled scheduled Kennedy Center performances after a newly installed board voted to add President Donald Trump’s to the facility, prompting Grenell to accuse the performers of making their decisions because of politics.

Mexico President Claudia Sheinbaum says that she has asked her foreign affairs secretary to reach out directly to U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio or Trump regarding comments by the American leader that the U.S. cold begin ground attacks against drug cartels.

In a wide-ranging interview with Fox News aired Thursday night, Trump said, “We’ve knocked out 97% of the drugs coming in by water and we are going to start now hitting land, with regard to the cartels. The cartels are running Mexico. It’s very sad to watch.”

As she has on previous occasions, Sheinbaum downplayed the remarks, saying “it is part of his way of communicating.” She said she asked her Foreign Affairs Secretary Juan Ramón de la Fuente to strengthen coordination with the U.S.

Sheinbaum has repeatedly rebuffed Trump’s offer to send U.S. troops after Mexican drug cartels. She emphasizes that there will be no violation of Mexico’s sovereignty, but the two governments will continue to collaborate closely.

Analysts do not see a U.S. incursion in Mexico as a real possibility, in part because Sheinbaum’s administration has been doing nearly everything Trump has asked and Mexico is a critical trade partner.

Trump says he wants to secure $100 billion to remake Venezuela’s oil infrastructure, a lofty goal going into a 2:30 meeting on Friday with executives from leading oil companies. His plan rides on oil producers being comfortable in making commitments in a country plagued by instability, inflation and uncertainty.

The president has said that the U.S. will control distribution worldwide of Venezuela’s oil and will share some of the proceeds with the country’s population from accounts that it controls.

“At least 100 Billion Dollars will be invested by BIG OIL, all of whom I will be meeting with today at The White House,” Trump said Friday in a pre-dawn social media post.

Trump is banking on the idea that he can tap more of Venezuela’s petroleum reserves to keep oil prices and gasoline costs low.

At a time when many Americans are concerned about affordability, the incursion in Venezuela melds Trump’s assertive use of presidential powers with an optical spectacle meant to convince Americans that he can bring down energy prices.

Trump is expected to meet with oil executives at the White House on Friday.

He hopes to secure $100 billion in investments to revive Venezuela’s oil industry. The goal rides on the executives’ comfort with investing in a country facing instability and inflation.

Since a U.S. military raid captured former Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro on Saturday, Trump has said there’s a new opportunity to use the country’s oil to keep gasoline prices low.

The full list of executives invited to the meeting has not been disclosed, but Chevron, ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips are expected to attend.

Attorneys general in five Democratic-led states have filed a lawsuit against President Donald Trump’s administration after it said it would freeze money for several public benefit programs.

The Trump administration has cited concerns about fraud in the programs designed to help low-income families and their children. California, Colorado, Minnesota, Illinois and New York states filed the lawsuit Thursday in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

The lawsuit asks the courts to order the administration to release the funds. The attorneys general have called the funding freeze an unconstitutional abuse of power.

Iran’s judiciary chief has vowed decisive punishment for protesters, signaling a coming crackdown against demonstrations.

Iranian state television reported the comments from Gholamhossein Mohseni-Ejei on Friday. They came after Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei criticized Trump’s support for the protesters, calling Trump’s hands “stained with the blood of Iranians.”

The government has shut down the internet and is blocking international calls. State media has labeled the demonstrators as “terrorists.”

The protests began over Iran’s struggling economy and have become a significant challenge to the government. Violence has killed at least 50 people, and more than 2,270 have been detained.

Trump questions why a president’s party often loses in midterm elections and suggests voters “want, maybe a check or something”

Trump suggested voters want to check a president’s power and that’s why they often deliver wins for an opposing party in midterm elections, which he’s facing this year.

“There’s something down, deep psychologically with the voters that they want, maybe a check or something. I don’t know what it is, exactly,” he said.

He said that one would expect that after winning an election and having “a great, successful presidency, it would be an automatic win, but it’s never been a win.”

Hiring likely remained subdued last month as many companies have sought to avoid expanding their workforces, though the job gains may be enough to bring down the unemployment rate.

December’s jobs report, to be released Friday, is likely to show that employers added a modest 55,000 jobs, economists forecast. That figure would be below November’s 64,000 but an improvement after the economy lost jobs in October. The unemployment rate is expected to slip to 4.5%, according to data provider FactSet, from a four-year high of 4.6% in November.

The figures will be closely watched on Wall Street and in Washington because they will be the first clean readings on the labor market in three months. The government didn’t issue a report in October because of the six-week government shutdown, and November’s data was distorted by the closure, which lasted until Nov. 12.

FILE - President Donald Trump dances as he walks off stage after speaking to House Republican lawmakers during their annual policy retreat, Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)