President Joe Biden brought in $3.7 million to boost his re-election campaign at a fundraiser at the Middletown home of Gov. Phil Murphy and First Lady Tammy Murphy.
Murphy introduced Biden as “America’s comeback kid.”
“This is personal for us,” Murphy told about fifty people in a tent set up on his back patio, overlooking the Navesink River. “You’re on fire and we are all with you 1,000 percent.”
Tammy Murphy, who spoke first, said she had a surge of interest after Biden debated Donald Trump on Thursday evening.
“You’re on fire and we are all with you 1,000 percent,” she said.
Biden acknowledged his performance, saying, “It wasn’t my best debate ever as Barack pointed out.”
“I understand the concern after the debate,” stated Biden. “I get it. I didn’t have a great night, but I’m going to be fighting harder”
But Biden said that Trump’s lies would sway undecided voters.
“People remember the bad things during his presidency,” Biden said. “I didn’t have a great night but neither did he.”
He told donors he had a “helluva lot of plans for the next four years — God willing.”
This was the second time Phil and Tammy Murphy hosted Biden at their home. An October 2022 event attended by Murphy friend Jon Bon Jovi raised over $1 million.
Rep. Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-Long Branch) was in attendance.
Americans for Prosperity and Jersey 1st staged a protest near Murphy’s home.
“With record-high inflation and skyrocketing costs, Americans are feeling the burn of Bidenomics, and Governor Murphy’s FY2025 budget adds insult to injury,” said AFP Northeast Director Ross Connolly and Jersey 1st President Rosemary Becchi. “New Jerseyans have had enough.“
Anti-Israel protestors staged a separation event.
Some information from this story came from a White House pool report from the Washington Post’s Tyler Pager.