Sen. Chris MurphyChristopher (Chris) Scott MurphyIran, Venezuela puts spotlight on Trump adviser John Bolton Overnight Defense — Presented by Huntington Ingalls Industries — Iran tensions escalate with carrier deployment | Trump floats letting service academy athletes go pro quicker | Venezuela tests Trump, Bolton relationship Tensions with Iran escalate beyond war of words MORE (D-Conn.) said Friday that Democratic presidential candidates need to make the point that everything President TrumpDonald John TrumpTrump rips Comey after CNN town hall: ‘He brought the FBI down’ White House says US, China trade talks to continue Friday Giuliani traveling to Ukraine to push for probes that could be ‘very helpful’ to Trump MORE has done on the international front “has gone to crap.”
Murphy, speaking during a panel discussion hosted by National Security Action, warned that Trump and other Republicans will seek to exploit a “gap” with Democrats on the issue.
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“If we don’t actively, regularly critique all of the ways in which this president has made us less safe, then we will not close that gap,” Murphy said. “So the first thing we have to do is make a commitment to making the case as to how everything that President Trump has touched internationally has gone to crap.”
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Murphy, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, is viewed as one of the leading voices on foreign policy among progressives and has been making the case that Democrats need to focus more on international affairs in 2020.
Foreign policy has emerged as a sticking point between Trump and Congress, where Democrats have been able to score some victories by peeling off a few Republicans. Murphy was a co-sponsor of a resolution passed by Congress to end U.S. military support for the Saudi-led coalition’s campaign in Yemen’s civil war. Trump later vetoed the measure.
On Friday, Murphy ticked off a list of what he sees as Trump’s foreign policy failures, including “split” alliances, a trade war with China, Iran restarting part of its nuclear program and floundering negotiations with North Korea.
Trump has derided NATO and allies such as Germany, castigating them for not spending more on defense. Meanwhile, on Friday, Trump hiked tariffs on China, with Beijing vowing to retaliate.
Also this week, Iran announced it will stop complying with parts of the 2015 nuclear deal on the first anniversary of Trump’s withdrawal from the international accord. And North Korea conducted a short-range missile test Thursday, its second in a week.
“I think Americans want a country that is respected around the world,” Murphy said. “And so to focus on the laughing stock that we have become and then to drill down on all of these individual places where we are less safe, where there are more threats to us, are important.”
He also argued that Americans are “tired of the chaos,” saying Democrats need to connect the ideas of “exhaustion domestically” with those of partner and allies abroad.
“This chaos that [Trump] creates here, he creates everywhere in the world,” Murphy said. “And it is part and parcel of our advertisement for why we need to bring stability back to the White House.”