Matt Gaetz comes to Stephanie Murphy’s defense over attack ad

Democratic U.S. Rep. Stephanie Murphy has gained an unlikely defender as she tries to stamp out a fresh attack ad in her re-election campaign for Florida’s 7th Congressional District.

The ad, paid for by Republican opponent Scott Sturgill, attempts to brand her as “steakhouse Stephanie” as it accuses her of holding a posh fundraiser in DC while her constituents faced the brunt of Hurricane Irma, including days without power.

For Republican U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz, an “absolute warrior” in the eyes of President Donald Trump, the ad was a bridge too far. Within hours of the Sturgill ad dropping, he made clear exactly what he thought about it.

This attack against @RepStephMurphy = BS. Having congress fly in for storms is not helpful. Being in DC 2 coordinate fed response (or grab the throats of federal agencies) is better. I’ve seen Stephanie’s great work for FL on HASC. We disagree sometimes but she fights for FL https://t.co/EadxXRgKvj

— Matt Gaetz (@mattgaetz) June 1, 2018

If “BS” was a bit unclear, he remedied that moments later by calling it a “lie.” He later complimented Murphy for her bipartisan approach to her work on the House Armed Services Committee, on which Gaetz also sits.

Vote for @Mike_Miller_FL in the GOP primary for #FL07. He doesn’t have 2 politicize hurricanes & lie about his opponent to make a compelling, conservative case for his candidacy #Sayfie #FLpol https://t.co/EMydc34ZTr

— Matt Gaetz (@mattgaetz) June 1, 2018

Stephanie doesn’t play Dem v. GOP on defense issues. Neither do I. Neither do most HASC members in both parties. Many of us wish we could get the rest of congress to take care of our military/defense first – then deal w/ the other important issues. https://t.co/eKg5qNO4Me

— Matt Gaetz (@mattgaetz) June 2, 2018

When it comes to the content of the ad, nearly every accusation it makes is easily disproved.

Murphy’s fundraiser was on Sept. 7, not Sept. 13, and she was already back home in her district by Sept. 8, helping fill sandbags in preparation for Irma’s landfall.

Sean & the kids joining me today in #Sanford to stuff sandbags for families ahead of #HurricaneIrma. We're all in this together. #FL07 pic.twitter.com/vUDZIMwwhh

— U.S. Rep. Stephanie Murphy (@RepStephMurphy) September 9, 2017

Where was Murphy on Sept. 13, during the time Sturgill claims the fundraiser took place? She was in DC, yes, but not at a steakhouse. She was a couple chairs down from President Trump imploring him to greenlight federal aid to Florida for Irma recovery.

Met w/@POTUS to raise issues of fed aid to help Fla recover from Irma. Also stressed tax reform, infrastructure & protections for Dreamers. pic.twitter.com/DyDEVcGyCl

— U.S. Rep. Stephanie Murphy (@RepStephMurphy) September 13, 2017

Those 300,000 without power days after the storm? Count Murphy among them. Here’s what she and her family were up to on Sept. 15.

My family plays cards to get through the power outage. How about yours? We're contacting ⚡️ companies to help restore power to #FL07 swiftly pic.twitter.com/66rbEjdzWn

— U.S. Rep. Stephanie Murphy (@RepStephMurphy) September 15, 2017

When their ad was met with backlash, Sturgill and Co. put out a missive obsessing over transaction dates and on her Federal Elections Commission filings and accusing Murphy of lying about the timeline because the steakhouse was paid on Sept. 13 — for a businessman, Sturgill seems to have a hard time wrapping his head around the concept of invoicing.

“And if it’s true the fundraiser happened on the 7th, three days after a state of emergency was declared, that’s even worse,” said Abigail Hirn, Sturgill’s communications director.

She argued that in any state of emergency “the most important job for a congressman is actually being in the district because hurricane preparation really does make a life-or-death difference. Nothing else matters, certainly not fundraising and partisan politics.”

Hurricane prep certainly does make a difference, but to argue members of Congress are elected to serve as some sort of in-district mascot says more about Sturgill than it does about Murphy.

As Gaetz put it in that earlier tweet, “Having congress fly in for storms is not helpful. Being in DC 2 coordinate fed response (or grab the throats of federal agencies) is better.”