Sen. Murphy calls ‘MAGA Republicans’ the ‘hateful’ wing of the GOP

Chris Murphy (D-CT) stated on this week’s broadcast of “Fox News Sunday” that the Republican Party had taken a “hateful” and “divisive” turn.

Murphy told “Fox News Sunday” host Bret Baier that the Jan. 6th, 2021, Capitol riot coupled with the claims that the election was stolen from Trump were examples of his perception of a growing sense of extremism in the GOP ranks.

“I am very concerned about the very quick, hateful, divisive turn that the Republican Party has taken,” the Democratic senator said. “It’s something I have not seen from the Republican Party.”

The senator said that faction of the Republican Party was “mean-spirited,” arguing they were targeting children under measures like Florida’s so-called Don’t Say Gay law, which prevents public schools from discussing sexual orientation and gender identity from kindergarten through third grade.

“They seem to be targeting vulnerable kids in a way that didn’t exist ten or twenty years ago,” he said. “I do think it’s important to talk about this very different element of the Republican Party, which I don’t think was the foundation of the party a couple decades ago.”

Baier then questioned whether Florida’s Parental Bill actually targeted gay children. “Yes, it is, it absolutely is. It is sending a message to these kids that they are not worthy, that they should be shamed of their identification,” Murphy responded. “So, I absolutely do think that there’s a message sent to these kids when you — when you suggest that a conversation about their identity is somehow threatening the education of kids in our schools.”

Murphy’s comments echo those of President Biden, who last week called the MAGA wing of the GOP “the most extreme political organization that’s existed in American history,” drawing backlash from Republicans and conservatives for labelling a group of people as radical or extreme.