TRENTON, N.J. – Gov. Phil Murphy designated Washington, D.C. as a restricted place of travel for New Jerseyans, requiring them to quarantine for 10 days upon returning.
Despite his own travel restriction, Murphy traveled to Washington for the inauguration of fellow Democrat President Joe Biden and related festivities on Tuesday and Wednesday. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, for one, stayed in New York and did not travel to Washington.
“We have watched over the past year as the governor has flouted the exact rules he forces everybody else to follow,” said Assemblyman Jay Webber (R-Morris), who also referenced Murphy’s decision to take part in two protests in June defying his own order against large public gatherings and guidelines for social distancing amid the coronavirus pandemic and of maskless and un-distanced photo ops with other politicians.
“Is Governor Murphy quarantining for the next seven days? Or, is he yet again thumbing his nose at the rest of New Jersey while he forces his rules on them?” asked Webber. “And if the governor does quarantine, unnecessarily restricting his own ability to oversee and manage the state’s affairs, was it really worth it while he needs to fix his stumbling vaccination rollout and protect lives and livelihoods that are literally at stake?”