Democrat Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut faced backlash for his reaction to news of Iranian shadow fleet vessels bypassing a U.S. blockade before clarifying on Tuesday that his original social media post was “sarcasm.”
On Monday, Murphy reposted a report on X of at least 26 Iranian shadow fleet vessels breaking through a U.S. blockade of the Strait of Hormuz and said, “awesome.” The post has since amassed 2.8 million views.
The United States on April 13 began a blockade of ships leaving Iranian ports through the strait.
Murphy faced heavy backlash for the post. Rep. Randy Fine, R-Fla., called for the senator’s resignation and accused him of being a traitor.
On Tuesday, Murphy clarified that his post was “sarcasm.”
“Ok Twitter, I can’t believe I need to clarify this but obviously [President Donald] Trump’s bungled mismanagement of this war is not ‘awesome,'” Murphy wrote. “As I have said a million times here, it’s a disaster and he should end the war immediately. My tweet was something called ‘sarcasm.’”
Murphy’s posts come after the senator has opposed the military operation in Iran.
In March, Murphy was one of the original sponsors of the Iran War Powers Resolution, which eventually failed in the Senate.
“If our Republican colleagues will not do their duty, if they are going to engage in an effort to hide the consequences of the war, if they are going to refuse to ask questions of our incompetent national security leaders at the White House, who have waged this war without planning for the foreseeable consequences, then we will force a debate and a vote on this floor,” Murphy said in a statement.
“This war is not going to make more sense the longer it goes.”
