Gov. Murphy Addresses 'Bozos' Who Spread Fake News About Daughter

SEASIDE HEIGHTS, NJ — In his daily coronavirus press conference on Wednesday, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy finally addressed rumors about his family that has critics have been spreading for three weeks — even with no evidence to support them, and even after they were debunked in news reports in Patch and in NJ 101.5.

After he was asked by a reporter on Wednesday if anyone in his family was quarantining, Murphy responded that they were not, but added, "There’s insanity on social media sometimes. That’s my daughter, who did not have a bachelorette party, is not engaged, and is not getting married this weekend. Just for the record, to all of you bozos out there who think otherwise.”

Two weekends ago, more than 5,200 people shared a blurry photo that was posted on a Facebook group as well as on an Ocean County news site (which later pulled it), claiming it showed Gov. Murphy's only daughter, a college student, enjoying a bachelorette party in Seaside Heights without wearing a mask.

But the photo actually depicted Camille Tough, a young woman who was celebrating her forthcoming December wedding at an outdoor bar on the Seaside Heights. Tough told Patch that a photographer harassed her and kept insisting she was the governor's daughter.

When people and political groups shared the photo of Tough on Facebook, many claimed the governor's daughter was violating her father's orders about wearing a mask. Some used expletives and others insisted — even after being told the photo was of someone else — that the governor did have a daughter who was getting married indoors at a Morris County venue on July 25 (this Saturday).

The fact that people share and then defend fake news — without a quick internet fact-check — has concerned top officials including federal prosecutors, who charged in 2018 that Russian operatives used fake Facebook posts to incite Americans to fight with each other and thus influence elections.

The problem is still prevalent during the pandemic; some of the people who spread the Murphy post also claimed that the coronavirus pandemic is non-existent or exaggerated.

Murphy's office told Patch two weeks ago that his daughter Emma is not even engaged, but he had not addressed the wedding rumors himself until Wednesday.

The false claim may have been sparked because the state's police superintendent said in April that his own daughter would have to postpone a wedding celebration. "It was not an easy phone call to make last night, my wife and I made to my daughter who's supposed to be married in June," he said in the daily briefing.

Some of the Facebook commenters on the photo said they believed it was true because state legislator Declan O'Scanlon appeared to legitimize it in a Tweet the same weekend:

O'Scanlon later told Patch that his post was not specifically about the governor's daughter, and that he thinks people should do research before sharing fake news. However, he did not remove the July 12 Tweet.

On Thursday, after the rumor received new coverage, he Tweeted:

After the photo was removed from an Ocean County website, the site said they did so because it wasn't fair to attack the governor's family. Commenters on the site claimed it must have given in to political pressure and still believed the governor's daughter was getting married.

Camille Tough, the actual bride-to-be, told Patch, "I spoke my piece so that maybe people would read it and stop posting so much hateful stuff, but it didn't work. No one is listening to it and continuing to talk trash."

Murphy said in early July that people must wear masks outdoors when not social distancing, and when not eating or drinking at an outdoor establishment (as the women appeared to be doing), along with other exceptions.

At the peak of the virus in New Jersey, on April 30, 460 people were recorded as passing away in 24 hours, or one person every three minutes. Average deaths reported each day in New Jersey have declined. On Wednesday, Murphy announced 24 deaths in the previous 24 hours, bringing the state's death toll to 13,787.

Murphy told residents this week to quarantine when returning from 31 states that are currently experiencing their own daily records in hospitalizations and deaths this month, such as Florida and Texas, which recently had to re-close beaches and bars.

Russ Crespolini contributed to this coverage. Got a news tip or just want to reach out? Email caren.lissner@patch.com. To keep up with breaking news in Westfield and statewide when it happens, and get a free local newsletter each morning, sign up for Patch breaking news alerts and daily newsletters.