Another Senate race flying under the national radar delivered a crushing debate moment last Thursday, and a reminder of what a little backbone can sound like.
During New Jersey’s Senate debate, the moderator asked Republican Justin Murphy, who is challenging Democrat Sen. Cory Booker, what he would tell President Trump to do about the Iran war if given the chance. His answer not only seemed to leave Booker uncomfortable, but was a call back to a stronger, more unapologetically patriotic America, not exactly the sort of nostalgia Democrats tend to applaud. Several viewers on social media had a simpler response: “Inject this into my veins.”
As a peace-through-strength conservative, it’s hard to feel any differently.
GOP candidate for Senate Justin Murphy's response to a question about Iran. Booker almost wet his pants. https://t.co/8INLqrq3k8
— Live From Studio 6B (@lfs6b) October 11, 2026
"President Trump calls you and says, I'll do whatever you want, what do I do in Iran, what's your answer?"
"Finish it," Murphy said. "Finish that war in a positive manner. We can't wait halfway through and decide we don't want to do this anymore."
"The Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps is a radical terrorist organization that has deprived the Iranian people and the Persian people of their history and of a decent life. They have murdered, raped, tortured, assassinated, promoted and promoted terrorism all throughout the world, especially in the region, the Middle East," he said. "They are a cancer on human existence. I remember as a young boy watching those walls of our November of 1979, watching the radical Islamic terrorists storm over the walls of our embassy and 52 Americans held for 444 days. And ever since November of 79, the IRGC in Iran has done nothing but export terror, murder, rape, oppression and assassination to the region and to the world. And it's time it stops. Four decades is enough."
"The Iranian people have suffered enough," Murphy added. "And I would say, Mr. President, put your cowboy hat on and get out there and kick some a** and get this done and done right."
Conservatives looking back over the last quarter-century of American foreign policy shouldn’t deny its failures. Trump’s promise of no new wars appealed precisely because Americans were tired of the Middle East’s forever wars. But the lesson isn’t that America should refuse to fight. It’s that we should stop fighting wars on two fronts, one on the battlefield and one of public opinion.
America has every right to fight those who threaten us, our interests, and our allies. Once that decision is made, the objective should be to defeat the enemy. Fight with overwhelming force, not one eye on the next opinion poll. Restraint in choosing a war is sensible. Indecision in fighting one is not.
Murphy’s answer resonated because it rejected that halfway approach to war. War against an evil regime like Iran’s should be fought hard, fought fast, and fought to win.