Florida Rep. Patrick Murphy, a Democrat also running for the Senate seat currently held by Marco Rubio, said earlier this week that he is an immigrant.
Asked by Fusion's Jorge Ramos about Donald Trump in an interview that first aired on Tuesday night, Murphy criticized what he called Trump's "hatred and fear-mongering."
"We are stronger as one, as a united country," he said in a clip uploaded to YouTube by NTK Network. "That’s what makes this country so beautiful and so unique. You know, you think of the Statue of Liberty, right? And all of us. I’m an immigrant. We’re all basically immigrants here. And you think of that beacon of hope, of opportunity, and Trump is tearing that apart. And that is scary to me.”
Murphy is not an immigrant. According to the biography on his House website, he was "born and raised in Florida, spending most of his childhood along the South Florida coast."
Murphy is running against fellow congressman Alan Grayson to be the Democratic nominee to challenge Rubio. Though he is considered the front-runner heading into the Aug. 30 primary, his campaign has been hampered by reporting showing that he exaggerated his résumé, including his experience as a certified public accountant and small-business owner.