Murphy called ‘whore’ in Dem debate

Rep. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) was called a “whore” by a primary opponent during Thursday night’s debate for Connecticut’s open Senate seat.

Lee Whitnum, who is mounting her second bid for the Senate in Connecticut, blasted Murphy over his support for Israel, the New Haven Register reported.

{mosads}“I’m dealing with a whore here who sells his soul to AIPAC, who will say anything for the job,” Whitnum said, referring to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.

Whitnum said anti-American sentiment worldwide could be cured if the federal government were to prosecute U.S. settlers who “go to Israel and maim or kill in the Promised Land.” She also called for the elimination of U.S. aid to Israel.

“The Jewish community has always taken care of its own,” she said.

In another exchange, Whitnum said another candidate, state Rep. William Tong (D), was “ignorant.”

This isn’t the first time Whitnum has raised eyebrows over her stance on Israel. She made her critique of AIPAC a centerpiece of her 2010 bid for former Sen. Chris Dodd’s (D-Conn.) seat, but lost in the primary to now-Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.).

Whitnum has also written a book entitled “Anti-AIPAC Not Anti-Semitic: The Israel Lobby’s Dangerous Control of Congress.”

Whitnum was not invited to the first Senate debate in March and sued unsuccessfully to be a part of it.

“I’d advocated for all the candidates to be a part of these debates, and I might think twice about that with that kind of awful language being used on the airwaves,” Murphy said after the second debate.

Murphy and former Connecticut Secretary of State Susan Bysiewicz are the leading contenders in the Democratic primary for retiring Sen. Joe Lieberman’s (I-Conn.) seat. On the Republican side, wrestling mogul Linda McMahon and former Rep. Chris Shays (R-Conn.) are fighting for the GOP nomination.

The Hill rates this race as likely Democratic.