There might be no more recklessly axe-throwing Democrat partisan in the Congress than Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut. But the Democrats at PolitiFact gave him a “Mostly True” rating for this claim on Sunday’s Face the Nation on CBS:
“There is no history … that shows an air campaign alone will result in positive regime change. In fact, there’s not a single example of it in the entirety of American history.”
Louis Jacobson assembled seven experts to verify this claim. “Most of the seven military experts and historians we interviewed for this article agreed with Murphy.” Oh really? “A few experts cited a case or two that could undercut Murphy’s argument, but other experts pushed back against their interpretation.”
For example:
Murphy’s framing is a high bar, and it’s possible to achieve more modest goals with airstrikes, said David Silbey, a Cornell University military historian.
“The Libyan intervention of 2011 did not have democratic results, but it did achieve the American strategic goal of overthrowing Gaddafi and ending Libya’s support of terrorism,” Silbey said. “So that seems a successful use of airpower, if not quite in the way” that Murphy framed the issue.
Somehow, Jacobson’s very narrow choice of a passage to grade is a bit ruined by Murphy’s very next sentence on CBS, which is False:
The Democrats at PolitiFact hailed Chris Murphy as “Mostly True” for claiming at no time in U.S. history where an air campaign alone has led to positive regime change. But in the very next sentence, Murphy is False, claiming Trump has ruled out ground troops. He has not. pic.twitter.com/YH9unyE0Z5
— Tim Graham (@TimJGraham) March 7, 2026
An air campaign without at least the threat of a ground invasion, which the administration is ruling out, never results in a democratic rebirth in an authoritarian country.
The president did not rule out ground troops. You can pick a pile of Murphy’s blather on CBS for a fact check:
“Well, nobody in this country is asking for war with Iran, just like, months ago, no one in this country was asking for war with Venezuela.”
This is False. Mark Levin, for starters, devoted several segments on his radio show advocating for a war with the tyrants of Iran. What wild claim did Murphy make next?
“This president is intentionally tanking our economy. He’s the most corrupt president in the history of our nation.”
Would PolitiFact take any of this on? Why would Trump tank the economy during his term in office? And destroy his legacy? No. Would they assemble seven experts on which president in our history is the most corrupt? No. Not to challenge this Democrat.
Murphy also told Margaret Brennan that DHS violates the law daily:
“I don’t have any obligation to fund a Department of Homeland Security that is violating the law every day, just like I don’t have any obligation to support this war that is illegal as well.”
In a February 15 tweet tagged by Twitchy, Murphy added this daily attack: “This is what ICE does every day. Hunt little kids who are here legally.”
This is what ICE does every day. Hunt little kids who are here legally. They get sent to a place called the “baby jail” in Texas. Very little of it ends up on video like this. But it’s routine. And disgusting. https://t.co/AoMLDvZcSx
— Chris Murphy 🟧 (@ChrisMurphyCT) February 15, 2026
PolitiFact can find all kinds of wild allegations from Murphy to check. But they carefully selected one (and edited it) to achieve their “Mostly True” wishes. He’s never been “Pants On Fire,” while PolitiFact just threw Fire Flag #222 at Trump.
