New Jersey Gov Phil Murphy faces flak for not returning to state following historic earthquake

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy came under fire after he did not return to the Garden State following the historic earthquake on Friday that left residents rattled.

Rep. Jeff Van Drew, R-N.J., spoke with "FOX News Live" on Saturday after Murphy did not issue an on-camera address to residents, despite a few TV and phone interviews, including an interview Saturday with CBS.

"We haven’t heard from the governor — and you know, on a lighter side, Arthel, there are those that say maybe it’s good he didn’t come, because every time he’s in New Jersey, he’s increasing taxes, tolls, fees and subsidizing illegals," Van Drew told "FOX News Live" co-anchor Arthel Neville. 

"But on a serious note, he wasn’t at a world summit for world peace. I mean he was at a Democratic convention — basically an association of democratic governors who were probably working on ways to make more democratic governors," he said.

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Van Drew said that residents were forced to look to New York leadership for guidance during the natural disaster — rather than their own governor.

"So I think he could have taken maybe even 12 hours out to come back to New Jersey. Our folks in New Jersey really had to look to New York — to New York officials — and what they were saying," Van Drew said. "Even though the actual earthquake was centered in Lebanon, New Jersey, in the northwestern part of the state." 

The Republican representative said Murphy could have easily traveled back to his state to assure residents that they were safe.

"It would have been a nice symbol if he came back and said, ‘you know what, everything’s going to be OK. I want to personally review the infrastructure myself, see what the team has done, and then he could have gotten back to the convention, the association that he was at," Van Drew said.

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"So I personally was a little disappointed that he didn’t make it. It’s just good for people to know that their leaders are there during times of problems," he said. "And even though, in, you know, the world scheme of earthquakes, with what California sees or some other states — this was not huge — it was the biggest earthquake the state of New Jersey has had almost in a century and a half. I wish he had been there."

Fox News has reached out to Murphy's office for comment.

On Saturday, the governor wrote on X that the state's emergency operations center was deactivated on Saturday morning.

"Our State Emergency Operations Center has deactivated as of 10:00 a.m. today," Murphy wrote. "We have had no reports of major damage to structures, roadways, or infrastructure as a result of yesterday’s earthquake."

The earthquake measured at least 4.8 magnitude and struck near Lebanon, New Jersey, at 10:23 a.m. on Friday, about 45 miles west of New York City and 50 miles north of Philadelphia, according to the USGS. 

An estimate indicates the quake might have been felt by more than 42 million people in 14 states from Maine to North Carolina. More than two-dozen aftershocks have been felt since.

More than 152,000 Americans reported feeling shaking to the USGS.