Murphy: President Should Not Be Beholden to 'Church of Mormon,' Tea Party

Independent Green candidate Janet Murphy said Wednesday night during a forum that the president of the United States should not be beholden to the "Church of Mormon" or anything else.

Murphy, who is running in Virginia's 8th Congressional District against U.S. Rep. Jim Moran and two other challengers, made the remark after answering a question about voter identification laws.

"When people do take office, I think, in the United States, people who take a serious office, like a congressman or a president, should not be beholden to another authority, should not be a dual citizen of any other country, and should not have taken an oath to, for instance, the Church of Mormon, that they would be following their rules, or Grover Norquist and the tea party," Murphy said. "All of those things should be set aside when you take office. You should not have any other thing over you."

Murphy advocated for high-speed rail from Northern Virginia to Richmond and Roanoke and, generally, bettering the public transit situation in Northern Virginia. Doing so would allow people to live in areas that are more affordable and still easily commute to work, she said.

She also said that when asked at a previous forum about what it would take to restore trust in the body politic she answered that 9/11 requires a new investigation.

"Sept. 11 really does call for another investigation," she said. "I really do think we have been seriously misled on that matter."

Murphy also said she wanted to eliminate the death penalty and roll back Citizens United.