On Friday, Governor Phil Murphy issued an April Fools’ Day joke suggesting he was changing the New Jersey State Bird to the Middle Finger.

Senator Ed Durr (R-3) is not amused.

Durr said many New Jerseyans feel like the governor “has been giving them the middle finger for years.”

“How many New Jerseyans feel like the Murphy administration is flipping them the bird when they go to the MVC or try to collect unemployment?” Durr wanted to know.

“How many grieving families feel like they’re getting a giant middle finger from the governor every time they ask for an investigation of thousands of nursing home deaths? How many parents feel like Governor Murphy is flipping them off when they express concerns about sex and gender being taught to extremely young children?

“Governor Murphy’s joke was in extremely poor taste when we keep hearing from New Jerseyans who are tired of being ignored, dismissed, and ridiculed by their governor,” the South Jersey senator added. “It really was a giant middle finger to New Jersey.”

Durr last year proved the surprise of the general election season, as he dethroned Murphy’s same-party nemesis, Senate President Steve Sweeney (D-3).