Phil Murphy theorized today that the Bridgegate scandal helped him win a landslide victory in 2017.

It’s odd for purely political topics to grab the stage at Murphy’s daily COVID-19 briefings, but this was not a normal day.

A unanimous U.S. Supreme Court today overturned the convictions of Bill Baroni and Bridget Kelly for their role in closing two access lanes from Fort Lee to the George Washington Bridge in the fall of 2013 for political reasons. The scheme was uncovered in 2014.

So, what did Murphy think of the ruling?

Pointing out he’s not a lawyer, the governor eschewed any legal commentary on the court’s opinion. But he called the lane manipulation a “violation of public trust.”

He added, “This was a big dent in the reputation of our state.” And Murphy said it’s a dent from which the state is still trying to recover.

Christie won reelection in 2013 by a landslide himself, but his poll numbers sank quickly, partially because of Bridgegate. By the time 2017 rolled around, Murphy’s victory seemed a certainty.

The governor said he thinks he won easily –  he got around 57 percent of the vote – because voters wanted to return “trust” to state government after the Bridgegate fiasco. He beat Kim Guadagno, Christie’s lieutenant governor.