Just weeks after taking heat for spending Fourth of July weekend in Nantucket on his father's yacht, Florida's Democratic Senate hopeful Patrick Murphy jetted off for a fundraiser in a Rhode Island town where the 97-foot luxury ship is docked.
Murphy was in Newport, Rhode Island, on Saturday for a fundraiser hosted by the 147th richest family in the United States. Cocktails, a custom yacht owned by Murphy's father that can comfortably sleep eleven in its five bedrooms, was also in town.
It is unclear when Murphy arrived in Newport, but the Washington Free Beacon noted that Cocktails traveled from Nantucket to the small seaside city two weeks ago on July 12th.
Patrick Murphy's dad's 100-foot yacht "Cocktails" has completed its trip from Nantucket to Newport #CocktailsWatch pic.twitter.com/rH3euJpI0B
— Brent Scher (@BrentScher) July 12, 2016
The boat remains in Newport, according to MarineTracker.com, which updates the vessel's location every few minutes.
Murphy's absence in Florida was noted by political reporters who were shocked that Murphy did not take advantage of Hillary Clinton's decision to introduce Tim Kaine as her running mate in Florida.
"One missed opportunity here downballot: where's Patrick Murphy?" wrote Mike Memoli, a Los Angeles Times reporter covering the Saturday event.
The Murphy campaign did not respond to inquiries into whether the candidate stayed on Cocktails during his fundraising trip in Newport.
The campaign also never addressed Murphy's decision to stay on the yacht in Nantucket earlier this month, though an executive at his father's company contacted the Washington Free Beacon after publication to ask, "What’s so wrong about taking the Fourth of July weekend off?"
Murphy was criticized during his last trip on Cocktails for quietly slipping off to Nantucket while his congressional district in Florida was under a state of emergency due to a toxic algae outbreak.
The Senate Leadership Fund, which has taken to calling Murphy "captain" due to his frequent yacht trips, points out that both Murphy's Republican opponent Sen. Marco Rubio and his Democratic opponent Rep. Alan Grayson spent their weekends campaigning in Florida.
"Patrick Murphy is ostensibly running to be the junior senator from Florida, but it's looking more and more like he's running to be captain of his daddy's mega-yacht, Miss Cocktails," said Ian Prior, the group's communications director. "While Marco Rubio and even far-out liberal Alan Grayson are focused on talking to voters in Tampa and Miami, Cap'n Patrick seems more comfortable in Nantucket and Newport throwing back cocktails on the deck of Miss Cocktails."
Murphy has also been criticized for his financial dependence on his father, who owns a large Florida construction company that has built numerous Trump resorts.
His father's company has contributed hundreds of thousands of dollars to Murphy's political career and also gone to great lengths to build Murphy a resumé as a businessman.