Harold Ford, Jr. & Mike Murphy's Biography

Former five-term Tennessee Congressman, Harold Ford, Jr. is a co host of FNC’s The Five and is a frequent contributor to Special Report with Bret Baier. A Democrat, Ford Jr.’s politics is grounded in a belief that compromise is a lost art in politics that must be rediscovered and pursued if we are to make progress solving problems. “Ideological purity is more important than doing what is right in today’s politics. Both parties too often deem compromise a weakness, not an essential strength,” he believes. “Instead, they [both political parties] spend their time trying to marginalize and cancel each other out, leaving voters disgusted and turned off by the lack of seriousness and results.”

Ford Jr. is currently a Vice Chair and EVP in PNC’s corporate and institutional banking business. He is also the former Chair and CEO of Empowerment & Inclusion Capital I Corporation (NYSE: “EPWR”) - a PNC sponsored mission based special purpose acquisition company. Prior to joining PNC, he spent more than 10 years in investment banking with Merrill Lynch and Morgan Stanley. In addition, he was non-executive Chair of Rx Saver, a patient-directed prescription medication search engine platform. 

Ford Jr. earned a BA in history from the University of Pennsylvania and a JD from the University of Michigan. He and his wife Emily and their 2 kids - Georgia Walker and Harold III (HEF)- live in New York City. 

Harold Ford, Jr. & Mike Murphy's Biography

Mike Murphy is one of the Republican Party’s most successful political media consultants, having handled strategy and advertising for more than 26 successful gubernatorial and Senatorial campaigns, including 12 wins in “blue” states that have consistently voted Democratic in Presidential elections. He served as a top campaign advisor to John McCain, Mitt Romney, Jeb Bush and Arnold Schwarzenegger, along with dozens of other GOP Senators, Governors and Members of Congress. Murphy has worked on five GOP Presidential campaigns and for foreign leaders in Europe and Latin America. He also advises several Fortune 500 corporations, as well as several Hedge Funds and Trade Associations. In 2020 he served as a key strategist for Republican Voters Against Trump.

Murphy is also a widely quoted pundit; he is a longtime top analyst for NBC News, CNN and MSNBC and he co-hosts the popular podcast Hacks on Tap. In the Hacks on Tap newsletter, Murphy and Robert Gibbs share insights you'll only get from folks who have spent a lifetime in the political trenches of both parties. He’s written columns and op-ed pieces for TIME, The Washington Post, The New York Times, and the Bulwark. Visit Murphy's website to read his commentary >>

Murphy is currently co-director the University of Southern California’s Center for the Political Future.  He serves on the boards of the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools and the University of Chicago Institute of Politics. He served as a longtime senior fellow at Harvard’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs; focusing on the intersection of domestic politics and national security decision making. Murphy also works as a writer and producer in the entertainment industry with projects at HBO, CBS, and 20th Century Fox Studios.

Murphy was born in Detroit, Michigan and attended the Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University. He lives with his wife Tiffany and daughter Audrey in Los Angeles.