Sen. Chris Murphy (D., Conn.) said on Wednesday that Democrats have been "hyper-confused" on economic issues for years.

Harold Ford, Jr., an MSNBC contributor and former Democratic congressman, asked Murphy on "Morning Joe" about the Democrats' future economic message going into the 2018 midterm elections.

"I think we have to challenge ourselves," Murphy said. " I think we've been hyper-confused over the course of the past five years. Some of the time we are talking about economic growth. Some of the of the time we are talking about economic fairness."

Murphy added that he does not know whether Democrats have won the economic fairness question, but he believes they "desperately care" about economic growth in wages, hours, and jobs.

"Everything Democrats talk about when it comes to the economy has to be about more, higher wages, right? More college education to get them a better job, lower taxes for the folks that they are targeting," Murphy said. "I just think we've gotta be hyper-focused on this question of wage growth and job growth."

He said that Democrats should not be scared of talking about an economic message just because Republicans have been advocating for the same policy.

"We get there through a different way. We get there through building the bottom up. They get there through trickle-down," Murphy said.