Sen. Lisa Murkowski criticized former President Donald Trump on Sunday, declining to discuss her future in the Republican Party but flatly ruling out voting for him.
“As a Republican, I wish we had a candidate we could support,” said Murkowski (R-Alaska). Exposed to CNN. “I certainly cannot support Donald Trump.”
Earlier this month, Murkowski, 66, made a last-minute endorsement of former Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley, but Haley withdrew from the race days later after losing on Super Tuesday.
Alaska’s senators have long shown a tendency to go against party lines. Back in 2021, she was one of seven Republican senators who voted to convict Trump in the aftermath of the January 6 Capitol riot.
Only four of these seven remain in the Senate. So far, Murkowski is the only one of the seven to survive re-election.
She hasn’t hesitated to go after the 77-year-old Trump, recently criticizing him for describing people arrested for their actions during the Capitol riot as “hostages.”
“What happened on January 6th…was the act of people storming a building trying to stop the certification of an election. That’s indefensible,” Murkowski told the magazine.
Murkowski also supports abortion rights and voted against Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation to the Supreme Court in 2018.
She won a fierce primary race in 2022 against pro-Trump lawyer Kelly Tshibaka and others, but after being knocked out of the primary by Republican Joe Miller in 2010, she started a write-in campaign. It is well known that the company was forced to start up.
Despite this, Murkowski remains a registered Republican, but has remained tight-lipped about how long he will remain in that position.
“Oh, I think I’m very independent,” she explained to CNN. “I’m just disappointed that our party is becoming the party of Donald Trump.”
“I’m going through a very interesting political time. Let’s just leave it at that,” she continued, wavering on the question of whether she would stick with the Republican Party.
Murkowski first entered the Senate in 2002 after being appointed by her father, former Gov. Frank Murkowski, and has remained largely aligned with her party. However, that gradually changed over time.
Back in 2008, Murkowski was forced to compete with then-Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, who agreed to serve as vice president despite Murkowski’s public criticism of her father.of Senator issues statement Still, I support Palin.
She is the second most moderate Republican in the Senate, behind Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine). According to GovTrack.
Most of her tenure in the Senate was under the leadership of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who became the number one Senate Republican in 2007.
Mr. McConnell has been very protective of moderates within the Republican conference; even support Against President Trump’s wishes, Mr. Mukavsky supported Mr. Tshibaka. However, McConnell plans to step down from his position at the end of the year.
