Sen. Lisa Murkowski fumed with former President Donald Trump’s candidacy and the direction of her party, won’t rule out bolting from the GOP via CNN.
The veteran Alaska Republican, who is one of seven Republicans who voted to convict Trump in his second impeachment trial amid the aftermath of January 6, 2021, is done with the former president and said she “absolutely” would not vote for him.
“I wish that as Republicans, we had … a nominee that I could get behind,” Murkowski told CNN. “I certainly can’t get behind Donald Trump.”
The party’s shift toward Trump has caused Murkowski to consider her future within the GOP. In the interview, she would not say if she would remain a Republican.
Asked if she would become independent, Murkowski said: “Oh, I think I’m very independent minded.” And she added: “I just regret that our party is seemingly becoming a party of Donald Trump.”
Pressed on if that meant she might become an independent, Murkowski said: “I am navigating my way through some very interesting political times. Let’s just leave it at that.”
Senator Murkowski was appointed in 2002 by her father, Governor Frank Murkowski. At the time, her political views aligned with those of then-president George W. Bush. She had a strong relationship with Ted Stevens, the senior GOP senator from Alaska, who worked to secure federal funding for the state.
However, things changed when Sarah Palin, then-governor of Alaska and John McCain’s running mate, criticized Senator Murkowski’s father. As the tea party movement gained momentum in 2010, Senator Murkowski found herself at odds with the right-wing of her party and lost the primary to Republican Joe Miller. Despite this setback, she managed to keep her seat by winning a write-in campaign during the general election, becoming only the second candidate ever to do so.
In the 2024 cycle, Murkowski – along with Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine – offered a late endorsement of former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, just days before she dropped out of the race.
Now, Murkowski has made it clear that she’s ready to move past Trump. When asked about Trump’s recent comments that Jewish people who vote for Democrats must “hate” their religion, Murkowski said it was an “incredibly wrong and an awful statement.”
And Murkowski pushed back when asked last week about Trump’s other controversial rhetoric, namely that he views January 6 prisoners as “hostages” and “patriots” who should be pardoned.
“I don’t think that it can be defended,” Murkowski said. “What happened on January 6 was … an effort by people who stormed the building in an effort to stop an election certification of an election. It can’t be defended.”
