Rep. Liz Cheney (Wyo.) isn’t the only Republican woman appearing in former President Donald Trump’s crosshairs. He apparently also has it in for Sen. Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), whose influence is deeply felt in the Biden administration. Murkowski is also one of seven Republican senators (including Cheney) who voted to convict in his second impeachment trial, TheWeek [1] reports.
According to The Washington Post, [2] Trump is “vowing publicly and privately to work to oust her” as she seeks a fourth term in the Senate in 2022. Apparently, she’s “higher on his list of enemies” than other lawmakers and is second only to Cheney.
But the Post also reports that while Trump wants to “spend money against Murkowski,” some “people in his circle doubt, though, that he will be as much of a potent force in the race because traveling to campaign against her would require such a long flight, which Trump generally avoids.”
Furthermore, the Post reports Trump’s advisers “recognize the complexity of winning in Alaska,” as the state uses ranked-choice [3] voting although it is likely Murkowski will run into pro-Trump opposition during the race in one form or another.
Trump has also recently attacked Murkowski in a speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), calling her out by name while slamming several Republican “grandstanders.” He implored supporters to “get rid of them all.”
Murkowski is hanging tough and has said she “couldn’t be afraid of” political repercussions that may result and added if Alaska voters decide that “because I did not support my party that I can no longer serve them in the United States Senate, then so be it.”
Murkowski and Cheney stood against Trump and it’s commendable that they did this, but the Republican Party as a whole is one of cowards, Senate Minority Speaker Mitch McConnell who spoke out against Trump’s involvement in the insurrection but acquitted him anyway.
If that’s not cowardly, I don’t know what is.