Trump vows to travel to Alaska to campaign against 'bad' Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski

Former US President Donald Trump has vowed to travel to Alaska to campaign against “disloyal” Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski next year as she seeks re-election. Murkowski first took office back in 2002 and she has been a longtime critic of Trump and top GOP wild card in recent votes. She had bucked her party earlier this week by announcing that she would back Deb Haaland’s nomination to serve as Interior Secretary, and she was also one of seven Senate Republicans to vote to convict Trump in his impeachment trial last month. 

While speaking to The Hill, Trump said, “I will not be endorsing, under any circumstances, the failed candidate from the great State of Alaska, Lisa Murkowski. She represents her state badly and her country even worse. I do not know where other people will be next year, but I know where I will be — in Alaska campaigning against a disloyal and very bad Senator”. 

Trump added, “Her vote to advance radical left democrat Deb Haaland for Secretary of the Interior is yet another example of Murkowski not standing up for Alaska”. 

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Trump - Murkowski feud 

Now, Trump’s statement is the latest indication that he plans to heavily insert himself into 2022 races across the country. While his approval rating nationally has dipped since the January 6 Capitol riots, his endorsement is still, however, coveted by Republican candidates eager to endear themselves with a grassroots that overwhelmingly still backs the former president. It is worth noting, that in his first public appearance since leaving office, Trump had suggested that he may launch a third presidential bid, but he had also added that he has no plans to start an alternative to the Republican Party. 

Former President’s feud with Murkowski, on the other hand, goes back to at least 2018. Murkowski had voted against the confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court that year and said that in 2020 that Trump should not have named replacement of the late Justice Ruth Badger Ginsburg after Republicans in 2016 declined to take up then-President Obama’s nominee to fill in a Supreme Court vacancy in an election year. While Trump’s threat against Murkowski marks the firmest sign yet that he plans to seek to unseat her, the Alaska Republican is no electoral slouch.

(With inputs from ANI)

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