Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) has reiterated her stance that she won’t be supporting former President
Donald Trump in the upcoming 2024 election. In a March 24 interview with
CNN, the senator expressed regret that former
President Trump was the likely GOP nominee and made it very clear he couldn’t count on her support going forward. Previously, she said in media interviews that she couldn’t vote for Mr. Trump or President
Joe Biden in the 2024 election. “I wish that as
Republicans, we had a nominee that I could get behind. I certainly can’t get behind Donald Trump,” Ms. Murkowski said. “I don’t think that it can be defended; what happened on Jan. 6 was an effort by people who stormed a building in an effort to stop an
election,” she added. On March 1, she endorsed Ms. Haley for president along with Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) ahead of the Super Tuesday voting in 15 states. She was Ms. Haley’s first endorsement in the Senate. “In this race, there is no one better than her,” Ms. Murkowksi said at the time. “Nikki will be a strong leader and uphold the ideals of the
Republican Party while serving as a president for all Americans.” Ms. Haley has since dropped out of the race that has former President Trump as the clear favorite for the GOP presidential nomination. At least 1,215 delegates are required to clinch the GOP nomination for president to run against whoever takes out the
Democratic Party nomination. At the moment, former president Trump has surpassed the threshold. Ms. Murkowski was asked directly whether she might now leave the GOP and run as an independent, but only gave a vague answer, saying she considered herself “very independent-minded.” According to Ms. Murkowski, she is “navigating my way through some very interesting political times,” but did not elaborate on what she meant. “I just regret that our party is seemingly becoming a party of Donald Trump,” she added. Ms. Murkowski has served in the
Senate for more than 20 years after being appointed in 2002 by her father, Gov. Frank Murkowski. She has long been considered more moderate than many Republicans. Her declaration of not voting for former President Trump echoes the stances of outgoing Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) and former Rep. Liz Cheney, who have both said they will not vote for him either.