Another Republican Senator ‘Absolutely’ Will Not Vote For Trump, Signals Openness to Becoming an Independent

Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) said she “absolutely” will not vote for former President Donald Trump in 2024 when asked by CNN’s Manu Raju.

“I wish that as Republicans, we had … a nominee that I could get behind,” Murkowski told Raju while walking on Capitol Hill late last week. “I certainly can’t get behind Donald Trump.”

Raju pressed the Alaska Republican if she would consider becoming an independent. “Oh, I think I’m very independent-minded. I just regret that our party is seemingly becoming a party of Donald Trump,” she replied.

“I am navigating my way through some very interesting political times. Let’s just leave it at that,” she added.

Murkowski was reelected in 2022, defeating a Trump-endorsed opponent in the election. Trump targeted Murkowski over her vote to impeach him following the January 6th attack on the U.S. Captiol and she has remained a fierce critic ever since.

Murkowski joins Sens. Mitt Romney (R-UT) and Todd Young (R-IN) in publicly refusing to support Trump in 2024. “I won’t be voting for Biden. I also won’t be voting for Trump,” Young told a local Indiana reporter last Monday.

Murkowski, who endorsed Nikki Haley in the GOP presidential primary, previously said she’d vote for Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) should he run for president.

“Now, would you support him if he decided to run?” Murkowski was asked on PBS last July.

“I tell you, if it’s a matchup between Biden and Trump, I know exactly where I’d go. I would go with, I would go with Joe Manchin,” Murkowski replied.

“I am one who doesn’t like to use my vote for the lesser of evils. I want to be proactive in who I think could do the job. I think Manchin could do the job. But will our system allow for that? That I don’t know,” the longtime Republican concluded.

Watch above via CNN.