Trump Endorses Lisa Murkowski’s 2022 Primary Opponent: ‘She is MAGA All the Way’
Courtesy of Kelly Tshibaka
Former President Donald Trump on Friday endorsed Kelly Tshibaka, who is running to dethrone Sen. Lisa Murkowski as the state Republican Party’s candidate for the U.S. Senate.
“Lisa Murkowski is bad for Alaska,” Trump wrote in an email announcing the endorsement. He added:
Her vote to confirm Biden’s Interior Secretary was a vote to kill long sought for, and approved, ANWR, and Alaska jobs. Murkowski has got to go! Kelly Tshibaka is the candidate who can beat Murkowski — and she will. Kelly is a fighter who stands for Alaska values and America First. She is MAGA all the way, pro-energy, strong on the Border, tough on Crime and totally supports our Military and our great Vets. Kelly is a powerful supporter of the Second Amendment and JOBS! I look forward to campaigning in Alaska for Kelly Tshibaka. She has my Complete and Total Endorsement!
Murkowski did not enjoy a congenial relationship with Trump during his term in office, though it was less troubled than her relationship with her own state’s Republican voters. She entered the Senate in 2002 when her own father, Gov. Frank Murkowski (R), appointed her to fill a vacancy, edging out Sarah Palin, who succeeded the elder Murkowski as governor and who ran as the GOP’s nominee for vice president in 2008. The dynamic fed Murkowski’s critics and contributed to her defeat in the 2010 Republican primary, which she lost by 2 percent of the vote to Tea Party-favorite Joe Miller. She nonetheless won the general election that year as a write-in candidate.
She also exchanged barbs with Trump during his time in the White House. She was one of seven Republicans to vote in favor of convicting him after his second impeachment trial, prompting the state’s Republican Party to vote in favor of censuring her. And in March, she was one of just four Republican senators — along with Sens. Lindsey Graham (SC), Susan Collins (ME), and Dan Sullivan (AK) — to vote in favor of confirming Deb Haaland, the Biden administration’s pick to lead the Department of Interior.
