Donald Trump Pledges To Support Any 2022 Lisa Murkowski Rival: ‘If You’ve Got A Pulse, I’m With You!’
President Donald Trump took to his Twitter page on Thursday night to push back against Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski. He seemingly took offense at some recent comments of hers and as a result, he has indicated that he will support anyone who goes against her during the 2022 election.
On Thursday, Murkowski admitted that she sometimes has trouble supporting the president. She noted that this is especially the case in the wake of the nationwide outrage over George Floyd’s death in Minneapolis.
This isn’t the first time that Murkowski has suggested she is not 100 percent supportive of everything Trump has done. However, it seems that her latest comments got under his skin.
Murkowski specifically referenced some of the comments that came from former Secretary of Defense James Mattis this week. She noted that she is struggling with her decision on voting for Trump during the upcoming 2020 election.
Thursday evening, the president posted his response to Murkowski’s comments on his Twitter page.
“Few people know where they’ll be in two years from now, but I do, in the Great State of Alaska (which I love) campaigning against Senator Lisa Murkowski. She voted against HealthCare, Justice Kavanaugh, and much else.”
As the president noted, Murkowski has previously broken with the Republicans on some significant votes, notably in confirming Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh and voting against the 2017 “skinny repeal” of Obamacare in 2017.
“Unrelated, I gave Alaska ANWR, major highways, and more. Get any candidate ready, good or bad, I don’t care, I’m endorsing. If you have a pulse, I’m with you!” Trump declared.
Morning Consult has noted that Murkowski does have a fairly lukewarm approval rating among her constituents. They indicate that she currently averages 41 percent approval along with 41 percent disapproval. This does put her in a group of the most unpopular senators.
Despite that, Murkowski has a long history in politics in Alaska and that could make her challenging to beat in 2022. As Reuters detailed in 2010, Murkowski became the first senator in more than 50 years to win her election as a write-in candidate.
At that time, Murkowski had to run against Tea Party Republican candidate Joe Miller. Miller had been backed by former Governor Sarah Palin and beat Murkowski in the primary. Murkowski won in 2016 during a much less dramatic race.
It’s too early to know who might try to primary Murkowski heading into the 2022 elections and who might oppose her on the Democratic or Independent sides. It also seems that Trump is assuming that he will still be in a position to influence elections at that point, something that won’t be a certainty until after November’s presidential election.
Murkowski has yet to respond. So far, few Republicans have followed Murkowski’s lead and spoken out against Trump in the midst of the current unrest.
