A Murkowski spokesman did not respond to a request for comment.
Trump’s statement comes days after Murkowski nominated Rep. Deb Haaland (DN.M.) proposed to serve as Home Secretary, which Trump calls ‘another example of Murkowski not standing up for Alaska’.
Murkowski was the only Republican on the Senate’s Energy and Natural Resources Committee to approve the nomination. The 63-year-old senator said she had ‘struggled’ to support Haaland, saying she had to reconcile Democrat opposition to oil drilling in the past with her legacy as a Native American, a population in Murkowski’s home state. .
Questions about how involved the former president will be in next year’s primary election have gripped the IDP since he left office. Republicans are within striking distance of regaining control of both the House and Senate in next year’s intermediaries, but some in the party fear Trump could make their way harder by pushing more extreme candidates against proven, moderate voters in swing states or to endorse Congress. districts.
Trump’s political team ordered the Alaska senator to provide further proof of his interest in ousting her. The survey, conducted from January 30 to February 1, before Murkowski voted to convict the former president, found that Murkowski was favorable with 43% in Alaska, less than Trump’s 52 percent. The survey was conducted by McLaughlin and Associates, a firm that worked on Trump’s 2016 and 2020 campaigns. It was paid for by Save America, Trump’s political action committee for leadership.
The president’s advisers have drawn up a similar poll for Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), Another Republican accusation that Trump is expected to address in 2022.
Trump, who received 53 percent of the vote in Alaska in the 2020 election, has long fixed on Murkowski. The former president summoned her last weekend during his speech before the Conservative political action conference, along with the other Republicans who supported his accusation, and attacked her last year after she said she was “struggling” to support Trump’s re-election offer.
The two also quarreled over the Supreme Court, and Murkowski said she was opposed to Trump nominating a replacement for the late Ruth Bader Ginsberg just before the election. The senator also voted against confirming Brett Kavanaugh.
But Trump’s statement on Saturday – along with the vote of his leadership PAC – represents a new escalation in his fight against Murkowski. It also has stands in stark contrast to his support for other Republican senators for re-election in 2022. Trump has in recent days given his confirmations to several incumbents in generally secure seats, including sens. Mike Crapo (Idaho), Tim Scott (SC), Todd Jong (Ind.) and John Kennedy (La.).
However, putting Murkowski down is not easy. Under the new voting system with Alaska’s ranking, candidates from all parties will compete in an open by – election, with the top four candidates advancing to the general election. That means Murkowski is not facing the pressure of a Republican nomination battle, like the one in 2010. That year, Murkowski lost the GOP primary rule to a right-wing activist, Joe Miller, but then successfully campaigned to win re-election.
But Murkowski acknowledged that her “guilty” voice over accusation could cost her, and he said that month: “I know that my actions, my voice, can have political consequences. And I understand that. I absolutely understand that. But I can not be afraid of it. ”