The first Republican senator who called for Donald Trump to resign after sparking chaos on Wednesday has confirmed that she is considering leaving the party, in a move that would give the majority a vote. Democrats in the Senate.
Lisa Murkowski, who represents Alaska, has been considered a grandfather with an independent mind.
On Friday she told her local newspaper, Anchorage Daily News, that she was considering abandoning her party altogether after Trump, her party leader, sent her supporters to into a violent frenzy and led to the Capitol, in a uprising that left four rioters and a police officer dead.
‘If the Republican Party has not been bigger than Trump’ s party, I sincerely question whether this is the party for me, ‘she said.
Only three senators have changed party while in office in the 21st century, according to Senate data.
Lisa Murkowski, a grandfather for Alaska, has said she is considering resigning Republicans
Murkowski said Trump should resign, saying he had done enough damage
The 50:50 Republican Senate and Democrats, with Kamala Harris, as vice president, are currently casting the decision vote.
Murkowski said she would not join the Democratic majority, but her position from the party and serving as an independent would make it far harder for Republicans to block Joe Biden ‘s agenda.
Murkowski, 63, said she will speak regularly to Joe Manchin, the Democratic senator for West Virginia, who is the most conservative Democrat in the Senate and will be a key vote on many of the Senate’s actions.
‘We’ve talked a lot. In fact, my 3 hour call is with Joe and a bipartisan group of colleagues who are very concerned about where we are, and how we are moving forward, ‘she said.
‘I think I include myself as part of a group of members who want to work to bring things together in the Senate and who want to try to do some business. .
‘And this is going to be an administration (Biden) where I am going to disagree with where they are taking us on a number of issues and policy, but I would like to think that we will never question their loyalty to the oath of office. ‘
Trump supporters, led by the president himself, stopped the Capitol Wednesday
Mob overtakes Capitol Police shortly after Trump urges them to ‘fight’ on his behalf
Trump supporters broke into the Senate chamber and crossed parts of the Capitol
Murkowski reaffirmed her calls for Trump to resign.
‘I want him to retire. I want it out. It has done a lot of damage, ‘she said.
‘I think he should go. ‘
The senator said Trump abandoned his duties and showed no interest in leading.
Earlier on Friday he confirmed that he would be the first president since 1869 without attending the establishment of his successor.
‘He said he’s not going to show up. He is not going to appear at the establishment. It has been focusing on what is going on with COVID. He’s either been golfing or he’s been inside the Oval Office throwing and throwing everyone who has been loyal and loyal to him under the bus, starting with the vice president, ‘she said.
Murkowski persuaded Trump to resign, but admitted he could not ‘do a good thing’
‘He doesn’t want to live there. He just wants to stay there for the title. He just wants to stay there for his ego. He needs to find out. He has to do the right thing, but I don’t think he can do the good thing. ‘
Murkowski said that while there may have been many, many, many, many good Americans who came to Washington, DC, because they felt strongly in support of this president, Trump urged them to Capitol a storm.
She said the kettle branch was strongly marked for him for the horrific scenes.
‘I will try the president, who said that even after his vice-president told him that morning,’ I do not have the constitutional authority to do what you asked me to do. . I can’t do it. I have to protect and maintain the Foundation. ‘
Even after the vice president told that President Trump, he still told his supporters to fight.
‘How should they take that? It is an order of the president. And so that’s what they did They came up and fought and people were hurt, and wounded and they died. ‘
Murkowski said in a second interview that she was partly to blame for not stopping Trump sooner.
‘I let myself stop speaking my truth,’ Murkowski told Alaska Public Media. ‘And I can’t be quiet right now.’
Murkowski is just one of the Republicans who has distanced himself from Trump in the wake of the Capitol unrest, leaving the president increasingly isolated.
‘At this point, I will no longer defend it,’ said Ari Fleischer, former White House press secretary for George W. Bush and a GOP strategist who voted for Trump. ‘I won’t defend it for moving the pot that prompted the mob. He is alone. ‘
Leading Republican voter Frank Luntz has had lengthy talks with popular voters and Republican officials about Trump’s position since the siege.
‘The professionals are running away from a sunken boat, but their supporters haven’t abandoned it, and they really want to fight it,’ Luntz said. ‘He has been the voice of God for tens of millions of people, and they will follow him to the ends of the earth and off the cliff.’
And because of the continued loyalty of the electorate, elected officials in deep red constituencies must remain loyal to the outgoing president, even if his own cabinet does not. In the hours following this week’s riots, 147 Republicans in Congress still voted to reject Biden’s victory, including eight senators.
Sens. Josh Hawley, of Missouri, and Ted Cruz, of Texas, accepted Trump’s calls to deny Biden’s influence before and after the mob attack. Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton defied Trump’s wishes, drawing an angry tweet from the president earlier in the week.
Those attacks did not carry as much pressure at the weekend as they once did in the wake of Trump’s weak political state. On Thursday, Cotton blocked Republican colleagues such as Hawley and Cruz, who had given voters a ‘false hope’ that Trump’s loss in November could backfire.
Nikki Haley, who was the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations under Trump, tried to get down the line and criticized Trump’s actions this week at a closed-door meeting with a Republican National Committee.
She blamed some of Trump’s achievements but predicted, ‘What he has done since Election Day will be judged harshly by history. ‘
At the same time, there is no clear path to the Republican Party without Trump. Speaking to reporters on Friday, even Biden raised concerns about the health of the GOP.
‘We need a Republican Party,’ Biden said, noting that he spoke to a Republican Sen. Mitt Romney, Trump’s main critic. ‘We need a challenge that is strong and resilient.’