Republicans ‘afraid’ of Trump and Musk; Sen. Murkowski talks about her party and speaking out

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) - Sen. Lisa Murkowski says Republican lawmakers are “afraid” President Donald Trump and his billionaire advisor Elon Musk will campaign against them.

“That’s why you’ve got everybody just zip-lipped, not saying a word, because they’re afraid they’re going to be taken down — they’re going to be primaried, they’re going to be given names in the media,” Murkowski said during a press availability Tuesday in Juneau. “We cannot be cowed into not speaking up.”

Both Trump and Musk have threatened to primary dissenters in the party.

“It may be that Elon Musk decides that he’s going to take the next billion dollars he makes off Starlink and put it directly against Lisa Murkowksi. And you know what? That may happen. But I’m not giving up one minute, one opportunity to try to stand up for Alaska,” she said.

Murkowski spoke this week to reporters in Alaska after addressing the Alaska Legislature.

In one tense moment, Murkowski pushed back when asked why she didn’t leave the Republican party.

“No, I can’t fix everything, and no, I am not going to be in a position and a place where I just take the strategy that I’m going to tear down, at every opportunity, the president of the United States,” she said. “That’s not constructive to the people of Alaska. I’m going to have to figure out where I can work with him, and I’m going to have to stiffen my spine and take the slings and arrows when people say, ‘Why aren’t you a better Republican? And, if you’re not, get out of the party.'

“You know what? Until Alaskans tell me, ‘Lisa, it’s just not working anymore,‘ I am going to give you every last breath that I have and I’m going to try to solve every little problem, and I’m not going to compromise my own integrity by hiding from my words when I feel they need to be spoken.”

Alaska’s senior senator is known to break with party lines and Trump when she has felt it was the right thing to do.

Murkowski recently voted against confirming Pete Hegseth to lead the Pentagon, becoming the first Republican to oppose one of President Donald Trump’s Cabinet picks.

She also denounced his decision to pardon “the violent offenders who assaulted” police officers during the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol.

Murkowski was abandoned by GOP leaders in 2010 after her primary loss to Tea Party Republican Joe Miller. She went on to win the general election with a write-in campaign and kept her seat.

Trump also went directly at Murkowski when he visited the state in 2022 and backed her conservative challenger after vowing revenge against Murkowski and other Republicans who had supported his impeachment.

Murkowski is not up for reelection until 2028. She defeated a fellow Republican in 2022 to win a fourth term in office.

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