Last updated on February 16th, 2021 at 01:34 am
Unlike Mitch McConnell, Sen. Lisa Murkowski voted to convict Trump, and the Republican from Alaska has denounced the former president.
Sen. Murkowski said in part in a Sunday statement:
If months of lies, organizing a rally of supporters in an effort to thwart the work of Congress, encouraging a crowd to march on the Capitol, and then taking no meaningful action to stop the violence once it began is not worthy of impeachment, conviction, and disqualification from holding office in the United States, I cannot imagine what is. By inciting the insurrection and violent events that culminated on January 6, President Trump’s actions and words were not protected free speech. I honor our constitutional rights and consider the freedom of speech as one of the most paramount freedoms, but that right does not extend to the President of the United States inciting violence.
Before someone assumes the office of the presidency, they are required to swear to faithfully execute the office of the President and to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States. President Trump – the nation’s elected leader, the Commander in Chief of our armed forces – swore an oath to defend America and all that we hold sacred. He failed to uphold that oath.
One positive outcome of the horrible events on January 6, was that hours after the Capitol was secured, on January 7, at 4:00 a.m., Congress fulfilled our responsibility to the U.S. Constitution and certified the Electoral College results. We were able to do that because of brave men and women who fulfilled their oath to protect and defend Congress. I regret that Donald Trump was not one of them.
Sen. Murkowski’s words carry weight because she backed them up with her vote. She was one of seven Senate Republicans who voted to convict Trump. The other Republicans who voted to convict are either in safe seats or retiring. Murkowski is the only one who might face serious backlash. Sen. Murkowski once won a write-in campaign for her Senate seat, so her brand in Alaska is as strong as ever.
There are many Republicans who want Trump out of their party, but they were too weak and unwilling to stop him in 2015, and there is no evidence that most of the party has yet to grow a spine, but there are a few principled Republicans, 17 to be exact, in the House and Senate who put the country ahead of their self-interest.
If the Republican Party is going to survive, they will need a lot more Lisa Murkowskis.
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Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
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