Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski admitted she is struggling to continue to support President Donald Trump in the wake of the unrest and protests of George Floyd’s death while in the custody of former Minneapolis police officers. The senator, who is the chair of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, spoke with reporters on her way into the Capitol on Thursday, according to The Hill . Murkowski responded to retired General James Mattis’s strongly worded statement about the president’s “immature” leadership.
“I thought General Mattis’s words were true and honest and necessary and overdue,” Murkowski said. “When I saw Gen. Mattis’s comments yesterday, I felt like perhaps we’re getting to the point where we can be more honest with the concerns we might hold internally and have the courage of our convictions and speak up.”
Additionally, the senator admitted that she is “struggling” with whether or not she will vote for Trump in November’s 2020 presidential election. Murkowski said that she has struggled with the decision for a long time. She did not say if she had plans to support the presumed Democratic nominee Joe Biden or not, though, in the upcoming election.
Yesterday, the senator from Alaska was one of the only GOP senators who answered questions from reporters, according to a KTUU report. On Wednesday, she said a few things about the president’s forceful response to the protests and riots that have erupted throughout the U.S. after Floyd’s death. She noted that the use of force to push back peaceful protestors near the White House earlier this week before President Trump walked to St. John’s church was not the version of the country that she knows.
“I’m not quite sure if we are focused on the right things right now. I think tone is really, really important right now. And I do not believe that the tone coming from the president right now is helping. It’s not helping me as a leader,” said Murkowski.
Senator Murkowski noted that felt like she could speak her mind in the wake of the retired general’s scathing criticism of Trump’s leadership style.
So far, several other U.S. Senators had refused to comment on the situation at all, with some saying that they did not get a good enough look at what happened between authorities and protestors before Trump walked to the church to take a photo to have anything to say. So far, President Trump has not tweeted about Senator Murkowski’s comments.
