Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) said in a statement Thursday that the Senate acted “appropriately” in impeaching President Donald Trump.
Murkowski, who is up for reelection in 2022, released a statement after the House voted to impeach the 45th president. She said that the president “perpetrated false rhetoric that the election was stolen and rigged.”
She continued:
When he was not able to persuade the courts or elected officials, he launched a pressure campaign against his own Vice President, urging him to take actions that he had no authority to do. On the day of the riots, President Trump’s words incited violence, which led to the injury and deaths of Americans – including a Capitol Police officer – the desecration of the Capitol, and briefly interfered with the government’s ability to ensure a peaceful transfer of power.
Murkowski said she approved of the House’s actions to impeach the president, which could signal her thoughts on voting to impeach President Trump.
“Such unlawful actions cannot go without consequence, and the House has responded swiftly, and I believe, appropriately, with impeachment,” she said.
Murkowski’s statement this week follows as she called on Trump to resign last week, arguing that he “has caused enough damage.”
She told the Anchorage Daily News:
I think he should leave. He said he’s not going to show up. He’s not going to appear at the inauguration. He hasn’t been focused on what is going on with COVID. He’s either been golfing or he’s been inside the Oval Office fuming and throwing every single person who has been loyal and faithful to him under the bus, starting with the vice president. He doesn’t want to stay there. He only wants to stay there for the title. He only wants to stay there for his ego. He needs to get out. He needs to do the good thing, but I don’t think he’s capable of doing a good thing.
Murkowski also said that her status as a Republican depends on if the Republican Party trends towards Trump’s platform.