Trump Vows To Campaign Against Murkowski After She Praised Mattis’ ‘Honest’ Criticism

NYTVIRUS -President Donald Trump with Attorney General William Barr, make remarks before signsing an executive order in the Oval Office that will punish Facebook, Google and Twitter for the way they police content online, Thursday, May 28, 2020. ( Photo by Doug Mills/The New York Times)
President Donald Trump speaks in the Oval Office before signing an executive order related to regulating social media on May 28, 2020. (Photo by Doug Mills-Pool/Getty Images)
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An enraged President Donald Trump on Thursday night swore to personally thwart Sen. Lisa Murkowski’s (R-AK) reelection prospects after the senator applauded former Defense Secretary James Mattis’ searing essay about Trump’s infamous photo-op.

“Few people know where they’ll be in two years from now, but I do, in the Great State of Alaska (which I love) campaigning against Senator Lisa Murkowski,” Trump tweeted.

He did not mention Murkowski’s support of Mattis’ statement, only her votes against Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation and Trump’s bill that aimed to kill the Affordable Care Act.

“Get any candidate ready, good or bad, I don’t care, I’m endorsing. If you have a pulse, I’m with you!” the President tweeted.

Murkowski, who is up for reelection in 2022, had told reporters earlier on Thursday that she was “really thankful” for Mattis’ essay, in which he torched Trump for having peaceful protesters teargassed to clear a path for his photo-op in front of St. John’s Episcopal Church.

The GOP senator described the ex-Trump official’s statement as “true, and honest and necessary and overdue.”

“When I saw General Mattis’ comments yesterday I felt like perhaps we are getting to a point where we can be more honest with the concerns that we might hold internally and have the courage of our own convictions to speak up,” she said.

The Alaska lawmaker was evasive when asked if she still supported Trump, saying she was “struggling with it” but that questions about whether or not she’ll vote for him “are distracting at the moment.”

Murkowski’s press office did not immediately respond to TPM’s request for comment on Trump’s attacks.

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Notable Replies

  1. Another day, another tantrum.

    Boooooorrrrring. :yawning_face:

  2. “Get any candidate ready, good or bad, I don’t care, I’m endorsing. If you have a pulse, I’m with you!” the President tweeted.

    Why that seems to be a mirror image of his hiring practices.

  3. “Few people know where they’ll be in two years from now, but I do, in the Great State of Alaska (which I love) campaigning against Senator Lisa Murkowski,”

    Maybe he can get a furlough from whatever New York state prison he will be in two years from now or maybe they will let him tweet from his cell. Otherwise, I doubt anyone is terribly worried about what he is going to be doing two years from now.

  4. Susan Collins is up for re-election this year, why doesn’t he come up here to campaign for her? Will certainly ensure her defeat in November .

  5. [Murkowski] described the ex-Trump official’s statement
    as “true, and honest and necessary and overdue.”

    Wait – what?

    Her calling what Mattis wrote “true, and honest and necessary” I can understand – and she’s right, and also right to say it.

    But “overdue”? Where has she been hiding her own not-overdue statement?

     

    An enraged President Donald Trump

    She must be getting on his nerves.

    He’s usually so calm and collected.

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