GOP Sen. Murkowski Open to Switching to Independent

GOP Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski, a critic of former President Donald Trump — and no fan of President Joe Biden — says she hasn’t ruled out running as an independent.

In remarks to CNN’s “Inside Politics Sunday with Manu Raju,” Murkowski declared “I am navigating my way through some very interesting political times, so let’s just leave it at that,” insisting: “Oh, I think I’m very independent.”

“I certainly can’t get behind Donald Trump,” she said, citing the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.

Murkowski, who endorsed former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley days before she dropped out of the presidential race, said “I wish that as Republicans, we had a nominee that I could get behind. I just regret that our party is seemingly becoming a party of Donald Trump.”

Murkowski was one of seven Republicans who voted to convict Trump in 2021, finding him “guilty” of inciting the Jan. 6 riot. He was acquitted.

Murkowski, who has served in the Senate for more than two decades, won re-election in 2022 against Trump-endorsed Kelly Tshibaka, a former Alaska Department of Administration commissioner.