Trump Pledges to Campaign Against GOP Senator

President Trump says he will support any candidate "good or bad" against Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski when she is up for re-election in 2022. The president fired back Thursday after the Alaska senator agreed with former defense chief Jim Mattis' criticism of the president and said she "was struggling" with the question of whether she could vote for him in November, the Hill reports. "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," the president tweeted. "Get any candidate ready, good or bad, I don’t care, I’m endorsing. If you have a pulse, I’m with you!"

Murkowski said Thursday that the words from Mattis—who slammed Trump's response to the George Floyd protests and accused him of trying to divide the nation—were "true and honest and necessary and overdue." Alaska's other senator, GOP Sen. Dan Sullivan, didn't directly criticize Trump but said he doesn't agree with using the military against protesters, the Anchorage Daily News reports. "I have deep respect for Jim Mattis and his service to our nation. I agree with all calls for unity at this time, and have been emphasizing the same," Sullivan said, adding that he supports Trump and wants him "to be successful in unifying our nation and healing our wounds." In 2016, Murkowski and Sullivan both said they wouldn't vote for Trump after the release of a tape in which he boasted about grabbing women. (More Lisa Murkowski stories.)