Trump Foe Won't Commit to Remaining With GOP

Sen. Lisa Murkowski has had enough of Donald Trump and, maybe, enough of her party. Asked whether she'll remain a Republican, the Alaska senator wouldn't commit. "I just regret that our party is seemingly becoming a party of Donald Trump," Murkowski said in a CNN interview shown Sunday on Inside Politics Sunday with Manu Raju. The Alaska Republican, who endorsed Nikki Haley just before she dropped out of the GOP nomination race, was clearer about whether she'll vote for Trump in November, saying she "absolutely" will not.

"I wish that as Republicans, we had a nominee that I could get behind," Murkowski added. "I certainly can't get behind Donald Trump." One obvious option would be to become an independent, and she described herself as independent minded. Pressed on the possibility, Murkowski said, "I am navigating my way through some very interesting political times, so let's just leave it at that." She's split with the party line before, voting to convict Trump in his second impeachment trial, opposing Brett Kavanaugh for the Supreme Court in 2018, and supporting Ketanji Brown Jackson in 2022. And senators have changed parties before, Axios points out; the most recent was Arizona's Kyrsten Sinema, a Democrat who turned independent. (More Lisa Murkowski stories.)