Many people are afraid of retaliation for criticizing President Trump, Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski said this week, and she's one of them. Appearing before nonprofit leaders in Anchorage, the Republican who has publicly disagreed with Trump was asked about people who are fearful in the current political conditions, Politico reports. "We are all afraid," Murkowski answered before taking a long pause. "It's quite a statement," she continued, saying she's not experienced a political climate like this before.
"I'm oftentimes very anxious myself about using my voice because retaliation is real. And that's not right," Murkowski said, per the Anchorage Daily News. She has stood out from her GOP colleagues in opposing Trump's actions, such as accusing the president of
"walking away from our allies" as he increasingly sides with Russian President Vladimir Putin while attacking Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, per Politico. She has spoken out against the Department of Government Efficiency's mass firings, as well. Murkowski defeated a challenger who had Trump's support when she was reelected in 2022.
Murkowski also addressed the personal strain in dealing with the chaos of the first three months of Trump's term—which has included, per the Hill, 124 executive orders. "It is head-spinning," Murkowski said in Anchorage. "It seems that just when you've made a little bit of progress on one issue that had caused so much anxiety, there's another one." She said lawmakers are having trouble keeping up with the actions of Elon Musk and DOGE. "None of us understand the half of it," she added. Still, Murkowski told the group, Republicans need to stand up for their principles and their constituents: "We cannot be cowed into not speaking up." (More Lisa Murkowski stories.)
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