Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) expressed frustration Friday with what she called the “distractions” of former President Trump’s legal dramas and declared that “a Republican candidate without this baggage would have a clear path to victory.”
“It is a shame that this election focused on personalities and legal issues rather than a debate about policies that would uplift Americans. These distractions gave the Biden campaign a free pass as the focus shifted from Biden’s indefensible record and the damage his policies have done to Alaska and our nation’s economy to Trump’s legal drama,” Murkowski said. said in a statement.
Murkowski broke ranks with some of her usual Republican allies in the Senate, including Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) and Sen. Susan Collins (Maine), who on Thursday criticized Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg for file a lawsuit against Trump after promising to prosecute him. when he ran for the position of prosecutor in 2021.
“These accusations should never have been made in the first place. I hope the conviction is overturned on appeal,” McConnell published on the X social platform.
Former Vice President Mike Pence, who fell out with Trump over Trump’s efforts to stop the certification of the 2020 election, called the Manhattan jury’s verdict an “outrage.”
Murkowski said Friday that the trial and verdict are “the first step in the legal process.”
“The former president has the right to appeal, and I fully expect him to exercise that right,” she said, stopping well short of the barrage of attacks her Republican colleagues directed at Bragg, Judge Juan Merchan and the Manhattan criminal court.
Former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R), who is running for Senate in Maryland, was one of the few Republicans to urge fellow Americans to respect the verdict.
“At this dangerously divided moment in our history, all leaders – regardless of party – must not add fuel to the fire with more toxic partisanship,” Hogan said Thursday. “We must reaffirm what made this nation great: the rule of law.”
That prompted a scathing response from former Trump adviser Chris LaCivita, who predicted Hogan would face a backlash from Trump voters.
“You just ended your campaign,” LaCivita wrote in the X above a repost of Hogan’s comments.
This story originally appeared on thehill.com read the full story
