Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, said during a public forum Thursday that she's "not attached to a label" and felt "more comfortable" with no party label than "an identity as a Republican," Politico reported.
"I'd rather be that person that is just known for trying to do right by the state and the people that I serve, regardless of party, and I'm totally good and comfortable with that," Murkowski said during a discussion hosted by the centrist group No Labels in Washington, D.C.
She later added that she is "more of a Ronald Reagan Republican than I am a Trump Republican," a stance for which she has faced criticism.
"Someone said, 'Well, you aren't really a Republican at all.' And I said, 'You can call me whatever you want to call me,'" Murkowski said.
She noted that she is "still a Republican" and said she "never shed my party label."
"We've got a system in the Senate where there are two sides of the aisle, and I have to sit on one side or I have to sit on the other," Murkowski said.
She added that the Trump administration is "going to be hard" to deal with, adding that its "approach is going to be: Everybody tow the line. Everybody line up. We got you here, and if you want to survive, you better be good. Don't get on Santa's naughty list here, because we will primary you."
Murkowski noted that Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, has faced calls of "not being good enough" by Republicans for refusing to commit to supporting Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump's nominee to head the Pentagon, until after Hegseth has been vetted, even though she is "one of the more conservative, principled Republican leaders in the Senate right now."
Theodore Bunker ✉
Theodore Bunker, a Newsmax writer, has more than a decade covering news, media, and politics.
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