Former President Donald Trump launched a sharp attack on Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), labeling her "Republicans' Worst Senator, by far" on his Truth Social platform late Saturday. The broadside came after Murkowski criticized the Justice Department's lawsuit related to the U.S. Senate race in her state.
Trump, who opposed Murkowski in the 2022 election where she ultimately defeated his favored candidate through ranked-choice voting, claimed the system is a "TOTAL DEMOCRAT SCAM" designed to confuse voters and argued that Murkowski only won because of this "corrupt" process.
The Justice Department's lawsuit, which Trump acknowledged he ordered, centers on concerns that a candidate with the same name as Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) could confuse voters and potentially lead to a victory for Democratic nominee Mary Peltola. This lawsuit was filed despite the state Supreme Court having already addressed the matter.
Murkowski, one of the seven Republican senators who voted to convict Trump in his 2021 impeachment trial, publicly stated on Friday via social media that the Justice Department should not have filed the lawsuit. She asserted that Alaskans "don’t need any help voting for their preferred candidates."
Trump dismissed Murkowski's concerns, baselessly accusing her of wanting Democrats to "steal the Election." He characterized her as a "DISGRACE to Alaska and our Country," adding that "You just don’t get any worse!" He also warned that if Democrats won the seat, "everything we’ve done for Alaska will come to an immediate hault," urging Alaskans to vote against the ranked-choice voting system.
Recent polls indicate that Peltola holds a narrow lead over her Republican opponent in both the initial and final rounds of ranked-choice voting. The other Republican candidate, Dan J. Sullivan, a retired teacher who shares a name with the incumbent senator, is not projected to reach the final round.
The candidate Dan J. Sullivan previously responded to Trump's characterization of him as a "fake" candidate in an interview, stating that he has discussed his intentions for entering the race in multiple interviews and that the former president has "made up" his voting record.