Michael Reynolds/Pool via AP
- Sen. Rick Scott said the GOP campaign arm will support Sen. Lisa Murkowski’s re-election.
- Former President Donald Trump has endorsed Murkowski’s challenger, Kelly Tshibaka.
- Trump has repeatedly attacked Murkowski since she voted to convict in his second impeachment trial.
Sen. Rick Scott of Florida said the Senate’s GOP campaign arm is supporting Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska for re-election, breaking from former President Donald Trump, who has denounced her.
Scott, chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, told NBC’s Meet the Press host Chuck Todd the committee is backing all incumbent senators.
Todd asked if that included Murkowski, who has repeatedly been attacked by Trump, and whether or not the committee would financially support her and actively help her defeat a primary opponent.
“Absolutely,” Scott said. “We support all of our incumbents, and fortunately for us we’ve got great candidates running in our primaries, and fortunately for us we’ve got ‘Bernie Sanders’ candidates on the other side in many primaries, and so we’re going to be in a great position in ’22.”
Trump has enthusiastically endorsed Murkowski’s opponent Kelly Tshibaka in the 2022 Alaska Senate race.
“Murkowski has got to go!,” Trump said in a statement in June. “Kelly Tshibaka is the candidate who can beat Murkowski – and she will. Kelly is a fighter who stands for Alaska values and America First. She is MAGA all the way, pro-energy, strong on the Border, tough on Crime and totally supports our Military and our great Vets.”
Trump has gone after Murkowski since she and six other Republican senators voted to convict him in his second impeachment trial. She also was a vocal critic of him after the January 6 insurrection and was the first GOP senator to call for his resignation.
Murkowski has significantly outperformed Tshibaka with fundraising, raising $1.1 million between July and September compared to $446,000 raised by Tshibaka, Insider’s Alia Shoaib reported.
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