Former President Trump mocked the election chances of Sen. Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) and Rep. Liz Cheney (Wyo.), two Republican lawmakers who voted in favor of impeaching and convicting him over a charge that he incited the deadly Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol.
Trump on Wednesday said in a statement that Murkowski wavering on whether she would seek reelection in 2022 was “great news for the Republican Party!”
“Senator Lisa Murkowski said she is ‘still weighing whether she will run again’ for the Senate in Alaska. In other words, there is a chance that she won’t run! Wouldn’t that be great?” Trump said.
Murkowski was one of seven Senate Republicans who voted in favor of convicting Trump on the impeachment charge, of which he was ultimately acquitted.
“If I can’t say what I believe that our president should stand for, then why should I ask Alaskans to stand with me?” Murkowski told reporters at the time.
In the same statement, Trump also went after Cheney, who was one of the few Republican lawmakers to speak out against him following the Jan. 6 riot. She later was one of 10 House Republicans to vote in favor of impeaching Trump just before he left office and nearly lost her leadership position as conference chairwoman as a result.
Trump promised to endorse one of Cheney’s primary opponents.
“So many people are looking to run against Crazy Liz Cheney—but we only want one,” Trump said. “She is so far down in Wyoming polls that the only way she can win is numerous candidates running against her and splitting the vote. Hopefully, that won’t happen. I’ll make an Endorsement soon!”
So far, only Wyoming state Sen. Anthony Bouchard (R) has announced a bid to replace Cheney. Bouchard announced his run on Jan. 20.
Cheney said on Wednesday that if Trump decides to run for office in 2024, she would not support him.
While appearing on Fox News, Cheney told host Neil Cavuto that Trump’s actions leading up to the riot “was the gravest violation of an oath of office by any president in American history.”