Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) on Thursday described herself as “more of a Ronald Reagan Republican” than a “Trump Republican.”
“I don’t think I’ve made any secret of the fact that I’m more of a Ronald Reagan Republican than I am a Trump Republican. And 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 at an event hosted by the centrist group No Labels in Washington, as reported by Politico.
She had also said that she is “not attached to a label” and would rather be “known for trying to do right by the state and the people that I serve, regardless of party,” Politico reported.
Murkowski added that she has “never shed my party label,” arguing she is “still a Republican,” Politico wrote.
Murkowski, who has said she didn’t vote for President-elect Trump in 2016, 2020 or 2024, has previously floated the idea of leaving the GOP as it shifts toward Trump. She was also one of seven GOP senators who voted to convict the president-elect for his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.
During an interview earlier this year, the senator flirted with an independent bid, saying, “Oh, I think I’m very independent-minded. I just regret that our party is seemingly becoming a party of Trump.”
When pressed further, she said, “I am navigating my way through some very interesting political times, so let’s just leave it at that.”
Murkowski made headlines recently as she is seen as one of the tougher votes for Pete Hegseth, Trump’s pick for the top post at the Pentagon, to secure as he seeks Senate confirmation for the role.
She was reportedly one of the four members of Congress in the upper chamber who could not back former Rep. Matt Gaetz’s (R-Fla.) bid for attorney general.
