Politics
NEW: Top GOP Senator Turns On Trump In Shocking Speech, Claims To Be ‘Afraid’
One GOP U.S. senator is “afraid” of speaking her mind about President Donald Trump, the cautious lawmaker said in private remarks on Thursday.
Although she did not reference Trump directly, attendees understood who Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) was talking about.
“We are all afraid,” Murkowski told a roomful of nonprofit leaders in Anchorage, taking a long pause. “It’s quite a statement. But we are in a time and a place where I certainly have not been before. And I’ll tell ya, I’m oftentimes very anxious myself about using my voice, because retaliation is real. And that’s not right.”
The 45-minute discussion alongside Laurie Wolf, president and CEO of The Foraker Group, came during the group’s annual leadership summit, a time when the state’s biggest charities circle up and discuss pressing national issues facing their bottom lines.
This year, the focus was on the ripples that “chaos” in Washington, D.C. might cause in Murkowski’s home state. Attendees expressed their anxiety about working in the public sector amid the Trump administration’s cost-cutting initiatives, while others fretted about cuts to social safety net programs.
Murkowski, a centrist who is not up for reelection until 2028, used the word “unlawful” at one point to describe some of the president’s orders.
She recounted a recent fire drill where she and aides sought to uncover the truth behind rumors about cuts to programming changes, and if so, how they might blunt the harm to Alaskans back home.
“It is as hard as anything I have been engaged in, in the 20-plus years I’ve been in the Senate,” Murkowski said, according to the Anchorage Daily News.
BREAKING: In a shocking video, Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski says every Republican Senator is AFRAID of Trump: “I’m oftentimes very anxious myself about using my voice, because retaliation is real.” These cowards should be removed along with Trump.
— CALL TO ACTIVISM (@CalltoActivism) April 17, 2025
Murkowski also recalled asking Trump’s Chief of Staff Susie Wiles to delay the slashing of AmeriCorps programming, which she said is vital to Alaska’s wildlife industry, but she wasn’t sure if the message ever made it to the intended recipients.
“I share this with you not to say that ‘we don’t know anything,’ but I’m saying that things are happening so fast through this Department of Government Efficiency, DOGE … none of us understand the half of it,” Murkowski said. “It’s literally piecing it together.”
Calling Medicare benefit reductions to Alaskans a “nonstarter for me,” the lawmaker said she is urging Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) and the administration to pursue a slimmed-down version of the $880 million in cuts they hope to achieve in the next several months.
“I’m not saying you can’t touch Medicaid at all,” Murkowski said. “What I hope we’re moving away from is an $880 billion cut to Medicaid. Because if that happens, this is going to be a very, very different state.”
The president’s breakneck speed has caused Murkowski to question whether House and Senate leaders are doing enough to act as a check on executive power.
“It’s called the checks and balances. And right now, we are not balancing as the Congress,” Murkowski said. “I think it’s important the concerns continue to be raised rather than letting the fatigue of the chaos grind you down.”
The comments drew a visceral reaction from Trump supporters online.
“[W]here was she over the past 4 years when Biden was using lawfare to go after his political opponents?? Oh thats right, she’s really a Democrat,” said Heritage staffer Tim Young.
Another blamed rank-choice voting in Alaska for allowing Murkowski to win reelection in 2022.
“The retaliation against Murkowski is “real” in large part because she’s too liberal for her constituents, and if it weren’t for a manipulative plan to implement ranked-choice voting to keep her in office, she wouldn’t be a senator right now,” they wrote on X.
By Friday, video of Murkowski expressing fear of “retaliation” by Trump began to go viral.
“I’m oftentimes very anxious myself about using my voice, because retaliation is real,” she said.
