Murkowski will never recover from her ‘no’ vote, Trump says

WASHINGTON— U.S. President Donald Trump predicted Saturday that Sen. Lisa Murkowski, a Republican from Alaska, “will never recover” politically for her vote against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh as he celebrated his nominee’s ascension following an extraordinarily brutal confirmation process.

In a brief telephone interview, Trump said voters in Alaska “will never forgive” Murkowski for voting against confirming Kavanaugh, and he forecast her defeat in a Republican primary should she run for reelection in 2022.

“I think she will never recover from this,” Trump said. “I think the people from Alaska will never forgive her for what she did.”

Murkowski voted “no” Friday on a procedural vote to advance Kavanaugh’s nomination and opposed his confirmation on Saturday. But she then asked to withdraw her “no” vote as a courtesy to Montana Sen. Steve Daines, who missed the vote because of his daughter’s wedding. The practice, called a “pair between senators,” is so that the vote margin would be the same had Daines, who planned to vote for Kavanaugh’s confirmation, been there.

Trump spoke at length about Murkowski’s opposition to Kavanaugh and predicted dire political fallout for her in Alaska.

“She doesn’t run for four years,” he said. “She’s lucky.”

Former Alaska governor Sarah Palin tweeted tauntingly at the senator on Friday: “Hey @LisaMurkowski — I can see 2022 from my house...”

Asked whether Palin might mount a credible GOP primary challenge, Trump said, “I don’t know anything about that.”