Senator Lisa Murkowski (Republican, Alaska) on Wednesday roundly condemned former US President Donald Trump for making xenophobic comments about migrants “poisoning the blood” of the US, a rare move in today’s Republican Party.
“With the exception of Alaska Natives and Native Peoples, most of us are daughters and sons of immigrants who came to this country to build a better life for themselves and their families,” Murkowski wrote in a post on X (formerly Twitter).
“Legal immigration from people across the world is woven into the fabric of American exceptionalism, and comments from the former president couldn’t be further from the truth. This is more hateful, harmful rhetoric from Donald Trump that is poisoning our country,” the senator added.
Murkowski, who won reelection last year, has long been critical of Trump. She voted to convict the ex-president in his Senate impeachment trial following the January 6, 2021, riot at the US Capitol over his efforts to stay in power despite his loss in the 2020 election.
Trump made the comments about migrants crossing the southern border at a rally on Saturday, drawing comparisons to language used by Adolf Hitler and other dictators. The 2024 presidential candidate defended himself at another campaign event on Tuesday, saying that immigrants in the US illegally are “destroying the blood of our country, they’re destroying the fabric of our country.”
Murkowski issued her statement on Wednesday just as many Republicans were rallying to Trump’s side in the wake of a court ruling disqualifying Trump from the presidential ballot in Colorado for engaging in an insurrection against the United States.
A day earlier, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (Republican, Kentucky) also took a swipe at Trump over the remark, invoking his Chinese-born wife, Elaine Chao, who was in Trump’s Cabinet.
“It strikes me that didn’t bother him when he appointed Elaine Chao secretary of transportation,” McConnell said.
Most Republican senators, however, stayed silent on Trump’s comments or simply dodged questions about them. One senator, however, said he was disappointed that Trump didn’t go far enough.
“I’m mad he wasn’t even tougher than that,” Senator Tommy Tuberville (Republican, Alabama) told reporters on Tuesday. “When you see what’s happening at the border? We’re being overrun. They’re taking us over.”