‘She is MAGA all the way’: Trump endorses Kelly Tshibaka in race against Sen. Lisa Murkowski

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) - Former President Donald Trump shared a public endorsement Friday morning supporting Kelly Tshibaka in her run against Sen. Lisa Murkowski.

In an email, Trump expressed his support for Tshibaka because she is “MAGA all the way,” and for her pro-energy, strong on the border, tough on crime and pro-military views.

Tshibaka was formerly the commissioner of the Alaska Department of Administration. After serving more than two years in that position, she resigned and announced her plans to run for one of the Alaska U.S. Senate seats.

Tshibaka is campaigning to challenge Sen. Murkowski for her seat in 2022. The senator has held that seat since 2002.

“Lisa Murkowski is bad for Alaska. Her vote to confirm Biden’s Interior Secretary was a vote to kill long sought for, and approved, ANWR, and Alaska jobs,” Trump said in the email.

Murkowski was one of the seven Republican senators who voted to convict Trump over his role in the Jan. 6 riot in the U.S. Capitol. She has been outspoken in her belief that the former president committed an impeachable act and that it was “appropriate” that he be barred from holding office again. The Alaska Republican Party voted to censure Murkowski in early March, partly based on her impeachment vote.

Murkowski, who has not yet confirmed if she is running for reelection, said in an interview with Alaska’s News Source earlier this month “what I’m doing, every day, is doing my job, doing my job representing Alaskans to absolutely the best of my ability.”

“I get really tired of the fact that the campaigns just seem to be endless. That the day that the elections are over, boom we start into the next one, and it’s never ending. So, I’m not a real proponent of starting a campaign two full years early. I think people are going to get tired of that. So ... I’m doing, again, what Alaskans have asked me to do every day, and just continuing to work hard for them to earn that honor to remain in the Senate,” Murkowski said.

Copyright 2021 KTUU. All rights reserved.