Hatch On Trump Attacking Murkowski: ‘I Don’t Think It Is a Good Thing To Do’
Oct 9, 2018, 11:37 PM | Updated: Jun 7, 2022, 4:01 pm
File- Orrin Hatch, the longest-serving Republican senator in history.
(CNN) — Utah Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch told reporters Tuesday that President Donald Trump should not have attacked GOP Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska over her opposition to Trump’s Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.
“I don’t think it is a good thing to do,” Hatch said when asked about Trump criticizing Murkowski in an interview with The Washington Post over her vote. “Lisa Murkowksi is a good senator.”
On Friday, Murkowski announced she would oppose Kavanaugh, a decision that would make her the only Republican in the chamber to do so. With the other 50 GOP senators and one Democrat — Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia — voting in favor of Kavanaugh, his nomination was confirmed on Saturday and he’s since been sworn in.
Trump said Saturday that Murkowski “will never recover” from the political consequences of opposing Kavanaugh.
“I think she will never recover from this,” Trump told the Post. “I think the people from Alaska will never forgive her for what she did.”
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Trump also predicted that if the Alaska Republican runs again when she is up for re-election in 2022, she will lose the Republican primary, the newspaper reported.
“She doesn’t run for four years … she’s lucky,” Trump told the Post. “But they will not forget. They will never forget. What she did was unacceptable. Really unacceptable.”
Asked if Trump should back off Murkowski, Hatch said: “I think he has backed off. I think he realizes himself he probably shouldn’t have done that.”
It’s not clear what evidence Hatch was referring to to suggest that Trump realizes he shouldn’t have attacked Murkowski.
The-CNN-Wire
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