Murkowski Endorses a Dem, Denounces Trump’s Attack on Alaska’s Election

Like Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME), the pattern with Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), a relatively moderate voice in today’s extreme GOP, is that while she may critique Trump publicly, she often votes to support his policies when it matters.

But in recent days, Murkowski has been offering some substantial, pre-election pushback to the president.

On Tuesday, she endorsed a Democrat for governor over Trump’s chosen candidate.

“I have found fault with the Dunleavy administration,” she told Alaska News Source of the current governor, Republican Mike Dunleavy, who is term-limited. “I think that they have left federal money on the table. I think in certain areas, where we have worked hard to put opportunities from the federal side, here, into the state, the state has failed with it.”

“I think it’s been a hard eight years in many different areas, and Alaskans are looking for something different,” she added, describing Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins, the Democrat, as a “young Alaskan with a view and a perspective that I think Alaska needs right now.”

JKT, as he’s often called, is up against three Republicans, one of whom, Bernadette Wilson, was endorsed by Trump. He was already favored to win, in part because of the split Republican field.

Murkowski has supported Democrats before — she endorsed Mary Peltola’s campaigns for House in 2022 and 2024. Her more significant move, I’d argue, was on Friday denouncing the DOJ’s pre-emptive lawsuit seeking to block Alaska from certifying its election if a Democrat wins, a lawsuit Trump said he ordered.

“The State of Alaska has already handled this by clearly distinguishing the candidates on this year’s ballot,” she said, pushing back on the DOJ’s premise that two Dan Sullivans on the ballot had hopelessly tainted the election.

“The Department of Justice should never have filed this lawsuit,” she said.

That clear-eyed assessment from the most prominent Republican voice in the state predictably triggered Trump to lose it. Over multiple Truth Social posts, he called Murkowski “Republicans’ Worst Senator, by far,” “a DISGRACE to Alaska and our Country,” and falsely suggested she fraudulently won a previous race.

“They’ve been trying to get rid of Lisa Murkowski forever in Alaska,” he claimed.

Flávio Bolsonaro’s Big Escape

• When Brazilian authorities ordered Flávio Bolsonaro — the recently defeated, Trump-aligned candidate for president — to turn over his passport this week amid a money laundering investigation, he scoffed that he would never think of fleeing the country.
• But yesterday morning, news began to emerge in various South American outlets that that may, in fact, have happened.
• Its unclear how Bolsonaro ultimately made his escape, with some reports suggesting it was via Argentina, to the south, where President Javier Milei is an ally of the Bolsonaro family and Trump, and others suggesting he left via Venezuela, to the north.
• Regardless, it was the Trump administration that offered his family refuge, and by Tuesday evening he was in Florida.
• The journey inspired a bit of déjà vu, as his father took a similar trip after a 2022 auto-coup attempt he led, reminiscent of January 6, failed.
• Flávio Bolsonaro promised to keep rallying his allies from the U.S.

Attorney General Todd Blanche lashed out at CNN’s Dana Bash on Sunday after she questioned whether President Donald Trump’s intervention in Alaska’s Senate election could lay the groundwork for overturning results he dislikes.

“Oh, stop it!” Blanche exclaimed during a heated appearance on “State of the Union.” “You’ve gotta stop it with that! You are not being a real person! Come on man, that is crazy!”

“It is not crazy!” Bash responded.

The confrontation came as Bash pressed Blanche about the Justice Department’s unprecedented lawsuit seeking to block certification of Alaska‘s Senate election if Republican incumbent Dan Sullivan loses. Trump acknowledged Friday that he directed the legal action, telling reporters, “I’m the one that said do it.”

The administration argues that another candidate, Daniel J. Sullivan Jr., could confuse voters and siphon support from the incumbent, potentially benefiting Democratic challenger Mary Peltola. Alaska courts have rejected efforts to remove the similarly named candidate from the ballot.

Asked what crime justified federal intervention, Blanche struggled to identify one.

“What’s the crime? Well, it depends. There could be a crime,” he said, before arguing that the real concern was voters becoming confused and having their voices ignored.

Bash then raised the possibility of a “doomsday scenario” in which Trump attempts to overturn election results, invoking the aftermath of the 2020 election and the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack.

“That is not a real question!” Blanche protested.

“We’re not laying any groundwork for the president to do that!” he added, insisting the administration was not attempting to take over a state election.

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On NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., rejected the Justice Department’s intervention.

“It’s not the federal government’s business to run Alaskan elections,” Schiff said. “It’s Alaska’s business to do that.”

Schiff argued that Alaska’s courts had already addressed the ballot dispute and questioned the Justice Department’s legal standing.

The lawsuit has also drawn criticism from Alaska Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski, underscoring opposition extending beyond Democrats.

With Election Day quickly approaching, the administration’s willingness to challenge how a state certifies its results has raised concerns about federal interference in elections traditionally administered by state officials.

The post “You are not being a real person!”: Blanche erupts over election concerns appeared first on Salon.com.

Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin defended the Trump administration’s proposal to livestream the execution of a convicted mass murderer Sunday, brushing aside concerns that the broadcast could turn him into a martyr, something the editorial board of the “New York Post” argued might result from a public viewing.

The proposal calls for publicly broadcasting the execution of Nidal Hasan, the former Army psychiatrist convicted of killing 13 people in the 2009 Fort Hood shooting.

When CBS’ “Face the Nation” host Margaret Brennan asked whether broadcasting Hasan’s execution could encourage radicalization by turning him into a martyr, Mullin offered a blunt response: “No one has to watch it.”

“I don’t see an elevated risk at this point at all because of this,” Mullin said, arguing that the execution would demonstrate the consequences of attacking Americans.

“I give absolutely zero thought to the way that this man dies,” he added.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced Thursday that Hasan would be executed by firing squad Dec. 3, with the proceedings livestreamed to the public. The execution would be the first carried out by the U.S. military since 1961.

Secretary Hegseth was asked about the execution of Nidal Hasan:

“No-brainer—execution by firing squad…

Of course we’re doing it at Fort Hood. We’re going to do it at 1 o’clock—which is when he did it. It’s going to be soldiers with rifles executing the firing squad.”

— DOW Rapid Response (@DOWResponse) October 8, 2026

The proposal has drawn objections from lawmakers in both parties. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, urged the Pentagon to reverse what she called a “gruesome decision,” warning that the broadcast could provide Hasan with the notoriety and martyrdom he seeks.

Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., also condemned the proposal, saying public executions belong to oppressive dictatorships, not the United States. Rep. Austin Scott, R-Ga., said he supports Hasan’s death sentence but opposes broadcasting it.

Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., warned that livestreaming the execution could provide material for terrorist recruitment.

Others have defended the proposal. Robert Jeffress, the pastor of First Baptist Dallas and a longtime Trump ally, argued that public executions demonstrate the sanctity of human life. Rep. Andy Ogles, R-Tenn., also expressed support.

Vice President JD Vance has questioned whether the livestream will actually happen, but won’t watch it if it does. And President Donald Trump said Saturday that he would ultimately decide.

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The controversy comes less than two weeks after Tennessee’s failed attempt to execute Christa Pike, who survived two doses of lethal injection drugs Sept. 30. Pike later regained consciousness, and her attorneys have sought to preserve evidence from the botched procedure.

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee ordered a review of the failed execution, which has intensified scrutiny of capital punishment methods as the administration considers broadcasting Hasan’s death.

The post Mullin shrugs off execution concerns: “No one has to watch it” appeared first on Salon.com.