" This should concern every single person watching it . "
Welcome to 2025, folks: a year in which elected officials in the US fear speaking against the president.
In anow-viralvideo, Republican Rep. Lisa Murkowski recently spoke at aconferencein her home state of Alaska, where she openly admitted that she’s afraid of speaking out against Donald Trump.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski ( universal gas constant ): " We are all afraid … I am oftentimes very nervous myself about using my vocalization because revenge is material . “pic.twitter.com / HM0cyoWZL2
“What do you have to say to people who are afraid or who represent people who are afraid?” a person from the crowd asked Murkowski.
“We are all afraid,” Murkowski replied. After taking a long pause, she continued: “It’s quite a statement. But we are in a time and place where, I don’t know, I certainly have not, I have not been here before.”
“And I’ll tell you, I’m oftentimes very anxious myself about using my voice because retaliation is real. And that’s not right.”
“But that’s what you have asked me to do. And so, I’m going to use my voice to the best of my ability, and sometimes it will be viewed in a way that, well, that’s pretty confrontational. And other times, it’s going to be using my mother’s charm that I learned as a little young girl in direct communication that those that I’ve made relationships with and am able to affect some change that way.”
“But I’ve gotta figure out how I can do my best to help the many who are so anxious and are so afraid.”
Murkowski’s admission has been controversial, to say the least. Here’s how people are reacting on X:
“This should concern every single person watching it. That a United States senator would say this is terrifying,” one person wrote.
“And she’s in the majority party,” this person pointed out.
Oppositely, some people did not express any sympathy for the GOP rep. “respectfully, grow a spine,” one person wrote.
This person called Murkowski’s statements “cowardice.”
Another person pointed out Murkowski’sstatementrefusing to vote for Trump or Kamala in the 2024 election.
“Zero sympathy. I have ZERO sympathy for Republicans who are afraid to speak out against Trump for fear of retaliation,” this person wrote.
