‘He needs to get out’: GOP Sen. Murkowski calls for Trump resignation

Posted: Jan 8, 2021 / 05:09 PM EST / Updated: Jan 8, 2021 / 06:09 PM EST

Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, returns to the Senate chamber after a meeting in the Majority Leaders office during a break in the impeachment trial of President Donald Trump at the U.S. Capitol Friday Jan 31, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo/Steve Helber)

WASHINGTON (AP) —Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska has become the first Republican member of the Senate to call for President Donald Trump’s resignation.

The Alaska Republican tells the Anchorage Daily News that she wants Trump to resign after a violent mob of his supporters stormed the Capitol, forcing a lockdown. Five people died, including a Capitol Police officer.

Murkowski said in a telephone interview Friday: “I want him out. He has caused enough damage.” She also questioned whether she wanted to remain a Republican.

She says many people felt she became an independent when she lost her Republican primary in 2010 but won the general election by write-in. She has been in the Senate since 2002, replacing her father, Frank Murkowski, who took office in 1981.

“If the Republican Party has become nothing more than the party of Trump, I sincerely question whether this is the party for me,” she said.

She adds, “He needs to get out. He needs to do the good thing, but I don’t think he’s capable of doing a good thing.”