Donald Trump will fly his lies to Alaska for a rally today. But while the headlines will focus upon his hatred of Sen. Lisa Murkowski – and whatever wink he offers former VP candidate Sarah Palin – the extremism of Murkowski’s top foe should not go unnoticed.
That would be Republican Kelly Tshibaka, who is running for U.S. Senate with outlandish rhetoric that includes a full-throated defense of Trump on the false pretense that he had nothing to do with the January 6 insurrection. Here’s how the Anchorage Daily News reported that from a telephone interview this week:
“The entire time that (the violent attack on the U.S. Capitol) was happening, Trump was on the stage at the other end of the mall, and all the evidence shows that,” Tshibaka told the Daily News.
The newspaper fact-checked that claim in real time, noting, “In fact, Trump left the rally to return to the White House at 1:17 p.m. on Jan. 6, well before the Capitol was breached.”
Tshibaka also parroted the more common Trumpism talking points to trash the work of the House Select Committee investigating January 6.
“The way they’re conducting it with no regard for due process, no cross examinations, not being truthful in providing evidence that runs contrary to the witness evidence that they’re showing is a disservice of disinformation to the public. It’s trying to distract people from this disastrous Biden administration and everything that’s happening. And it looks like it’s an attempt to do a third Trump impeachment.”
Tshibaka is trying to unseat Murkowski, the only Republican senator who is facing reelection after having voted to convict Trump in his second impeachment trial. Trump labeled Murkowski “a disloyal and very bad Senator” after that vote and had vowed to campaign against her.
Tshibaka has also supported Trump’s Big Lie that the 2020 election was stolen – as has Palin – but with somewhat less of a bodacious approach. Here’s how the Daily News capsulized that:
“Tshibaka still casts doubt on the validity of the 2020 election, pointing to Arizona and Pennsylvania as states where she questions results. ‘There’s a lot around the 2020 election that still is vague and undetermined. But we absolutely accept that President Biden is president,’ Tshibaka said.
It is safe to say Tshibaka won’t repeat the part about accepting the fact that Biden is president at the rally today. Not unless she wishes to become the next Mo Brooks.
The rally, scheduled for 4 p.m., will take place in the 5,000-seat Alaska Airlines Center on the University of Alaska Anchorage campus. The use of the public university for a Trump rally has provoked criticism, Alaska Public Media reported Friday.
“Some students, alumni and other community members have called for the university to cancel the event,” the report said. “At a meeting on Wednesday, vice president Shanone Tejada acknowledged students’ concerns.
“We are not hosting this event, nor do we condone any of the violence, hate and bigotry that is spewed from any character’s event,” he said. “We understand the concerns that students have been raising, and we are speaking with the administration about it.”
And there was this:
“In a written message to the community last week, UAA Chancellor Sean Parnell wrote that the university must keep freedom of speech in mind when reviewing facilities-use requests. He emphasized that the university is not hosting the event — rather, the Save America political action committee is renting the Alaska Airlines Center.
“As a publicly funded university, it would be both illegal and unconstitutional to prevent a group from leasing university facilities based on speech that may occur in the facility or speech that we disagree with,” wrote Parnell, a former Republican Alaska governor. “Some exceptions to this First Amendment right do exist, but none of these exceptions apply in this case.”
Trump’s Save America PAC signed a lease agreement for $53,081 to use the Alaska Airlines Center. University spokesperson Catalina Myers said the university has not been paid upfront.”
