'Do your damn job': GOP senator ignites fury by saying she fears Trump 'retaliation'

A clip of Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) making the rounds on social media has ignited controversy because she admitted to feeling intimidated by threats from President Donald Trump and his supporters.

In the video, Murkowski responded to a question about what she'd say to Americans who are worried about speaking out against Trump and she said that "we are all afraid" and then added that "I am oftentimes very anxious myself about using my voice because retaliation is real."

However, Murkowski also said that speaking out was "what [voters] asked me to do" and she said that she was going to "use my voice to the best of my ability" even if it came off as "pretty confrontational."

Many users on BlueSky reacted with anger to the clip and said that many Americans who have a lot less power and wealth than Murkowski were nonetheless not afraid to speak out against the president.

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"You're a United States Senator in the face of fascism," wrote University of Wisconsin Madison political scientist Mark Copelovitch. "Do your damn job. People with far less power than you are sitting in overseas concentration camps right now, our students are being deported, and the lying idiot you confirmed for HHS Secretary is demonizing autistic kids and lying about vaccines."

"Wow," wrote Brown University political scientist Corey Brettschneider. "This is a member of the president's party saying she is afraid (I take it) of him. This should be an inflection point. Principled Republicans need to speak up, even if they worry about what might happen, because they helped bring us here."

Other commentators were more sympathetic to Murkowski's position but still believed she could be doing more.

"I sympathize with feeling fear to do your job but I feel strongly the remedy is to quit your job, not to stop doing it, especially when people rely on you to do your job," wrote attorney Ken White.

City University of New York historian Angus Johnston encouraged his followers to watch Murkowski's full remarks and to not just react to her comment about feeling afraid.

"Lot of people dunking on this clip, but Murkowski, asked for advice for people who are afraid to speak up, acknowledges that she shares that fear," he explained. "But she then says it's 'not right' that people are made to be afraid of retaliation for speaking up, and says it won't stop her from doing her job."

Health care policy analyst Charles Gaba, meanwhile, suggested that Murkowski could do more to throw roadblocks into Trump's agenda.

"She shouldn't resign, because she'd just be replaced by a MAGA a------," he wrote. "But she could EASILY switch parties or at least go Indy... hell, she won re-election as a WRITE-IN candidate a couple of terms ago."