Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska received a barrage of criticism online after “strongly” opposing the restoration of the former official name of North America’s highest mountain, located in her state.
During his inaugural address on Monday, President Donald Trump made plain his desire to return to many American traditions and values. To that end, he repeatedly invoked the name of God and claimed the Almighty spared his life from the deadly Butler shooting “to make America great again.”
Trump also reaffirmed biological reality in reiterating that “there are only two genders: male and female” and noted that “trying to socially engineer race and gender into every aspect of public and private life” has destroyed the social fabric of our nation.
Additionally, Trump called for the towering Alaskan peak currently known as Denali to be referred to as Mt. McKinley once again. “We will restore the name of a great president, William McKinley, to Mt. McKinley, where it should be and where it belongs,” Trump said.
“President McKinley made our country very rich through tariffs and through talent — he was a natural businessman,” Trump added.
In 1896, a prospector first coined the name Mt. McKinley after then-presidential candidate McKinley — a Republican who was assassinated shortly into his second term — and the federal government officially adopted the name 21 years later.
The name Mt. McKinley stuck for nearly a century, until 2015, when the Department of Interior under then-President Barack Obama, changed it to Denali, the name used by past Athabascan natives.
“President McKinley never visited, nor did he have any significant historical connection to, the mountain or to Alaska,” the DOI order stated.
‘You’re deadnaming Mount McKinley.’
Sen. Murkowski, a Republican who often parts ways with the rest of her party, opposes restoring the name Mt. McKinley now that Trump is back in charge.
“You can’t improve upon the name that Alaska’s Koyukon Athabascans bestowed on North America’s tallest peak, Denali — the Great One,” Murkowski said back in December. “For years, I advocated in Congress to restore the rightful name for this majestic mountain to respect Alaska’s first people who have lived on these lands for thousands of years. This is an issue that should not be relitigated.”
Murkowski then reiterated her opposition to the McKinley name on social media on Monday.
“I strongly disagree with the President’s decision on Denali. Our nation’s tallest mountain, which has been called Denali for thousands of years, must continue to be known by the rightful name bestowed by Alaska’s Koyukon Athabascans, who have stewarded the land since time immemorial,” she wrote.
Fellow X users then let her have it:
- “We strongly don’t care,” said anti-woke crusader Robby Starbuck.
- “You’re deadnaming Mount McKinley,” joked attorney Will Chamberlain. “That’s deeply offensive.”
- “How do you know it was called Denali for thousands of years?” one popular response astutely asked.
- “You always side with democrats either change your ways or get primaried out!” added another.
Murkowski’s frequent leftward lurches have made her very unpopular with conservatives across America and with MAGA supporters in particular. She voted to convict Trump after his second House impeachment in 2021 and declined to vote for him in the 2024 presidential election.
She even recently eschewed the Republican identity in general, claiming she would feel “more comfortable” having no party “label” instead.
“I’d rather be that ‘no label,’” she said in December. “I’d rather be that person that is just known for trying to do right by the state and the people that I serve, regardless of party, and I’m totally good and comfortable with that.”
In 2022, Trump endorsed her GOP challenger, Kelly Tshibaka. However, ranked-choice voting, instituted in Alaska in 2020 and approved by voters in November, has helped her keep her seat.
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