Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) openly admitted that she and her Republican colleagues were ā€œall afraidā€ of ā€œretaliationā€ from Donald Trump as she criticized what she called ā€œunlawfulā€ executive overreach and sweeping federal cuts.

Murkowski’s comments came during a 45-minute session at The Foraker Group’s annual leadership summit and stands as one of the starkest public admissions from a Republican yet of the political pressure facing those in the party who push back against Trump policy or rhetoric.

ā€œWe are all afraid,ā€ Murkowski told the crowd on Monday.

Pausing, she added: ā€œIt’s quite a statement. But we are in a time and a place where I certainly have not been here before. And I’ll tell ya, I’m oftentimes very anxious myself about using my voice, because retaliation is real. And that’s not right.ā€