Donald Trump lashes out at endangered Maine Republican senator Susan Collins over 'nasty rumor' she won't vote for Amy Coney Barrett
President Donald Trump went after one of his party's most endangered incumbents Friday by touting a 'nasty rumor' that Maine Sen. Susan Collins won't support Supreme Court Nominee Amy Coney Barrett.
Trump's tweet came after Republicans enjoyed a mostly successful week of confirmation hearings. Collins said this week she would vote against Barrett on process grounds.
Last month she said the Senate should not take up a nominee until after the elections – amid Democratic accusations of a ploy to rush to install a conservative who would vote to take down Roe v. Wade. This week she said she would be a 'no' vote.
'There is a nasty rumor out there that @SenatorCollins of Maine will not be supporting our great United States Supreme Court Nominee,' Trump wrote Friday morning.
President Donald Trump went after Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) on Twitter for saying she will vote against his Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett. Collins said the nomination has been rushed through the Senate
'Well, she didn’t support Healthcare or my opening up 5000 square miles of Ocean to Maine, so why should this be any different. Not worth the work!' he wrote.
Barrett is expected clear the Judiciary Committee with ease and then have her nomination prevail in the Senate, where the Democrats are unable to stall it from coming up before Election Day.
Collins is trailing her challenger, Democratic House Speaker Sara Gideon, as the the longtime centrist seeks reelection to a fifth term. It was not immediately clear how the attack would play. Collins needs base Republicans to support her, but also could benefit from demonstrating distance from Trump in her state.
Democrats have been hammering her for going along with Trump's judicial picks and tax proposals. She also voted to support Trump during impeachment.
She opposed a GOP effort to repeal Obamacare during Trump's first year in office.
Trump tweeted an attack on Sen. Susan Collins, an endangered Senate incumbent
Collins said this week she would vote 'no' on Barrett.
"It's not a comment on her. It is a comment on the process of rushing through a nomination in such a short time before a presidential election,' she said.
Alaska Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski also signaled she will vote no on Barrett, but Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell says Republicans have the votes for confirmation.
She responded to Trump with a statement saying: 'Senator Collins works with this President -- like she does with all Presidents -- when she thinks he's right, and she opposes him when she thinks he's wrong. It's what she's always done, and it's what she'll continue to do.'
President Donald Trump went after Maine Republican Sen. Susan Collins on Friday
FREEPORT, ME - OCTOBER 14: Democratic Senate candidate Sara Gideon talks to the press after she filled out her absentee ballot to vote in person on October 14, 2020 at the town hall in Freeport, Maine. Gideon, the Maine Speaker of the House, is challenging US Senator Susan Collins for her seat
Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett is sworn in during a confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Monday, Oct. 12, 2020, on Capitol Hill in Washington. Republicans say they have the votes to confirm her
Collins said in her statement last month after the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg she 'would have no objection to the Senate Judiciary Committee's beginning the process of reviewing his nominee's credentials.'
But she added: 'Given the proximity of the presidential election, however, I do not believe that the Senate should vote on the nominee prior to the election. In fairness to the American people, who will either be re-electing the President or selecting a new one, the decision on a lifetime appointment to the Supreme Court should be made by the President who is elected on November 3rd.'
Her initial statement did not preclude voting for Barrett in a 'lame duck' session after the election, no matter who prevailed.
Collins provided a critical vote for the Brett Kavanaugh nomination, and has been trailing Gideon in opinion polls.
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