President Trump’s sharp rebuke of Senator Susan Collins (R) has sent ripples through the Maine Senate race, threatening Republican unity at a critical juncture.
Trump publicly urged the ouster of Collins ahead of the November election after she joined four other Republicans on Thursday in supporting a Democratic resolution to curb military action in Venezuela, prompting frustration from the White House and sparking behind-the-scenes efforts by GOP leaders to mend the rift and bolster her reelection bid.
Collins is widely seen as the only viable candidate to hold the Maine seat, making Trump's criticism dangerous to Republican hopes to retain its Senate majority next year.
Trump’s pointed remarks, including a personal call described by sources as a heated tirade, have left many in the GOP shaking their heads. “There were a lot of people shaking their heads and a lot of eye rolls,” a Senate Republican noted, highlighting the tension over targeting Collins, who chairs the Appropriations Committee and is pivotal to party priorities, The Hill reported.
Apparently, poking the bear on funding bills isn’t a winning play, especially when the bear holds the purse strings.
Collins, often seen as a centrist not fully aligned with the MAGA movement, has nonetheless maintained open lines with the Trump White House in the past.
One GOP operative likened their dynamic to a staged wrestling match, suggesting both sides know how to spar for show while preserving mutual political gain.
But with Trump’s latest jab, one wonders if the script got tossed out the window, leaving Collins to fend off real punches.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) quickly stepped in, reaffirming support for Collins and stressing the necessity of her candidacy to secure a Republican win in Maine.
“There is one way to elect a Republican in the state of Maine, and that’s for Susan Collins to be the nominee,” Thune told Punchbowl News on Friday.
Thune’s long-game approach is a polite reminder that burning bridges with a key player like Collins might just hand the seat to the opposition.
As Collins gears up for a tough general election against either Maine Gov. Janet Mills or progressive newcomer Graham Platner, GOP operatives worry about repeating her 2020 rural success without Trump on the ticket to drive turnout.
A late November poll shows a tight race regardless of her Democratic foe, and questions linger about whether the Republican base will show up in a midterm cycle without the former president’s name on the ballot.
Without that extra push, Collins might find herself wrestling a bear of a different kind—one made of voter apathy and a shifting political landscape.