GOP Sen. Susan Collins (Maine) on Wednesday said President Trump ’s comments on Christine Blasey Ford were “plain wrong,” making her the second swing-vote senator…
GOP Sen. Susan Collins (Maine) on Wednesday said President Trump ’s comments on Christine Blasey Ford were “plain wrong,” making her the second swing-vote senator to denounce the president’s rhetoric.
“The president’s comments were just plain wrong,” Collins told reporters who were camped outside of an unrelated Senate Aging Committee hearing, which Collins oversees.
Trump appeared to mock Ford, the first woman to publicly accuse Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault, during a rally in Mississippi on Tuesday night.
“How did you get home?” Trump said, imitating Ford. “I don’t remember. How’d you get there? I don’t remember. Where is the place? I don’t remember. How many years ago was it? I don’t know.”
Collins is the second undecided Republican senator to criticize Trump’s remarks. Sen. Jeff Flake (Ariz.) told NBC’s “Today” that the president’s comments were “kind of appalling.”
Kavanaugh remains short of the simple majority needed for him to ultimately be confirmed in the Senate, and Republicans are worried female voters will turn against GOP candidates in the November midterm elections.
Republicans hold a 51-49 majority, meaning they cannot afford to lose more than one GOP senator without needing help from Democrats to confirm Kavanaugh.
Collins, Flake and Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) are viewed as the Republican swing votes. No Democrats have said they will support Kavanaugh, though Sens. Joe Manchin (D-W. Va.) and Heidi Heitkamp (D-N. D.) remain undecided.
The Senate is expected to move forward with Kavanaugh’s nomination this week upon conclusion of an FBI investigation stemming from the sexual assault allegations against him.
