Donald Trump’s attack on Susan Collins should serve as a wake up call to every GOP Senator
Just two years ago, Republican Senator Susan Collins threw away her reputation, her legacy, and her soul by confirming Brett Kavanaugh. She believed that by doing so, she’d ingratiate herself with Donald Trump and his base to the point that she’d get reelected no matter what.
Now Collins is losing her reelection bid by as much as twelve points, because as it turns out, people tend to have long memories when you put a mentally unstable perjurer and rapist on the Supreme Court. Over the weekend Collins made the desperate move of tepidly announcing her opposition to moving forward with the current Supreme Court nomination process. As a result of having helped out Trump last time, she’s now losing so badly that she has to lightly push back against him. For her trouble, Trump is now openly attacking her.
Trump is insisting that voters “are not going to take it” and that they’re going to punish Susan Collins for daring to voice her opposition to moving forward with the nomination process. He’s insisting that she’s going to be “very badly hurt” by this. In other words, Trump is telling his supporters not to bother voting for Collins.
Donald Trump is obviously trying to make an example out of Susan Collins, in the hope of preventing any other Republican Senators from defecting. He’s trying to send the message that if they do, he’ll attack them. But the message he’s really sending is that even when it comes to someone as corruptly loyal as Collins, he has no loyalty to offer in return. The other GOP Senators should take this as a clear signal that he’s not going to have their backs either, no matter what they do. Trump will be gone soon, and every Republican in office will have to answer for the Trump era. How many of them want to go down with him?
