Maine Senator Susan Collins Pens Blistering Indictment of Trump, Yet Rubio Still Aboard Trump Bandwagon
Yesterday, Susan Collins (R-ME) became the latest Senate Republican to denounce Donald Trump’s candidacy in an op-ed in the Washington Post, joining Mark Kirk (R-IL) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC) among other Republicans. Florida Senator Marco Rubio, however, remains firmly aboard the Trump bandwagon.
Senator Collins’ piece chronicles how she came to the conclusion that “Mr. Trump lacks the temperament, self-discipline and judgment required to be president.” She writes:
I had hoped that we would see a “new” Donald Trump as a general-election candidate — one who would focus on jobs and the economy, tone down his rhetoric, develop more thoughtful policies and, yes, apologize for ill-tempered rants. But the unpleasant reality that I have had to accept is that there will be no “new” Donald Trump, just the same candidate who will slash and burn and trample anything and anyone he perceives as being in his way or an easy scapegoat. Regrettably, his essential character appears to be fixed, and he seems incapable of change or growth.
Senator Collins’ piece comes on the heels of the resignation of the Florida Republican Party’s communications director, Wadi Gaitan, who is said to have stepped down over his differences with the GOP Presidential nominee.
“…moving on gives me a great, new opportunity to continue promoting free market solutions while avoiding efforts that support Donald Trump,” Gaitan said in a statement.
“As each day passes, it becomes clearer how far from the mainstream junior Senator Marco Rubio really is,” said Florida’s Voice State Director Elbert Garcia. “What does it say about Senator Rubio that he isn’t one of those inside and outside of Florida, from GOP officials to national security experts to elected officials, that are standing against the dangerous and divisive vision that Trump and his supporters are pushing? It says that he shouldn’t be going back to Washington, that’s what it says.”
