GOP Sen. Susan Collins says she cannot support Donald Trump

Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine. — (Image credit: Mark Wilson/Getty Images)

In a Washington Post op-ed published Monday night, Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) cited three specific instances that convinced her she could not support Donald Trump, her party's presidential nominee.

"This is not a decision I make lightly, for I am a lifelong Republican," she wrote. "But Donald Trump does not reflect historical Republican values nor the inclusive approach to governing that is critical to healing the divisions in our country." The "denigrating comments" he made about Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Fox News host Megyn Kelly bothered her, Collins explained, and she has been "increasingly dismayed by his constant stream of cruel comments and his inability to admit error or apologize." Collins was especially disappointed that "his attacks" were "directed at people who could not respond on an equal footing, either because they do not share his power or stature or because professional responsibility precluded them from engaging at such a level."

The three incidents that led Collins "to the inescapable conclusion that Mr. Trump lacks the temperament, self-discipline, and judgment required to be president" were his "mocking of a reporter with disabilities," "criticism of the grieving parents of Army Captain Humayun Khan," and "repeated insistence" that Judge Gonzalo Curiel, born and raised in Indiana, "could not rule fairly in a case involving Trump University because of his Mexican heritage." Collins wrote she had been hopeful Trump would change once he became the general election candidate, but she has "had to accept 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."

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Being a Republican is "part of what defines me as a person," Collins wrote, and while she did not say who she will support in the election, she did reveal it won't be "either of the major party nominees." Read the entire op-ed at The Washington Post.

Explore More

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.