Sen. Susan Collins tells CNN's Chris Cuomo she's 'not sure' Trump 'fully' gets living 'paycheck-to-paycheck'
Sen. Susan Collins was one of six Republicans who voted for both unsuccessful Senate bills to re-open the government on Thursday, and CNN's Chris Cuomo asked her why Thursday night. "I voted yes on both because my top priority is to re-open government," she said. "I'm for any reasonable plan to bring it to an end."
Cuomo took that and went in a different direction. "Do you think the president is being reasonable, do you think he gets the pain that you just articulated, with his comments about, 'Eh, they'll make adjustments,'" and the tone-deaf remarks from his daughter-in-law and top aides? he asked. "Do you think he gets the pain that he's causing?" Collins started with tact, but conceded that a man born to great wealth probably had a limited understanding of just getting by. "There's plenty of blame to go around on this shutdown," she said, "but I'm not sure that the president fully understands what it's like to live paycheck-to-paycheck, as a lot of people in my state and elsewhere do."
Collins didn't bite when Cuomo asked why Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) hadn't brought up a bill to re-open the government sooner, saying "we've got people who are being intransigent on both sides of the aisle." Collins seemed hopeful about an effort by her and 15 other senators to craft their own bill to reopen the government, and when Cuomo asked about Trump's interference, she said "I think it would be more helpful if the president let Chuck Schumer and Mitch McConnell try to negotiate a plan." Cuomo asked, "Is McConnell allowed to negotiate, senator, by the way, or is he still just the president's proxy?" And Collins assured him that "he is clearly negotiating and wants this to end," adding that Trump's revived proposal to invoke emergency powers to build his wall "is very dubious from a constitutional perspective." Watch below. Peter Weber
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
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.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
Argentina’s Milei buoyed by regional election winsSpeed Read Argentine President Javier Milei is an ally of President Trump, receiving billions of dollars in backing from his administration
-
Trump vows new tariffs on Canada over Reagan adspeed read The ad that offended the president has Ronald Reagan explaining why import taxes hurt the economy
-
Political cartoons for October 27Cartoons Monday's political cartoons include improving national monuments, the NBA gambling scandal, and the AI energy vampire
-
Trump vows new tariffs on Canada over Reagan adspeed read The ad that offended the president has Ronald Reagan explaining why import taxes hurt the economy
-
NY attorney general asks public for ICE raid footageSpeed Read Rep. Dan Goldman claims ICE wrongly detained four US citizens in the Canal Street raid and held them for a whole day without charges
-
Trump’s huge ballroom to replace razed East WingSpeed Read The White House’s east wing is being torn down amid ballroom construction
-
Trump expands boat strikes to Pacific, killing 5 moreSpeed Read The US military destroyed two more alleged drug smuggling boats in international waters
-
Trump demands millions from his administrationSpeed Read The president has requested $230 million in compensation from the Justice Department for previous federal investigations
-
Trump nominee in limbo after racist texts leakSpeed Read Paul Ingrassia lost Republican support following the exposure of past racist text messages
-
Trump begins East Wing demolition for ballroomspeed read The president’s new construction will cost $250 million
-
Appeals court clears Trump’s Portland troop deploymentSpeed Read A divided federal appeals court ruled that President Trump can send the National Guard to Portland
