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.
-
House posts lewd Epstein note attributed to Trump
Speed Read The estate of Jeffrey Epstein turned over the infamous 2003 birthday note from President Donald Trump
-
Supreme Court allows 'roving' race-tied ICE raids
Speed Read The court paused a federal judge's order barring agents from detaining suspected undocumented immigrants in LA based on race
-
South Korea to fetch workers detained in Georgia raid
Speed Read More than 300 South Korean workers detained in an immigration raid at a Hyundai plant will be released
-
DC sues Trump to end Guard 'occupation'
Speed Read D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb argues that the unsolicited military presence violates the law
-
RFK Jr. faces bipartisan heat in Senate hearing
Speed Read The health secretary defended his leadership amid CDC turmoil and deflected questions about the restricted availability of vaccines
-
White House defends boat strike as legal doubts mount
Speed Read Experts say there was no legal justification for killing 11 alleged drug-traffickers
-
Epstein accusers urge full file release, hint at own list
speed read A rally was organized by Reps. Ro Khanna and Thomas Massie, who are hoping to force a vote on their Epstein Files Transparency Act
-
Court hands Harvard a win in Trump funding battle
Speed Read The Trump administration was ordered to restore Harvard's $2 billion in research grants