Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) said Friday she will not be casting her ballot for former President Donald Trump in November.
Instead, the Republican senator told reporters she plans to write in former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley.
“I publicly endorsed Nikki Haley, and I wanted her to win. She’s still my favorite candidate, and I think she could do a great job. She’s my choice, and that’s how I’m going to express it,” Collins told WMTW-TV.
Republican Maine Senator Susan Collins says she will not vote for her party's nominee, former President Donald Trump, in November's presidential election.
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Collins made the remarks about the election at an event in Limerick, about 34 miles west of Portland, where she was speaking at a ribbon-cutting for a new fire and emergency medical services station.
After the event, Collins spokesperson Annie Clark said the senator “has said this before”, including during a June television appearance.
During that appearance, on Spectrum News, Collins said she “does not support the Democratic nominee either” and supports “some of … Trump’s policies”.
However, she also said Trump’s style is “divisive at a time when our country is already so polarized”.
Collins was also one of seven Republicans who voted at an impeachment trial to convict Trump of inciting an insurrection after his supporters attacked the US Capitol on 6 January 2021.
Collins was elected to the Senate in 1996. She is the longest-serving Republican woman in the Senate, is often a key vote and is famous for not missing votes. (The Guardian)
The moderate Republican did not vote for Trump in 2016 or 2020, either. In 2016, she wrote in then-House Speaker Paul Ryan for president.
