Maine GOP senator: "I will not be voting for Donald Trump"
MAINE -- Maine Sen. Susan Collins announced in an op-ed Monday night that she will not support GOP nominee Donald Trump.
"I will not be voting for Donald Trump for president," Collins wrote in a Washington Post op-ed. "This is not a decision I make lightly, for I am a lifelong Republican. 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 Associated Press points out, "The defection from a respected senator adds to a chorus of GOP voices insisting they can't back Trump."
Collins acknowledged Trump appeals to voters "who felt that their voices were not being heard in Washington" during the GOP primary, but said there's a difference between eschewing "political correctness" and being outright "denigrating" toward certain segments of the population.
"With the passage of time, I have become increasingly dismayed by his constant stream of cruel comments and his inability to admit error or apologize," she wrote. "But it was his attacks 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 -- that revealed Mr. Trump as unworthy of being our president."
She cited his mocking comments about a New York Times reporter with disabilities, his comments about Indiana Judge Gonzalo Curiel's Mexican heritage, and his feud with the family of the late Army Capt. Humayun Khan.
"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," she wrote. "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."
Other GOP senators -- especially those who are up for reelection this year -- have faced a delicate balance when it comes to Trump: most have said that they vowed to support the GOP nominee, but criticized Trump for specific comments or policy positions.
"I revere the history of my party, most particularly the value it has always placed on the worth and dignity of the individual, and I will continue to work across the country for Republican candidates," Collins concluded. "It is because of Mr. Trump's inability and unwillingness to honor that legacy that I am unable to support his candidacy."
