Collins cheered the return of LePage, who has described himself as “Donald Trump before Donald Trump was popular”
This weekend, Senator Susan Collins campaigned with former Governor Paul LePage at a Maine GOP event in Lewiston, where she celebrated LePage’s suggestion that he might run for governor again. LePage, a longtime Trump supporter, was tapped by the president's reelection campaign last year to serve as its honorary campaign chairman in Maine. Former Governor LePage has described himself as “Donald Trump before Donald Trump was popular,” and took nearly a dozen trips to the president’s luxury Washington DC hotel funded by Maine taxpayers.
LePage, like Trump, has a long history of overtly racist and divisive statements. After Mainers voted to expand Medicaid, then-Governor LePage subverted the will of the voters and obstructed implementation of the law, denying health care to thousands.
Senator Collins endorsed and fundraised for LePage during his 2010 and 2014 campaigns for governor and as she hits the campaign trail with him again this year, it’s clear that despite the former governor’s shameful record and close ties to Trump, her support for him has not wavered.
“Senator Collins is more than happy to campaign with Trump acolytes like Paul LePage, but she still refuses to tell Mainers whether she’ll be voting to re-elect the president,” said Maine Democratic Party Chair Kathleen Marra. “The senator’s choice to campaign with Trump’s lackeys and vote with him when it matters most tells us what she will not: Senator Collins stands with Trump, not Mainers.”
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