Sen. Susan Collins. | Drew Angerer/Getty Images
Susan Collins hasn’t decided whether to endorse or oppose President Donald Trump’s reelection bid. But she has reached a conclusion on his public performance during the coronavirus pandemic: “Very uneven.”
The Maine Republican senator, who is up for reelection herself this November, said in an interview on Tuesday that Trump has been effective when he’s focused on the coronavirus response and the recommendations of public health experts like Anthony Fauci, the top infectious disease expert in the U.S. But when he’s beefing with governors and journalists, far less so.
“It’s been very uneven. There are times when I think his message has been spot on and he has really deferred to the public health officials who have been with him at these press conferences,” Collins said. “And then there are times when I think he’s been off message and has brought up extraneous issues. So I think it’s been mixed.”
Collins said she’s watched many of Trump’s coronavirus task force briefings but has missed them this week because of her own work. Trump battled with several reporters during Monday’s two-hour saga, declared that his authority overrides those of state governors and on Tuesday berated New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D-N.Y.) and other Democratic executives on Twitter.
“It’s been uneven. I don’t think that that is helpful. I think when he stays on message it’s helpful. But when he gets off message or brings up issues that have nothing to do with the coronavirus, it is not reassuring to the American people,” Collins said.
Still, Collins is sticking with Trump and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) in an ongoing clash with Democrats over putting more money into the Paycheck Protection Program, a $349 billion fund for small businesses that is expected to run out of funding soon. McConnell has tried to move a $250 billion cash infusion for the Paycheck Protection Program, but Democrats have blocked it in a bid to get $250 billion for states and hospitals as wekk. McConnell in turn blocked their effort.
Collins, who is often in the middle of bipartisan negotiations, said Democrats’ requests to carve out money for underbanked employers is worth accommodating and more money should be made available for the dwindling Economic Injury Disaster Loan fund as part of the debate over the Paycheck Protection Program. But she said the program is so popular in Maine and nationwide that it should be the focus of the next interim bill and that hospital and local government funds requested by Democrats should be negotiated in May when the Senate is scheduled to return.
“We are going to deplete the $349 billion, and we’ve essentially already depleted the funding for the EIDL program,” Collins said. “All these programs are important, but if you look at where the urgency is, it seems to me it’s in replenishing these two programs.”
But she did break from one part of the GOP’s hard-line stance: an ongoing discussion about whether to make Democrats object to the $250 billion for small businesses as soon as Thursday, when the Senate’s next pro forma session is scheduled.
“I’m not sure that that advances the ball. But I suspect that there are more talks going on than may be evident,” she said of discussions between McConnell and Democratic leaders.
Susan Collins chides "very uneven" Trump performance on coronavirus
0 Comments: