Augusta, ME – Yesterday, as she travelled the state with former-Kavanaugh supporting Senator and current private equity board member Joe Manchin, Susan Collins faced protests for her vote to confirm Brett Kavanaugh and tried to deflect blame for rising prices on the Biden administration – even as Manchin said that Trump “owns this economy.”
Read coverage of how Collins’ surrogate visit from her former partner in Kavanaugh confirmation backfired:
Bangor Daily News: Joe Manchin says Donald Trump ‘owns this economy’ on Maine stop with Susan Collins
During a diner stop with U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, former U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia said Wednesday that President Donald Trump “owns this economy” in a nod to the headwinds facing Maine’s five-term incumbent. […]
When a reporter asked whether she blames Trump for the state of the economy, Collins mentioned former President Joe Biden […]
“They own this economy,” Manchin said of the Trump administration. “This is their economy, and they have to face up to that.”
The exchange showed how Collins has run against Trump’s policies in a Democratic-leaning state without running expressly against him, confining her critiques to specific issues. Jackson, who holds a narrow lead in most public polls less than two weeks before Election Day, argues her breaks aren’t meaningfully checking the president.
Collins and Manchin were greeted by…Democratic protestors when her campaign bus rolled into Simones’ Hot Dog Stand for breakfast. A few held signs with a photo of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh. Manchin was vote number 50 to confirm him, in 2018, after Collins cast the tie-breaking 49th vote.
Bangor Daily News: A Susan Collins campaign stop exposes Maine’s split between anger and exhaustion
Outside, Democratic protesters who had learned of the visit, which wasn’t announced publicly, held “Retire Collins” signs and cutouts of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s face. They accused the incumbent of corruption and said she paved the way for health care cuts, the overturning of federal abortion rights and deadly immigration enforcement.
“She is absolutely complicit,” said Michelle Barajas, a 56-year-old retired health care worker. “I’ve never been more angry. We have fewer rights than our grandmothers did? It’s baffling.”
Barajas added that it was “mind-blowing” the race appeared to be neck and neck.
Holly Sysko, a retired state worker from Lewiston who previously voted for Collins, said Jackson is a strong alternative.
The Maine Democratic Party on Wednesday criticized the duo for their support of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh and for “betraying Maine women and selling out Maine workers.” Kavanaugh was one of five justices who voted to overturn abortion protections afforded by Roe v. Wade.
“Today, Susan Collins is campaigning with fellow Brett Kavanaugh supporter Joe Manchin, just down the river from the paper mill his private equity firm put out of business,” said party spokesperson Misha Linnehan. “Manchin and Collins may have caucused with different parties … (but) Mainers know they’re one and the same.”
The statement criticized Manchin’s role as an adviser to Apollo Global Management, a private equity firm that bought the Jay and Bucksport paper mills and who Democrats say was responsible for their closures and the loss of over 1,000 jobs.
Democrats also criticized Collins for accepting more private equity funds, some $700,000, than any other 2026 candidate in the country, according to the Wall Street Journal. Manchin is involved with several private equity and global investment firms.
Outside Simones’, a group of protesters carried a variety of signs Wednesday, including large images of Kavanaugh.
“It’s just time for her to go. She does not listen to people in her district, she does not support women’s health,” one women’s advocate said. “As an advocate, I can say that she has cost lives.”
“Our democracy is crumbling and she’s doing nothing to stop it as the rich get richer,” another protester said.
“Congress is meant to be a check and balance for the executive branch and she’s just been a rubber stamp for Trump this whole time,” said another.
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