This week, new reporting revealed that following Mike Pence's rally in Maine, at least one elected official was notified they may have been exposed to someone who tested positive for COVID-19. This news came just a day after the President himself held a surprise visit where his team boasted of attracting 3,000 attendees for an event with little to no social distancing and mask wearing. But it's no surprise that the Trump campaign continues to flout public health guidelines and hold crowded rallies that have already been linked to COVID-19 outbreaks across the country Meanwhile, Maine has seen the largest spike in cases since the pandemic began.
At last night’s debate, Senator Collins said that wearing a mask is “the right thing to do for your health and for the health of others" and that the “new normal” for Mainers’ is “to maintain social distancing:” and follow “the CDC guidelines on how many people can gather in a public space,” but she’s been silent while the campaign at the top of her ticket has repeatedly endangered Maine people by holding unsafe events.
With Donald Trump Jr. coming to Maine for a campaign event today, will Senator Collins muster the courage to condemn the public health risks her party leaders pose to her constituents?
Since the beginning of the coronavirus crisis, Senator Collins has praised Trump’s disastrous response, claiming he “did a lot that was right in the beginning” in spite of overwhelming evidence that Trump’s failure to act in the early months of the pandemic made the public health and economic fallout worse than it needed to be. Even when every other member of Maine’s congressional delegation called for more transparency on the Trump administration’s response to COVID-19, Senator Collins has continued to defend the president and has refused to hold him accountable for the damage his failed response has inflicted on Maine people.
Even the hosts of Trump’s latest visit to Maine say they were not made aware of the size of the event in advance and are concerned that the event was not in line with state guidelines or their own policies. Senator Collins is the most powerful Republican in Maine, and Trump and his campaign are holding events that put Mainers at risk – will she finally call on them to take this crisis seriously?
“Mainers have worked hard to keep our communities safe through this pandemic, but Trump’s campaign events that flout public health guidance put us all at risk,” said Maine Democratic Party Executive Director Lisa Roberts. “Senator Collins has refused to hold Trump accountable for ignoring this crisis for months, but as the only Republican elected to statewide office in Maine, she has a duty to take action to protect Mainers.”
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