Republican Sen. Susan Collins Criticizes Trump at IOP

Susan M. Collins, a Republican U.S. Senator from Maine, lamented the effect of partisanship on the federal government at an event at the Institute of Politics on Thursday.

Collins, who was introduced by University President Drew G. Faust, called for a greater willingness to compromise in politics and more personal relationships among politicians. The event was moderated by Douglas W. Elmendorf, dean of faculty at the Harvard Kennedy School.

Collins said she has become frustrated by a lack of bipartisan cooperation in government.

“When you see the Supreme Court be talked about in terms of a liberal bloc and a conservative bloc… It’s not supposed to be a political branch of government the way Congress is,” she said. “When you see the President resort to using executive orders and bypassing Congress, that is frustrating to people and not the way our institutions should work.”

She also criticized Republican presidential nominee Donald J. Trump, and predicted that her party would have to reckon with Trump’s candidacy after the election.

“After this election, I think you’ll see a reassessment of where the Republican Party should be and a self-examination of what we should stand for,” she said. “I think that’s going to happen regardless of what happens in the presidential election.”

Collins announced that she would not vote for Trump in an op-ed in The Washington Post in August. On Thursday, she reiterated her reasons for not supporting Trump, citing his divisive rhetoric.

“One of the areas where I was most upset with Donald Trump was one when he criticized the judge from Indiana who is of Mexican American heritage,” she said, referring to Judge Gonzalo P. Curiel. “To me, that shows such a disrespect for the role of the judiciary as well as this particular judge who has an outstanding reputation that I was very troubled by.”

Collins also discussed the role of gender in politics, and recounted how meeting Margaret Chase Smith, the first woman to serve in both houses of Congress and represent Maine in either, inspired her to become involved in politics.

“I was so proud that she was my senator, and I thought, women can do anything,” she said. “I think that was the first step on my journey to the Senate, and 25 years later I did run for the Senate and today I sit at Margaret Chase Smith’s desk on the Senate floor, which gives me goosebumps even as I say it.”

Daniel S. Menz ’19, who grew up in Maine, said he enjoyed Collins’ talk.

“I am immediately proud of my state’s civility in the political arena,” he said. “Our senators and representatives… are some of the most open-minded and bipartisan representatives in the country.”