'This isn't a game': Susan Collins buried by anti-Trump conservative for not ruling out backing him in 2024
Former Republican operative Tim Miller, Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO) and MSNBC host Nicolle Wallace all agreed that the Republican Party is allowing the violent rhetoric from Donald Trump to persist by enabling it.
Trump spoke in Texas on Saturday, calling on his supporters to hold mass protests in New York, Washington, D.C. and Atlanta if he is charged with any crimes.
Meanwhile, Republicans spent Sunday downplaying Trump's comments. Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME), even though she condemned Trump's comments, couldn't say whether she would or wouldn't support Trump in 2024.
"I don't feel disgust for Susan Collins. I just think if you look at a security threat and Trumpism and the intersection, it flourishes because people are like, maybe I can vote again for him. But if it's between him and the Democrat, I might have to vote for him," said Wallace.
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McCaskill argued that there are people far worse than Collins who enable Trump and his behavior. But Miller argued that Trump can't be taken down because it's Republicans like Collins refusing to do it.
"Susan Collins isn't up again until 2026!" Miller exclaimed. "Donald Trump tried to steal the election. He admitted to it. He tried a coup. This isn't a game, right? If someone asked you would you support someone that tried to end the democracy for president in 2024, you say no. That was an easy question for her to answer."
He noted that she's being picked on because she was on television Sunday, but that she's "emblematic of the other Republicans putting the heads in the sand."
He cited Reps. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) and Liz Cheney (R-WY) for being among the few leading Republicans willing to stand up to Trump and future violence.
"Republicans want it to go away except for the Trump super fans," said Miller. "The quasi-normal Republicans who remain in the Senate don't want to talk about this. And this is the same thing. It is Groundhog Day. Susan Collins has been through this for six years! In 2016 — we don't want to go after him. We couldn't support Hillary Clinton. Couldn't impeach him over the Ukraine drug deal and couldn't convict him. A stern speech on the Senate floor."
However, if Republicans were willing to stop it they wouldn't have to deal with answering questions about Trump or how to respond if there is future violence.
"We could have been done with him if the Republicans who know better had ever just been willing to take on political pain," said Miller. "That's what this comes down to, right? To say you're voting Hillary Clinton would have caused political pain. To gather 17 Republicans to convict him would have caused the party political pain. But that's how, to your point earlier, Nicolle, where you said he was a cancer. To get rid of the cancer you need chemo. It's painful. It requires having to suffer on yourself for part of the greater good and there are a small handful of Republicans.... willing to say the right thing."
See the full panel below:
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