'You get played': Jake Tapper confronts Susan Collins for blindly approving judges who want to abolish abortion
CNN host Jake Tapper on Sunday confronted Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) about her history of getting "played' by confirming judges who believe that abortion right for women should be restricted or abolished.
During an interview on CNN's State of the Union, Tapper noted: "You're going to get a lot of pressure from groups and individuals who support abortion rights and one of the things that they think about you is that you get played by these judges and that ultimately, if you vote to support whoever President Trump nominates presuming the person comes from the list of 25, that one of your longest lasting legacy is likely going to be you vote to confirm a justice that ultimately tipped the balance of political power on court and voted to overturn [Roe v. Wade]."
Collins, however, defended her record.
"I have year after year been named the most bipartisan member of the whole United States Senate," the senator insisted. "I have proved my independence and more important, I cared deeply about who serves on the court."
According to Collins, President Donald Trump promised her that he would not make opposition to abortion rights a litmus test for his Supreme Court nominee -- even though he had said as a candidate that women deserved to be punished for abortion.
"The president told me in our meeting that he would not ask that question," Collins promised. "So I think what he said as the candidate may not have been informed by the legal advice that he now has that it would be inappropriate for him to ask a nominee how he or she would rule on a specific issue."
Watch the video below from CNN.