- Trump called Collins "absolutely atrocious" while also seeking to claim responsibility for her 2020 victory.
- He claimed she "didn't help the fisherman" or "the lumberjacks" in Maine.
- The New York Times reported that Collins is helping to recruit anti-Trump Senate candidates.
Former President Donald Trump tore into Republican Sen. Susan Collins on Monday after The New York Times reported that the Maine lawmaker was helping to recruit anti-Trump Republican candidates to run for Senate.
"Funny thing about Susan Collins, who is absolutely atrocious, and has been for a long time," Trump said at the start of his statement.
The Times reported on Sunday that Collins was working with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to woo candidates like Republican Gov. Larry Hogan of Maryland, a prominent anti-Trump figure in the party who recently declined to challenge Democratic Sen. Chris Van Hollen.
"No one should be afraid of President Trump, period," Collins told The Times. She won in 2020 without ever endorsing Trump, and has declined to say who she actually voted for. Trump, for his part, did endorse Collins, telling reporters in September 2020 that "I hope she does well."
More broadly, though, McConnell is hoping to diminish Trump's influence in the party, in part to avoid unelectable what he called "goofballs" from costing Republicans otherwise winnable Senate races, according to The Times.
The former president pointed out that he won Maine's 2nd congressional district, earning him one of the state's four Electoral College votes. Trump also claimed to have remained silent on "the fisherman" and "the lumberjacks," saying Collins would have lost if he'd raised these issues.
"Just one word about her and the fact that she didn't help the fisherman, as their rights were taken from them from the federal government, and the lumberjacks, she would have had no chance to win," Trump said in his statement. "But I remained silent and positive and allowed her to have her victory."
"She would have lost in a landslide," Trump added. "Gee, aren't I nice?"
It wasn't clear what Trump was referring to, though The Hill reported that the Environmental Protection Agency proposed a new rule to give Maine's fishing industry more time to adopt cleaner engines while Trump was president. He also issued a memo to the Department of Agriculture directing them to review financial aid to lobstermen who were financially impacted by his trade war with China. Collins supported both measures, according to the Hill.
Insider has reached out to Trump for comment and clarification.
Trump's comments on Collins' performance in 2020 are belied by the fact that she outperformed him statewide by over 56,000 votes, winning her Senate race against well-funded challenger Sara Gideon by over 8.5 percentage points while Trump lost to President Joe Biden by over 9 percentage points.
Reached for comment, Collins' communications director Annie Clark pointed out the lawmaker's victory in Maine even though her party's presidential nominee lost the state. That's "something she has done three times, the only sitting senator to do so," Clark said.