Trump Backs Susan Collins In 2020 Senate Reelection Campaign, Says She’s Needed To Help Republicans Keep Senate

President Trump has pledged his support for veteran Republican Senator, Susan Collins of Maine, as the party gears up for 2020 campaign season. In a tweet yesterday, the President said that he agrees 100 percent that she is needed to ensure Republicans keep control of the U.S. Senate next year.

Long considered a more moderate voice in the republican party, Collins has often criticized the President’s more extreme rhetoric and policy initiatives and was instrumental in blocking the attempted repeal of the Affordable Care Act in 2017. However, she was also critical in helping get the highly controversial Supreme Court Justice Bret Kavanaugh confirmed.

Collins has publicly stated that she didn’t vote for Trump in the 2016 election but instead wrote in former House Speaker Paul Ryan. Now, as the tables appear turned and Collins faces a tougher-than-usual reelection bid largely due to dwindling support among moderate women over her backing of Kavanaugh, Trump appears to be forgiving and forgetting in the interest of keeping the Senate, according to a report from Portland Press Herald.

Trump’s apparent endorsement of Collins came, predictably enough, through a tweet. South Carolina Senator Lindsay Graham took to Twitter to voice his support for Collins, saying she showed “unbelievable courage” during the Kavanaugh confirmation fight last year “and at other times when our country has needed a steady voice.” To which Trump replied via Tweet: “I agree 100 [percent].”

Trump’s backing of Collins comes at a time when the only thing standing between him and removal from office is a republican-controlled Senate. The Hill reports that Collins is set to play a key role in the Senate impeachment trial, once again bridging the gap of partisan politics as a moderate voice. Democrats have said that she is one of four potentially difference-making votes, along with Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski and Utah Senator and frequent Trump critic Mitt Romney.

If she breaks with republican ranks and backs impeachment, Collins, who is next in line for head of the Appropriations Committee, can find herself facing a primary challenge during her already vulnerable 2020 campaign.

When asked by The Hill what she thought about being another focal point during the deeply partisan Senate impeachment trial drama, Collins replied, “That’s not what I’m seeking to be. I’m just trying to do my job.”