Source: Portland Press Herald / Getty
President Donald Trump and his handling of the coronavirus pandemic has surfaced in the news of late, especially as journalist Bob Woodward preps a potentially damaging book release. While many in the Republican Party have yet to lambaste Trump over COVID-19 concerns, one senator in the party broke with her side to do just that. albeit gently.
The Hill reports that Sen. Susan Collins of Maine made one of the more pointed statements regarding Trump and the pandemic, which as of Saturday (Sept. 12) has taken the lives of 193,000 Americans. In Woodward’s upcoming book Rage, Trump played down the coronavirus in a bid to not stoke the fears of residents but perhaps to the detriment of all.
Collins, who was in Maine for a Senate debate Friday, said, “I believe the president should have been straightforward with the American people. The American people can take hard facts, and he had an obligation as president to be straightforward with them and to tell all that he has known.”
She added, “I have said since the beginning that the president’s performance has been uneven and that he should follow the advice of his excellent medical advisers.”
Trump made mention of the playing down of concerns this week, saying, “”The fact is I’m a cheerleader for this country. I love our country. I don’t want people to be frightened. I don’t want to create panic, as you say, and certainly I’m not going to drive this country or the world into a frenzy.”
Collins joins just a scant grouping of Republicans who have been critical of the Trump administration.
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