Vice President Vance Voices Support for Sen. Susan Collins in Maine

Vice President JD Vance offered support for Sen. Susan Collins during a speech in Bangor, Maine on Thursday. Vance said he sometimes gets frustrated with Collins but values her independence because Maine is an independent state. He added that if she were more partisan she would not be a good fit for the people of Maine.

“Sometimes I get frustrated with Susan Collins. I almost wish that she was more partisan. But the thing I love about Susan is she is independent, because Maine is an independent state. ” — Vice President JD Vance (@NBCNews) Vance continued by giving a shoutout to Collins, saying she is doing a great job.

Collins was not present at the event held at an airport hangar because she was in Washington for votes. Vance, a former senator, referred to Collins as his friend. Maine is expected to be one of the top battlegrounds for control of the Senate this fall.

Collins is among the most vulnerable Republicans seeking re-election. She was one of seven GOP senators who voted to convict Trump on a charge that he incited the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.

Collins breaks with Trump more often than other Republicans, she still votes in line with his agenda roughly 95 percent of the time. Collins will face the winner of next month’s Democratic Senate primary. Oyster farmer Graham Platner is the front-runner after Gov.

Janet Mills ended her campaign last month. Vance’s visit was nominally held to promote anti-fraud investigations that President Trump has asked him to oversee. The event carried political elements beyond the comments about Collins. He was greeted at the airport by former Gov.

Paul LePage, who is running to flip a Democratic-held House seat.

Vance described LePage as a great guy who loves the state of Maine and called him the biggest advocate for tax dollars and the biggest threat to fraudsters that ever existed in the state. Vance asserted that fraud has festered in Maine because LePage is no longer the governor.

He said the plan is to send LePage to Washington to fight fraud at the federal level. LePage is unopposed for the GOP nomination in Maine’s 2nd Congressional District. Democratic Rep. Jared Golden is not seeking re-election. Four Democrats are competing for their party’s nomination in next month’s primary.

Vance has vowed to uncover and punish fraudsters in states across the country since Trump tapped him to lead the effort. On Wednesday he announced that the administration is withholding $1.3 billion in Medicaid payments to California. Vance also threatened to suspend federal funding to all states if they do not aggressively prosecute fraud in their Medicaid programs.

On Thursday Vance had harsh words for Mills but said he is willing to collaborate with her on combating fraud in the state. He said this should not be a red state or a blue state issue.