GOP Sen. Susan Collins of Maine said on Wednesday that she’d like to be able to endorse presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, but that Mr. Trump should apologize for his recent attacks invoking a judge’s Mexican heritage and move toward uniting the party.
“I would like to be able to endorse Donald Trump, but he really has to change the approach that he has taken,” Ms. Collins said on CNN’s “New Day.”
“If I were giving him advice, I would tell him he should own up to making a mistake, he should apologize to the judge and to the American people, and he should stop insulting people [and] groups of people,” she said.
Mr. Trump has questioned the impartiality of Indiana-born judge Gonzalo Curiel, who is overseeing a fraud case against his Trump University, because of the judge’s Mexican heritage.
Ms. Collins is one of many Republicans to criticize Mr. Trump for the remarks, calling them “absolutely unacceptable” earlier this week.
“He is the one who needs to start acting more presidential and articulate clearly what a Trump presidency would look like like,” Ms. Collins said Wednesday. “Frankly, I really think the burden is on him to put forward a far more positive message.”
Ms. Collins said there’s no doubt that what Mr. Trump says has resonated with a lot of people in Maine and elsewhere “who feel left behind,” and that he is right on a lot of his criticism, notably on trade.
“I am struggling right now, and I think a lot of Americans are as well,” she said. “We like parts of Donald Trump’s message, but he does need to act more presidential and he needs to transition to a general election approach.”
“The primaries are behind us. He is the one who keeps bringing up grievances with those who ran against him in the primary,” she said. “He needs to unite the party and to unite our country, and he needs to do so with a far more civil tone.”
Mr. Trump said in a statement Tuesday that his comments about the judge have been misconstrued, and he largely stuck to the script during a victory speech Tuesday evening in New York in which he said he wouldn’t let Republicans down.
But he also said in an interview that aired Tuesday evening on Fox News that Republicans who might be angry with the comments need to “get over it.”
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
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