{"id":86,"date":"2026-05-20T12:38:37","date_gmt":"2026-05-20T12:38:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?p=86"},"modified":"2026-05-20T12:38:37","modified_gmt":"2026-05-20T12:38:37","slug":"susan-collins-torn-apart-for-confused-reaction-to-trumps-ultra-maga-endorsement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?p=86","title":{"rendered":"Susan Collins torn apart for ‘confused’ reaction to Trump\u2019s ultra-MAGA endorsement"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

President Donald Trump’s decision to endorse Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton over Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) is sending shockwaves through the Republican Party\/<\/p>\n

Read more Trump ignored warnings from defense experts \u2014 and is now in way over his head<\/a><\/p>\n

Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) told reporter Bill Melugin she doesn’t understand why Trump would choose someone like Paxton over Cornyn. “I don’t understand it,” she said. “He is an ethically challenged individual. John Cornyn is an outstanding senator and deserves, in my judgment, the president’s support. Obviously, it’s the president’s call, but I’m disappointed that he did it.” <\/p>\n

Journalist John Harwood called the comment “concerning.”<\/p>\n

Missouri state Rep. Nick Kimble was just as shocked at Collins’s confusion. <\/p>\n

“I legitimately don\u2019t understand the confusion. How out of touch are some of these folks? If you read or talk to anyone since 2016 outside the senate cloak room this makes perfect sense,” he wrote on X. <\/p>\n

Political operative Corie Whalen explained that “poor character” for Paxton “is a feature, not a bug” in Trump world. She added she wouldn’t be shocked if Trump opposed Collins herself. Indeed, many commentators sharing Melugin’s post from Collins indicated that Collins was next.<\/p>\n

Sean Davis, founder of The Federalist, agreed, “All they had to do to save John Cornyn was pass the SAVE America Act. And they refused. They sowed, and now they will reap.”<\/p>\n

Read more \u2018Trump First\u2019 Republicans are pushing voters to a breaking point: NYT columnist<\/a><\/p>\n

The comment from Collins comes just a few weeks after another senator, Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) revealed that he couldn’t understand why a Trump nominee refused to acknowledge that Trump lost the 2020 election. <\/p>\n

Caught on a hot mic, Grassley asked his aide, \u201cWhat would be wrong if they said Biden won?\u201d <\/p>\n

Speaking with Democratic operative Spencer Hackett on his podcast on Wednesday, The New Republic’s<\/em> Greg Sargent noted that Cornyn’s fatal flaw was his refusal to eliminate the filibuster and his failure to press for the passage of Trump’s SAVE Act.<\/p>\n

“So clearly this was all about Trump\u2019s own personal wishes for this race. He wanted a sycophant in this race that he could control, that he could manipulate, and that\u2019s what he\u2019s going to get with Paxton,” said Hackett. <\/p>\n

Read more Republicans say Trump blew up Texas for \u2018his ego\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

President Donald Trump’s decision to endorse Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton over Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) is sending shockwaves through the Republican Party\/Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) told reporter Bill Melugin she doesn’t understand why Trump would choose someone like Paxton over Cornyn. “I …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":85,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-86","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nSusan Collins torn apart for 'confused' reaction to Trump\u2019s ultra-MAGA endorsement - Next Address America<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?p=86\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Susan Collins torn apart for 'confused' reaction to Trump\u2019s ultra-MAGA endorsement - Next Address America\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"President Donald Trump's decision to endorse Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton over Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) is sending shockwaves through the Republican Party\/Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) told reporter Bill Melugin she doesn't understand why Trump would choose someone like Paxton over Cornyn. "I ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?p=86\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Next Address America\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-05-20T12:38:37+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/867785bfffb2927a9ef4cab4487b8fdb.webp\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/webp\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextaddressamerica.com\\\/?p=86#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextaddressamerica.com\\\/?p=86\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextaddressamerica.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/a4840e0eb2094ec31aed2107d53108b3\"},\"headline\":\"Susan Collins torn apart for ‘confused’ reaction to Trump\u2019s ultra-MAGA endorsement\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-20T12:38:37+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextaddressamerica.com\\\/?p=86\"},\"wordCount\":411,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextaddressamerica.com\\\/?p=86#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextaddressamerica.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/867785bfffb2927a9ef4cab4487b8fdb.webp\",\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/nextaddressamerica.com\\\/?p=86#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextaddressamerica.com\\\/?p=86\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextaddressamerica.com\\\/?p=86\",\"name\":\"Susan Collins torn apart for 'confused' reaction to Trump\u2019s ultra-MAGA endorsement - Next Address America\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextaddressamerica.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextaddressamerica.com\\\/?p=86#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextaddressamerica.com\\\/?p=86#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextaddressamerica.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/867785bfffb2927a9ef4cab4487b8fdb.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-20T12:38:37+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextaddressamerica.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/a4840e0eb2094ec31aed2107d53108b3\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextaddressamerica.com\\\/?p=86#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/nextaddressamerica.com\\\/?p=86\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextaddressamerica.com\\\/?p=86#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextaddressamerica.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/867785bfffb2927a9ef4cab4487b8fdb.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextaddressamerica.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/867785bfffb2927a9ef4cab4487b8fdb.webp\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":600},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextaddressamerica.com\\\/?p=86#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextaddressamerica.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Susan Collins torn apart for ‘confused’ reaction to Trump\u2019s ultra-MAGA endorsement\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextaddressamerica.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextaddressamerica.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Next Address America\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextaddressamerica.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextaddressamerica.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/a4840e0eb2094ec31aed2107d53108b3\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/nextaddressamerica.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextaddressamerica.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Susan Collins torn apart for 'confused' reaction to Trump\u2019s ultra-MAGA endorsement - Next Address America","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?p=86","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Susan Collins torn apart for 'confused' reaction to Trump\u2019s ultra-MAGA endorsement - Next Address America","og_description":"President Donald Trump's decision to endorse Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton over Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) is sending shockwaves through the Republican Party\/Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) told reporter Bill Melugin she doesn't understand why Trump would choose someone like Paxton over Cornyn. \"I ...","og_url":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?p=86","og_site_name":"Next Address America","article_published_time":"2026-05-20T12:38:37+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":600,"url":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/867785bfffb2927a9ef4cab4487b8fdb.webp","type":"image\/webp"}],"author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?p=86#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?p=86"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/#\/schema\/person\/a4840e0eb2094ec31aed2107d53108b3"},"headline":"Susan Collins torn apart for ‘confused’ reaction to Trump\u2019s ultra-MAGA endorsement","datePublished":"2026-05-20T12:38:37+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?p=86"},"wordCount":411,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?p=86#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/867785bfffb2927a9ef4cab4487b8fdb.webp","articleSection":["News"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?p=86#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?p=86","url":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?p=86","name":"Susan Collins torn apart for 'confused' reaction to Trump\u2019s ultra-MAGA endorsement - Next Address America","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?p=86#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?p=86#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/867785bfffb2927a9ef4cab4487b8fdb.webp","datePublished":"2026-05-20T12:38:37+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/#\/schema\/person\/a4840e0eb2094ec31aed2107d53108b3"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?p=86#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?p=86"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?p=86#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/867785bfffb2927a9ef4cab4487b8fdb.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/867785bfffb2927a9ef4cab4487b8fdb.webp","width":1200,"height":600},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?p=86#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Susan Collins torn apart for ‘confused’ reaction to Trump\u2019s ultra-MAGA endorsement"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/","name":"Next Address America","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/#\/schema\/person\/a4840e0eb2094ec31aed2107d53108b3","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com"],"url":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=86"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/85"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=86"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=86"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=86"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}