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Emily Jacobs, Congressional Reporter


NextImg:Susan Collins reveals which Trump 2024 challengers she's considering supporting


Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) discussed who among former President Donald Trump's 2024 GOP primary challengers she is considering getting behind on Thursday.

Collins has said for months that she does not intend to support Trump's 2024 bid for the Republican nomination, but it remains unclear how she'll vote in the general election should he be the party's candidate. Asked at a Punchbowl News event on Thursday morning if she was throwing her support behind any Republican in particular, the Maine senator named five declared candidates she was excited about.

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"Well, we are very fortunate on the Republican side of the aisle to have outstanding candidates, [Sen.] Tim Scott [R-SC], [former South Carolina Gov.] Nikki Haley, [former New Jersey Gov.] Chris Christie," Collins told attendees. "The governor from North Dakota [Doug Burgum] seems very intriguing. I don't know him personally. I know the other three very well. [New Hampshire Gov.] Chris Sununu has taken himself out of the race, but [former Vice President] Mike Pence got in. Those are all candidates that I would happily support."

"I'm not making a choice among them right now, partially because I know three of them very well, and that makes it rather difficult," she continued. "And I think it's a little too early. I have announced that I will not support Donald Trump to be the nominee for the Republican Party, and fortunately, we have great choices other than Donald Trump."

Collins never had a particularly strong relationship with Trump to begin with, refusing to endorse any candidate in the 2020 presidential election or even say who she voted for. She broke more formally with Trump after he refused to concede his 2020 election loss, eventually voting to convict him at his second Senate impeachment trial after the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.

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Former Gov. Asa Hutchinson, Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL), and biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy were among the names Collins left out on Thursday, though the latter two are hardly surprising given her centrist leanings and their populist persuasions. Out of the nine major GOP candidates, including Trump, Collins is amenable to more than half of them.

Mike Brest contributed to this report.