Republican senator deserves death threats, says newspaper

Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, explains her support for Judge Brett Kavanaugh Oct. 5, 2018

A newspaper columnist suggests a Republican senator is deserving of death threats.

Bill Nemitz of the Portland Press-Herald wrote of Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, "Maybe it's just me, but if I was experiencing all of those things, I'd start wondering what the heck I'm doing to tick so many people off."

The Washington Free Beacon reported he was referencing a statement from a spokeswoman for the senator, Annie Clark.

Clark told the newspaper that "over the past two years Sen. Collins has endured death threats, threatening mailings, been confronted by people at her home late at night, been harassed in airports, at stores, when eating out, and in parking lots."

"She has protesters regularly at home, at her offices, and at events. She is ridiculed regularly online by people who mock her intellect, integrity, and physical characteristics."

Collins is a target for Democrats in 2020, when she will seek a fifth term. Her state has not voted for a Republican presidential candidate since 1988, and she is the only Republican senator from a New England state, the report said.

She's moderate politically. But she raised the ire of many on the left when she voted to confirm Brett Kavanaugh's nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court. Kavanaugh was hit with a smear campaign by progressives who feared he would vote to overturn Roe v. Wade and give abortion regulation back to the states.

The Free Beacon said Nemitz was responding "to Collins's handling of a recent airport encounter with Erik Mercer, a social worker who has donated more than $16,000 to Democrats and progressive groups."

Mercer "confronted" the senator over his own issues with President Trump.

"Incensed that Collins had, according to him, called him 'rude' after their conversation ended, Mercer took out a full-page ad for $7,200 in the Maine Sunday Telegram. In the ad, he castigated her for ignoring his questions and not having a 'thoughtful discussion across ideological lines.' He also complained she was evasive when he asked about her vote to confirm Kavanaugh, and what her views were on the impeachment proceedings against Trump."

The ad attracted attention for its attack on a Republican.

Another full-page ad, "to Nemitz's apparent delight," is planned.

The newspaper writer drew a negative reaction on Twitter.

Ben Lucas wrote on Twitter that the paper should pull Nemitz's column, which "very clearly says @senatorcollins deserved the death threats she's gotten."

He continued: "Come on. This isn't how we do things in Maine."

The @pressherald should pull @billnemitz’s column, which very clearly says @senatorcollins deserved the death threats she’s gotten. @gregkesich, @sarahcollinspph, come on. This isn’t how we do things in Maine. #mepolitics https://t.co/EjhbEQrSVD

— Ben Lucas (@Benjaminlucas13) October 18, 2019