Sen. Susan Collins said she was “appalled” by a crowd of Republican delegates at a convention in Utah booing Sen. Mitt Romney, warning that the GOP should be more accepting of opposing viewpoints — or it will become like the Democratic Party.
“I was appalled, Mitt Romney is an outstanding senator who serves his state and our country well,” Collins (R-Maine) said on CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday.
She also defended Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) who has come under attack by some Republicans after she voted to impeach former President Donald Trump over the Jan. 6 attack on the US Capitol.
“Liz Cheney is a woman of strength and conscience, and she did what she felt was right, and I salute her for that. We need to be accepting of differences in our party,” Collins said.
“We don’t want to become like too much of the Democratic Party, which has been taken over by the progressive left. We need to have rooms for a variety of views,” Collins continued.
She said the Republican Party’s foundational beliefs in personal responsibility, individual freedom, free markets and a strong national defense are the glue that holds the GOP together.
“Those are the principles that unite us. We are not a party that is led by just one person,” Collins said.
“There are many prominent upcoming younger men and women in our party who hold great promise for leading us. And I think that all of us who abide by those principles should remember [former President] Ronald Reagan’s admonition to Republicans that a person who agrees with you 70 or 80 percent of the time is your friend, not your enemy,” she added.