Susan Collins' pathetic explanation yesterday on why she would go on to vote for Trump's acquittal, that she believed Trump had learned his lesson earned her scorn and derision so she changed her tune today to she "hopes" he's learned his lesson.
Trump quickly put the kibosh on that bit of magical thinking when he went back to his standard reply that he'd done nothing wrong, and that he made a "perfect phone call." Mix in the shitshow from the State of the Union and this does not look like a guy filled with contrition.
As a reminder, here's Collins in her own words (emphasized), on Tuesday with Norah O'Donnell, before the catcalls started coming in about her extreme naïveté:
Source: CBS News
Washington — Republican Senator Susan Collins announced Tuesday she will vote to acquit President Trump in his Senate trial, telling CBS News she believes the president has learned a "pretty big lesson" from impeachment and will be "much more cautious" about seeking foreign assistance in the future.
"I believe that the president has learned from this case," Collins said in an exclusive interview with "CBS Evening News" anchor Norah O'Donnell on Tuesday, before a speech on the Senate floor about her decision. "The president has been impeached. That's a pretty big lesson."
..
"He was impeached. And there has been criticism by both Republican and Democratic senators of his call," Collins explained, referring to his July 25 call with the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, in which Mr. Trump asked for an investigation into former Vice President Joe Biden. "I believe that he will be much more cautious in the future."
Just spoke with Sen. Collins
She now says she probably shouldn't have said that she "believes" Pres. Trump has learned his lessons from the fallout from his dealings with Ukraine and #Impeachment
She now says a better word would have been "hopes"#mepolitics pic.twitter.com/k5pC3nrVsc— Gregg Lagerquist (@GreggWGME) February 5, 2020
weak, weak, weak.....
— Jennifer Rubin (@JRubinBlogger) February 5, 2020
This is too perfect.@SenatorCollins now says she probably shouldn't have said she "believes" Trump will learn his lesson from impeachment
Instead, Collins tells reporter @GreggWGME that a better word would have been "hopes." https://t.co/krNn1Xv3kR
Which underscores this: https://t.co/XgZPXIakb2— Greg Sargent (@ThePlumLineGS) February 5, 2020
