‘Shame, Shame, Shame’: Sen. Susan Collins Heckled at Maine Ribbon-Cutting

Sen. Susan Collins of Maine is the latest Republican to face angry constituents while home this August recess.

Collins made a surprise appearance at an infrastructure project ribbon-cutting event in Searsport on Tuesday, and was met with a rowdy group of residents shouting, “Shame, shame, shame.”

“Ma’am, if you could let me celebrate,” Collins said in response to a resident airing concerns about cuts to Medicaid and Medicare.

“Oh, please, there’s no celebration for a genocide,” someone in the crowd interrupted.

Demonstrators at Tuesday’s event raised issues with cuts to health care in Republicans’ recently passed budget law, funding for Israel amid its war in Gaza and Supreme Court justices appointed by President Donald Trump, according to video of the event.

“Could you please just listen, for just one,” Collins tried again to appeal to the crowd.

“No. No, you never listen to us.” one demonstrator said, while another criticized Collins for not holding any town halls with constituents.

Collins is the most recent Republican lawmaker to face angry constituents during public appearances. So far this month, Reps. Mike Flood, Doug LaMalfa and Mark Alford all encountered hecklers and constituents who took issue with the party’s direction. The National Republican Congressional Committee in March advised GOP members not to host town halls in person because of heightened tension between voters and the party.

Flood hosted a town hall in Nebraska on Aug. 2, where he tried to sell the president’s policy agenda but could barely be heard over the crowd of shouting and laughing attendees.

In California about a week later, LaMalfa, who represents a safely red district, held a town hall that featured a near-constant stream of shouting from the crowd, with some attendees peppering insults like “fuck you” and “shame” throughout.

Most recently, while speaking in rural Missouri on Monday to several angry constituents, Alford distanced himself from the president — and largely managed to avoid the raised voices and profanity his colleagues have faced in recent weeks.

“I’m not the best of friends with Trump,” he said at one point. “I met him maybe five or six times.”

Collins told NBC News on Tuesday that she’d met and spoken with some of the protesters on her way out.

“Demonstrators seem to be part of the political world nowadays,” Collins said. “It was interesting to see how much misinformation they had.”