Here’s why Susan Collins has been silent on Trump’s Roger Stone clemency

Analysis: The four-term Maine Republican has tried to distance herself from the president while not alienating his core supporters with incendiary comments about his behaviour, writes US political correspondent Griffin Connolly

Maine Senator Susan Collins is facing the toughest re-election battle in her career. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch-Pool/Getty Images)

Maine Senator Susan Collins has drawn the short end of the electoral stick for moderate Senate Republicans.

Unlike other frequent antagonists of Donald Trump in the GOP, such as Senators Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Mitt Romney of Utah, who aren’t up for re-election until 2022 and 2024, respectively, Ms Collins finds herself in the unenviable position of appearing next to the president on Mainers’ ballots this November.

The four-term Republican, who long ago carved out a political reputation as a no-nonsense legislator with a penchant for working across the aisle, has an obvious disdain for the president, whom she vociferously declined to endorse in 2016.