PORTLAND, Maine — Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Mercedes Schlapp, senior adviser for the Trump campaign, sat down with NEWS CENTER Maine on Election Day to share a final message with voters.
Warren and Schlapp touched on ranked-choice voting, the coronavirus, and of course, the election.
Warren, who was a candidate for the Democratic nomination for president in 2020, said she sees today’s election “as when we hold our elected officials accountable—and for me, that’s what this election is about today.”
“It’s about holding Donald Trump accountable for not having a plan in the pandemic, holding him accountable for the ugly, racist things that he’s said,” Warren said. “Holding him accountable for cutting taxes for those at the top and not helping people with childcare, and social security and canceling student loan debts—things that would make investments in working-class families, in middle-class families. Holding him accountable for taking the legs from underneath unions. And it’s also about holding the senators accountable who have enabled him.”
Referencing the heated race for U.S. Senate seat between incumbent Republican Sen. Susan Collins and challenger Sara Gideon, a Democrat, Warren said, “I think every senator who does not speak out, and speak out strongly, should be held accountable.”
Schlapp said the Trump campaign wants Collins to win her race in order to keep a Republican majority in the Senate.
“Susan Collins has been a strong voice in the Senate,” Schlapp said. “We want to make sure that Maine keeps a Republican senator.”
Warren said she’s a “big supporter of ranked-choice voting,” though she says she came around to it later than others did. In Massachusetts, ranked-choice voting is used in some elections, but not in the presidential election … yet.
“I’m a big supporter and hope it passes here in Massachusetts—we really are following Maine’s example on this,” Warren said.
Regarding the process, something Maine Republicans have long contested, Schlapp urged Mainers to rank President Donald Trump first to pass the required 50 percent mark, “so we don’t have to be worrying about ranked-choice voting.”
Schlapp's last message for Maine voters repeated Trump's message to continue to 'Make America Great Again."
"We want to stop what would be the socialist takeover of America, where Joe Biden sadly has just become too weak and can’t stand up against the more radical part of his party," Schlapp said.
"The President wants to earn your vote to ensure that we can continue to make America strong and safe in the next four years."
Warren's final message for Maine voters: "Vote like your life depends on it, because it does. Vote like democracy depends on it, because it does."
Warren said every American citizen must have an equal chance to vote, and every ballot cast must be counted.
"We have to be patient because Democracy is worth that patience. We have to protect the beating heart—the vote," Warren said.
Warren has been campaigning forDemocratic presidential candidate and former Vice President Joe Biden in recent weeks. She made a stop in Maine in October.
Warren ended her bid for president in early March. Her path to victory was put in serious doubt after she finished a surprisingly weak third place in her home state's Democratic primary, being edged out by Biden and Sanders.
In April, Warren announced her support of Biden.
Schlapp is a senior advisor with the Trump re-election campaign.
