Lawrence O’Donnell Blames Susan Collins for ‘ICE Trail of Death’

Siena Do
July 16th, 2026 5:32 PM

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The fatal shooting of a Colombian migrant in Maine on Monday morning was undoubtedly a tragedy, but until more information comes out, it’s probably best to hold off passing judgement, especially if you have a national news show. But MS NOW’s Lawrence O’Donnell instead pounced right onto Maine’s Republican Senator Susan Collins on Tuesday’s episode of The Last Word. He blamed Senator Susan Collins for everything he could think of, while simultaneously using extreme rhetoric against ICE and President Donald Trump.

O’Donnell started off his show with an unhinged ramble about the Senate itself, complaining that the states had equal representation. In his mind, each state having two Senators made it “impossible for the United States to claim that the federal government is even close to a real democracy.”

Every night, O’Donnell calls Trump stupid and ignorant on everything from history to the Constitution, but if he himself had paid any attention to his middle school social studies, he would know that America wasn’t designed as a pure democracy, but a representative republic.

 

 

Once that rant ended, O’Donnell got into the meat of the issue, which he then spun into a deranged attack on Collins:

This killing by Donald Trump's invasion forces in Maine is the biggest thing that has happened in Maine this year, by far the most important thing. . . And what did the senior Senator from Maine do? Nothing. She did nothing. 

But a few seconds later, O’Donnell contradicted himself:

Today, Susan Collins did finally speak publicly. It was at an Appropriations Committee hearing, not an emergency hearing, that she called to find out why the ICE agents on that street in Biddeford, Maine, were not wearing the body cameras that she bought for them.  

 

 

Calling for an investigation on why the agents weren’t wearing body cams that morning isn’t “nothing,” as O’Donnell would have you believe.

O’Donnell wasn’t the only leftist blaming Collins for the ICE shooting. He played an audio clip of a reporter asking Collins what she thought about Democrats blaming her for the man's death, to which she replied, “That’s absurd, of course.”

 

 

It was absurd. Collins didn’t pull the trigger. She didn’t order ICE to Maine. But since she’s a Republican who sometimes supports Trump’s policies, she got all the blame.

O’Donnell even tacitly admitted that Collins favored more ICE accountability, though he made sure not to give her any credit:

But now that Susan Collins got her bill passed to increase ICE funding higher than it has ever been, and to buy them the body cameras that they refuse to use, and the de-escalation training that does not work, which they also refuse to use on the street, the ICE trail of death has come to Maine. 

 

 

ICE leaves a "trail of death" behind them, O’Donnell claimed, also calling the officers “Donald Trump's invasion forces, who have been indiscriminately killing people on the streets of America without objection from Maine's senior Senator.”

The inflammatory rhetoric used by O’Donnell and the rest of the liberal media isn’t new. But you can bet that, as we’ve seen in these few cases, this sort of rhetoric was exactly what encouraged these people to resist ICE and drive their cars straight at the agents.

The transcript is below. Click "expand" to read:

MS NOW's The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell
7/14/26
10:01:24 p.m. Eastern

LAWRENCE O'DONNELL: At the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, when the Constitution of the United States of America was being written, James Madison was the most eloquent and determined voice arguing against the terrible compromise of two senators per state for the United States Senate. James Madison thought that the House of Representatives and the Senate should both provide proportional representation of voters and, sadly for democracy, James Madison lost that argument. 

And now, the 40 million people of California get the same representation in the United States Senate as the 1.4 million people of Maine, a condition that makes it impossible for the United States to claim that the federal government is even close to a real democracy. 

But the advantage, the huge advantage for the people of Maine is that they have a right to expect that their two senators, who represent one of the smallest populations represented in the Senate, can really be on top of everything that happens in Maine. They can pay attention to the little things, not just the big things, but for the last two days, it has seemed as if Maine has only had one senator.

(...)

10:05:00 p.m. Eastern

O'DONNELL: Angus King is not a Republican, and so there was nothing he could do to convince Donald Trump to stop his ICE invasion of his state. But the senior senator from Maine is a Republican who had no problem with Donald Trump's ICE invasion of Maine.

(...)

O'DONNELL: This killing by Donald Trump's invasion forces in Maine is the biggest thing that has happened in Maine this year, by far the most important thing. It happened early yesterday morning. 

And what did the senior senator from Maine do? Nothing. She did nothing. 

What could the senior senator from Maine do? A lot. She is the chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, which decides how much money Donald Trump's invasion forces should get. She cast the deciding vote this year to fund ICE and the rest of Donald Trump's invasion forces, who have been indiscriminately killing people on the streets of America without objection from Maine's senior senator.

Susan Collins, was not reluctant to vote to give ICE the biggest budget they've ever had to continue their reckless attack on the people of this country. She gave ICE everything they wanted and more. 

And when ICE did the very predictable thing of killing another unarmed, innocent person yesterday, this time in Maine, Susan Collins could not find her voice. She said absolutely nothing publicly. 

But today, Susan Collins did finally speak publicly. It was at an Appropriations Committee hearing, not an emergency hearing, that she called to find out why the ICE agents on that street in Biddeford, Maine, were not wearing the body cameras that she bought for them. 

Not an emergency hearing to find out why those ICE agents did not not use the de-escalation training that she increased the ICE budget to pay for. Training that obviously does not work. 

(...)

10:09:36 p.m. Eastern

When a few reporters caught up to Susan Collins today in a Senate hearing, she took just one question about what happened in Maine.

[Cut to audio]

REPORTER: What do you make of Democrats blaming you for the shooting in Maine?

COLLINS: Blaming me for the shooting in Maine? Well, that's absurd, of course, and it's disappointing to see potential candidates use a tragedy to try to advance a political agenda. 

I had three conversations yesterday with the Secretary of Homeland Security, and last night, in the latest conversation, we talked about the need to cease the vehicle stopping program until we see an improvement in ICE's operations, except in emergency or urgent circumstances. 

I am the one who negotiated back in January, the $20 million for body-worn cameras. I am the one who negotiated the funding for de-escalation training, and I'm the one who negotiated a 17 percent increase in the budget of the independent inspector general.

So, I'm the one who argued for all of the safeguards which would have become law sooner, and the cameras purchased faster if the Democrats had not held up the bill.

[Cut back to live]

O'DONNELL: Zero. That's how many people in this country were murdered or killed by ICE while the Democrats prevented the funding bill for ICE from passing. Exactly zero. 

But now that Susan Collins got her bill passed to increase ICE funding higher than it has ever been, and to buy them the body cameras that they refuse to use, and the de-escalation training that does not work, which they also refuse to use on the street, the ICE trail of death has come to Maine. 

And of course, Democratic Senate candidates who hope to win the nomination to run against Susan Collins are talking about the biggest thing, the most important thing that has happened this year in Maine.

(...)

10:13:34 p.m. Eastern

Someone had to die for Donald Trump to stop his vehicle stops, and that person had to die in Maine. It had to be a state Donald Trump is afraid of losing in the Senate election in November. 

Susan Collins could have stopped this invasion. Susan Collins could have told Donald Trump, told the White House chief of staff, told the Republican leader of the Senate that she needed the invasion forces to leave Maine to never come to Maine in order for her to be reelected. And they all would have understood that and acted on that, but she didn't do that. 

She didn't stand on the border of Maine, she didn't stand on the floor of the United States Senate and say, “No, don't let them come here.”

She didn't dare. She let it happen. She let the invasion happen to her state. 

A New York Times poll shows that before this killing, 56 percent of Maine voters disapproved of Donald Trump's handling of immigration. That's before that killing in Maine, 56 percent disapproved of the deadly policy that Susan Collins has supported and has allowed to come to Maine. 

But the cowardly Susan Collins, as every other cowardly Republican senator just like her, did absolutely nothing to defend her state against Donald Trump's invasion forces. Nothing. Not a thing. 

(...)

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