Article content

Businesses in Maine are facing a backlash after Susan Collins, the state’s Republican senator, supported the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court with a critical vote in his favor.

Two of Maine’s biggest industries, lobster fishing and tourism, are facing a consumer boycott following Collins’ vote in the most hotly contested appointment to the Supreme Court since that of Clarence Thomas in 1991.

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or Maine’s lobster fishery bears brunt of Sen. Susan Collins’ vote for Kavanaugh as boycott spreads Back to video

The state’s lobster industry is already suffering because of the punitive tariffs imposed by China as a result of the trade war launched by the Trump administration.

Collins had been undecided as Kavanaugh faced sexual misconduct allegations by Christine Blasey Ford, which he angrily denied. But Collins voted in his favor when the Senate confirmed Kavanaugh in a 50-48 margin.

Photo by Zach Gibson/Bloomberg

The boycott campaign took off when John Fugelsang, a comedian and actor, took to Twitter to voice his disgust. “Dear Susan Collins – I really struggled with this but my tourist $ just voted against ever visiting Maine while you remain in office,” he tweeted.

Fugelsang has since said he was only joking, but already people have been voting with their wallets.