On Friday, Susan Rice responded to the tweet, “who wants to run for Senate in Maine? there will be an army of supporters with you,” by tweeting, “me.” | Win McNamee/Getty Images Congress Susan Rice suggests she would consider running against Collins

Susan Rice on Friday appeared to toy with a possible Senate run against Susan Collins after the Maine Republican announced her support for Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.

Rice, who served as President Barack Obama’s national security adviser responded to a tweet calling on someone to challenge Collins.


Jen Psaki, who served as Obama’s communications director and is now vice president of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, tweeted: “who wants to run for Senate in Maine? there will be an army of supporters with you.”

Eleven minutes later, Rice had a simple response.

“Me.”

Rice later clarified her tweet saying she is “not making any announcements” about a possible campaign run.

“Many thanks for the encourgement [sic]. I’m not making any announcements,” she wrote online. “Like so many Americans, I am deeply disappointed in Senator Collins’ vote for Kavanaugh. Maine and America deserve better.”

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Collins laid out her reasons for supporting Kavanaugh in a more than 40-minute speech on the Senate floor. She said the judge would be a good fit for the nation's highest court, and outlined inconsistencies in sexual assault allegations against him. Her support for Kavanaugh all but assured his confirmation since she was a key swing vote.

Rice’s grandparents emigrated from Jamaica to Portland, Maine. Earlier this year, she received an honorary degree from Bowdoin College, which is located Brunswick, Maine.

Os opponents of Kavanaugh’s confirmation have been raising money through a crowdfunding website, Crowdpac, and said they would donate the money to an opponent to Collins in 2020 if she voted to confirm Kavanaugh.

The website reportedly crashed after Collins’ speech.

The Maine senator might not be the only one who will face a new challenger.

Former Alaska governor and 2008 vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin also hinted that she would challenge Sen. Lisa Murkowski after the senator voted “no” on a procedural vote to advance Kavanaugh’s confirmation to a final vote.

Murkowski was another swing vote that could determine whether the judge would be confirmed.

“Hey @LisaMurkowski - I can see 2022 from my house...” Palin tweeted.