Republican Sen. Susan Collins from Maine said in a radio interview on Wednesday that she will be able to back Donald Trump if he starts acting more presidential and stops with the "gratuitous personal insults."
Collins, speaking with Newsradio WGANAM560, said Trump needs to "mend a lot of fences" and stop with his "bizarre" behavior like linking Ted Cruz's father to the Kennedy assassination, but added that she needed to wait until the convention before making a final decision.
"Donald Trump has the opportunity to unite the party, but if he's going to build that wall that he keeps talking about, he's going to have to mend a lot of fences," said Collins. "He's going to have stop with gratuitous personal insults."
"You mean, like saying Ted Cruz's father killed JFK," the host interjected.
"Yes, that was the most bizarre yet, I think," responded Collins, adding Trump needed to now articulate what his presidency would look like through policy, plans, and programs beyond his slogan.
"I think he's perfectly capable of doing that," Collins said. "It will be interesting to see whether he changes his style, he starts acting more presidential, and whether he brings people together."
"I have always supported the Republican nominee for president, and I suspect I would do so this year, but I do want see what Donald Trump does from here on out. I hope he will take the kind of steps that I said, I hope that he will knock off the—"
The host asked what Collins would do if Trump couldn't stop his antics. Collins responded she didn't think that would happen.
"I don't think that's gonna happen, so I won't go there. I think Donald has shown over and over again that he is smart enough to tailor his approach," she said, noting Trump now has advisers to tell him to behavior better.
"I think we're gonna see a new stage of this campaign as it goes into the general election," added Collins. "So, I'm gonna wait and see. I'm certainly gonna wait until Cleveland. It will be interesting to see who he chooses as his vice presidential candidate."