GOP Congressman Dodges Press To Avoid Confirming Or Denying Trump (VIDEO/AUDIO)



For the better part of two years, Donald Trump talked about giving the government back to the American people. On the surface, that meant making government more accountable. Well, it looks like the only Republican congressman from New England seems to have missed the memo. He openly admits that he avoids speaking to reporters because–wait for it–he wants to keep his job.

Bruce Poliquin has represented Maine’s 2nd District, which covers the northern four-fifths of the state, since 2015. Most of the district’s population is concentrated in its southern portion, with cities like Bangor, Lewiston, and Auburn. Like the rest of Maine, and New England as a whole, it swung hard to the Democrats at the national level during the 1990s.

However, Trump’s populism struck a chord in this district, and it swung from a 52-44 win for Barack Obama in 2012 to a 51-41 win for Trump over Hillary Clinton. It also made Trump only the second time in the last quarter-century to win any electoral votes north of the Potomac; Maine allocates two of its four electoral votes by congressional district. Poliquin rode those coattails to a second term, taking 54 percent of the vote in a rematch with his 2014 opponent, former State Senator Emily Cain. He narrowly won in 2014 when an independent siphoned off enough votes to keep Cain from winning.

Poliquin may have won in spite of himself, though. According to the Maine People’s Alliance, he has a bad habit of ducking questions from constituents and the press. For instance, when he visited a senior living community in Bangor, he abruptly left when asked about his vote for Trumpcare. The People’s Alliance got a clip.

Two months earlier, he was in such a hurry to avoid questions about Trumpcare that he mistakenly ducked into a women’s bathroom to escape reporters. When he managed to get into the right bathroom, he popped in earbuds and scurried out. Last fall, he famously refused to comment on whether he supported Trump on a number of occasions, and the few comments he made about the presidential campaign avoided any mention of Trump’s name.


Apparently there’s a method to Poliquin’s madness, if a speech he gave to a closed-door cocktail reception hosted by the conservative Maine Heritage Policy Center is to be believed. The People’s Alliance managed to get a clip of his speech and released it on Friday as part of its weekly podcast, Beacon. The Lewiston Sun Journal got a clip.

Poliquin recalled that his district is one of the few in the country that is not safe for either party.

“I used to think that folks in Congress like me because I’m a big-hearted Frenchman like Norman, that I’m a happy guy and I’m always working hard, knowing exactly where we’re going. The reason is because they need our seat. There are two dozen, that’s it, two dozen swing districts in the country. 435 members of Congress, two dozen, 20 to 25, they can go either way. We win ’em, we’re in the majority, we can advance agenda. We lose ’em, Pelosi, Maxine Waters, Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders run the show. That’s just the reality of the numbers, OK? So we’ve got to be incredibly careful.”

So what does that mean–working his district well? Nope. Apparently it means avoiding the media.

“Do I talk to the national media? Not often. I’ve been dying to do what you want me to do. Dying to do it, but we’ve got to be very…it would be stupid for me to engage the national media and give them and everyone else the ammunition they need and we lose this seat. We have to be really careful.”

So Poliquin is so scared of giving his opponents any ammunition that he isn’t willing to give the media, and the people, his thoughts on the issues affecting the nation. If he can’t stand the heat, what’s he doing in the kitchen of Washington?

Poliquin’s chief political adviser, Brent Littlefield, told the Portland Press Herald that while Poliquin isn’t willing to speak to the national press, he has granted a number of interviews to Maine reporters and recently held a press conference in Bangor. But how does Littlefield explain his boss cutting and running from that senior center last month? No national media there. Additionally, Poliquin has a marked preference for set-piece appearances with businessmen and local officials in his district, where he almost never talks about matters unrelated to the event.


Add it up, and it doesn’t sound like Poliquin is willing to do a basic part of his job. Maybe it’s time for the people of the 2nd District to elect someone who will actually be willing to do his job. They may get that chance yet. Earlier this week, state representative and retired Marine Jared Golden announced he’s running against Poliquin. Click here to donate.

(featured image courtesy Poliquin’s Facebook)

Darrell is a 30-something graduate of the University of North Carolina who considers himself a journalist of the old school. An attempt to turn him into a member of the religious right in college only succeeded in turning him into the religious right's worst nightmare--a charismatic Christian who is an unapologetic liberal. His desire to stand up for those who have been scared into silence only increased when he survived an abusive three-year marriage. You may know him on Daily Kos as Christian Dem in NC. Follow him on Twitter @DarrellLucus or connect with him on Facebook. Click here to buy Darrell a Mello Yello.