In short, Collins suggested the Electoral College will be tied on Election night and the House will have to choose the president. It’s not unprecedented — but it hasn’t happened in nearly 200 years. The House gave the presidency to Thomas Jefferson over Aaron Burr in 1800 and to John Quincy Adams over John C. Calhoun in 1824.
With 538 Electoral votes in play, a candidate needs 270 for an outright win. Anything less and the House makes the call. Collins sees a tie at 269.
“My confidence is that (Donald Trump) gets to 269 and this race gets tossed under to the House of Representatives where he does win,” Collins said to CNN’s Chris Cuomo today.
“It comes down to Ohio, North Carolina, Florida are a must. They take him to 253 if we look at the Romney states and add back the two that Romney lost in Ohio and Florida, then he needs 16 — Nevada, Iowa, New Hampshire are 16 Electoral College. It takes him to 269. He’s tied in Nevada, winning in Iowa and he’s down three or four in New Hampshire,” Collins added.
If it were to break like that, Collins says he believes Trump would get 30 or 32 of the votes in the House — each state is allotted one vote.
Collins went on to say that a President Trump would be able to bring the nation back together. “The country is going to be divided at the end of this election regardless. It’s going to be that close. It’s going to be up to the next president to actually unite the country again. Donald Trump talks in a language that will unite the country.”
And if Hillary Clinton were to win? Fellow Republican Rep. Jason Chaffetz of Utah said she’ll be endlessly investigated. Collins told Cuomo he didn’t support that line of thinking. “If Hillary Clinton’s president, the public does deserve to know the truth,” however, he said rather than supporting Chaffetz suggest, he’d prefer to “debate the issues.”
Watch the full interview below:
