Susan Collins on Susan Rice: 'I really have little interest in what she has to say'

"I really have little interest in what she has to say," Collins told CNN when asked to respond to the latest criticism, accusing Rice of lacking legal ties to the state. "She's not a legal resident of the state of Maine."

Collins added that to run against her in 2020, "she'd have to move to the state to become a legal resident."

Rice, who served in former President Barack Obama's White House, declined to comment through a spokeswoman.

The latest salvo comes as Democratic talk about unseating Collins is intensifying after she announced she'd cast the deciding vote to confirm Kavanaugh, saying she believes his denials that he did not sexually assault Christine Blasey Ford or act inappropriately towards women more than three decades ago. Now, Democrats see an opening to defeat Collins in 2020 in a state with liberal and independent leanings.

Speaking at a New Yorker festival in New York over the weekend, Rice said she would make a decision on whether to run next cycle after the November midterms, and she accused Collins of putting "party and politics" over principles and for betraying women who hoped she would vote against Kavanaugh.

After Rice tweeted her interest in a potential run, Collins took a swipe at Rice over the weekend, saying on CNN's "State of the Union" that Rice's family "has a home" in Maine but that "she doesn't live in the state of Maine. Everybody knows that."

The senator also contended that Rice "pleaded" with her to introduce her at her confirmation hearings to be Obama's ambassador to the United Nations, a nomination Collins supported in 2009.

At the New York event, Rice said she's been a homeowner in Maine for "the last 20-so years," saying running for Senate from the state is "not completely crazy."