Maine Democratic Senate candidate Troy Jackson says he has no intention of apologizing for telling incumbent Sen. Susan Collins to “shut up” during a recent candidate debate.
The incident unfolded when an anti-data center protester interrupted the debate, briefly stalling the event and prompting Collins to make a pointed accusation toward her opponent.
Collins said almost immediately as the debate was stalled, “So, this is obviously one of Troy’s supporters.”
Jackson fired back in the moment, saying, “Oh, shut up. I don’t even know that kid.”
Appearing on CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday, host Dana Bash pressed Jackson on whether he regretted making the remark to the sitting senator.
“No, you know she said that it was a Troy supporter. I mean, she accused me of setting that up. I had no idea who it was,” Jackson said, adding that he was “surprised whenever he jumped up out of there.”
Jackson made clear he viewed Collins as having repeatedly talked down to him throughout their series of debates, defending his response as a matter of principle.
“I’ve had four debates with Senator Collins. I shook her hand afterwards every time. But what I’m not going to be is, you know, talked down to by Senator Collins,” he said.
He framed the exchange as consistent with his broader campaign posture, saying he was “fighting for Mainers” and called the protester incident another situation where Collins was dismissive toward him.
The anti-data center protester later confirmed he had “zero coordination” with Jackson’s campaign, saying he did “not know Troy Jackson personally or at all…but I think he should be winning,” according to the New York Times.
Collins appeared on Fox News with host Sean Hannity on Friday, saying she was “struck by how reflective the response, ‘Oh, shut up,’ was,” and that the quick, automatic nature of the reply was “very telling.”
Collins also referenced what she described as “the reputation” that Jackson had in the Legislature, particularly in how he engaged with women with whom he disagreed, saying the comment “didn’t surprise me.”
When CNN raised Republican claims that Jackson had shown an aggressive tone toward women during his time in the Legislature, he deflected by pointing to opposition spending against him.
Jackson said some Republicans have been spending millions “attacking me and my family, making untrue claims,” adding that the criticism did not surprise him.
The Maine GOP swiftly condemned the remark following the debate, calling Jackson’s comment “unacceptable behavior” and using the moment to intensify pressure on the Democratic challenger.
