Troy Jackson Tries To Paint Susan Collins as Trump’s ‘Rubber Stamp’ in Last Bitter Debate

Senator Susan Collins and her Democratic challenger, former Maine state senate president Troy Jackson, had their final debate on Thursday night which was quite ugly by Maine standards. With allegations of corruption, weakness, and profiteering during the course of the campaign, the final debate on Thursday included one moment where Mr. Jackson told Ms. Collins to “shut up” as he painted her as a rubber stamp for President Trump. The Maine Senate campaign has been an especially ugly one in recent months after Mr. Jackson succeeded Democrats’ scandal-plagued candidate, Graham Platner, who quit the race after being accused of rape. Mr. Jackson was chosen as the new nominee at a convention of delegates weeks later, but started the general election at a significant financial disadvantage. Mr. Jackson started out with a strong polling lead in the mid- to high-single digits, though Ms. Collins has been able to make up significant ground. According to current polling averages, Ms. Collins trails Mr. Jackson by only two points. The four most recent public polls have shown Mr. Jackson had a lead of anywhere from two to four points. The two candidates have participated in four televised debates in just the last nine days — more than most other candidates across the country. The debate on Thursday was the final debate before the November election in less than three weeks. Ms. Collins has run her race arguing that she is the only person capable of delivering for the state, given her position as chairwoman of the Senate Appropriations Committee. Ms. Collins has returned $1.5 billion for her state’s community projects in just the last five years. “This has required hard work, knowledge, and seniority. The question for voters in this campaign is: ‘Who can do more for Maine?’” Ms. Collins said during her opening statement.Mr. Jackson has painted Ms. Collins as an accomplice of Mr. Trump, even though she has bucked him on several nominations and key pieces of legislation. Ms. Collins votes with Mr. Trump at a lower percentage than any other senator, and has pointed to the fact that she voted with President Biden more than any other GOP lawmaker in the upper chamber. “I vote very independently. Of all the one hundred senators, the studies show that I am the most bipartisan member of the Senate,” she argued. When asked about an issue where she voted against Mr. Trump and made a difference, Ms. Collins said she was the driving force behind an effort to defeat the nomination of now-Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, though on a follow-up question from a moderator, she admitted that the effort was ultimately unsuccessful. As she touted her independence, Ms. Collins accused Mr. Jackson of being “an automatic vote for the Democratic position, no matter what,” leading Mr. Jackson to go after her for voting with Mr. Trump when he truly needs her. “100 percent of the time when Donald Trump needs her, she’s there,” Mr. Jackson said. “She is the rubber stamp and we all know it.”At one point, a protester interrupted the debate and began yelling about AI and data centers, leading security to escort him out. Ms. Collins cut in to say, “This is obviously one of Troy’s supporters.”“Oh, shut up,” Mr. Jackson shot back. “I don’t even know that kid.”Mr. Jackson later said he would buck his party on the issue of corporate PAC money, even though — as Ms. Collins pointed out — that national Democratic groups which do accept corporate money are running ads for him. He said he was not personally running the ads, and made fun of Ms. Collins’ supporters for accidentally running an ad at Portland, Oregon, rather than Portland, Maine. “Elon Musk is running ads for you. Actually, they’re running ads out in Portland, Oregon for you,” he said, prompting laughs from the audience. “That totally violates the promise that Troy made,” Ms. Collins said in response, referring to the ads national Democrats are running.Mr. Jackson was asked again about those ads, leading him to attack Ms. Collins for being a puppet for the wealthy and corporations. “I haven’t made any deals like Senator Collins has with those billionaires. I don’t [them] owe my votes,” Mr. Jackson said. I’m gonna tax those billionaires when I get to the U.S. Senate, so if they want to give me money during this campaign, I guess that’s up to them, but they know that I don’t owe them a thing, [unlike] Senator Collins.”

Troy Jackson Tries To Paint Susan Collins as Trump’s ‘Rubber Stamp’ in Last Bitter Debate

Troy Jackson Tries To Paint Susan Collins as Trump’s ‘Rubber Stamp’ in Last Bitter Debate

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