Senator Susan Collins, Republican of Maine, criticized her Democratic challenger, Troy Jackson, over a debate moment when he told her to “shut up,” saying the remark reflected how he treats women.
“I was struck by how reflexive the response, ‘Oh, shut up’ was,” Ms. Collins, the longest-serving Republican woman in Senate history, told Fox News on Friday, adding that “the fact that it seemed like such an automatic, quick reply was very telling.”
She said the exchange brought to mind what she described as the “reputation” that Mr. Jackson, a former State Senate president, had when he was a state lawmaker, “particularly when he’s dealing with women with whom he disagrees.”
“So in some ways, it didn’t surprise me,” said Ms. Collins, whose race could be critical in the battle for control of the Senate.
A spokeswoman for Mr. Jackson, Maggie Amjad, said in a statement that Ms. Collins had run a campaign “based on personal attacks” and was twisting the debate exchange.
On a debate stage Thursday night, Mr. Jackson, speaking in a low voice, told Ms. Collins to “shut up” after she said that a heckler disrupting the debate — by yelling about data centers — was a supporter of Mr. Jackson.
“This is obviously one of Troy’s supporters,” Ms. Collins said.
He replied: “Oh, shut up. I did not — I didn’t — I don’t even know that kid.”
Mr. Jackson has defended his response.
“She accused me of setting that up, which is completely untrue,” Mr. Jackson told WGME-TV in an interview published Friday. He added that he had sought to treat Ms. Collins with respect, but that she had “spent millions of dollars attacking” him in “a way that I don’t think is professional either.”
His spokeswoman, responding to Ms. Collins’s interview with Fox News, compared Mr. Jackson’s record with Ms. Collins’s on issues affecting women.
Ms. Amjad said in her statement that Mr. Jackson had responded in the debate to a false accusation from Ms. Collins, and that her “campaign’s attempt to turn that exchange into anything else is baseless.”
Ms. Amjad noted Mr. Jackson’s support for abortion rights and paid family and medical leave, and Ms. Collins’s vote to confirm a Supreme Court justice, Brett M. Kavanaugh, who later helped overturn a federal right to abortion.
During the race, Ms. Collins’s campaign has accused Mr. Jackson of bullying women when he was a state lawmaker.
Mr. Jackson was known to have a temper during his time in the State Legislature. In 2021, during an argument with Heather Sanborn, a state lawmaker, he threw a water bottle across a room. He has said that he regrets the episode, but that he will not apologize for “being passionate,” and that he fights hard for issues he believes in.
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