Maine Democratic Senate nominee Troy Jackson is doubling down on his accusation that Israel is committing “genocide” in Gaza over its war with Hamas terrorists, now dismissing objections from Jewish Mainers.
Jackson has embraced the “genocide” label since replacing Graham Platner, whose insurgent, anti-war campaign drew heavy left-wing support before he was forced to drop out amid a rape allegation, which he denies.
At a town hall over the weekend, Jackson claimed Israel is committing a “genocide” in Gaza and that he is “not willing to vote for any more bombs.”
“I’m definitely, you know, not willing to vote for any more bombs, any more aid going. I mean, I’ve said yesterday that [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu’s a war criminal; I would prosecute him,” Jackson said. “I obviously reiterated what was going on there.”
In an interview Tuesday with Portland’s NBC News affiliate, Jackson called it “unfortunate” that some Jewish Mainers object to describing the war as a “genocide.”
“It’s unfortunate that there are people here in Maine that don’t like to use that term only because they’re Jewish and what that means to them, with the Holocaust,” Jackson said. “It fits that description and it is. It’s an unbelievable thing that’s happened there that people that are innocent are being murdered, and it is a genocide.”
When asked about Hamas’ role in triggering the war on October 7, Jackson said, “You could argue the same thing for Hamas too. There’s people that are wrong on both sides of this issue. But in the end, senseless murders, horrific murders are happening to both sides, and that has to stop.”
Jackson’s moral equivalence between Hamas and the Israeli government stands in stark contrast to Republican Sen. Susan Collins, a longtime supporter of the U.S.-Israel relationship. If elected, Jackson said he would stop voting for “blank checks” to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Before dropping out of the race, Platner surged in the polls on a populist, anti-war message and consistently led Collins. Now, Jackson is seeking to capitalize on anti-Israel sentiment in his bid to defeat the incumbent Republican.
“Susan Collins has voted again and again to send billions in military aid to Israel throughout this war,” Jackson said in a recent statement. “She’s part of the same broken Washington system that keeps funding these conflicts while working people here get screwed.”
In Maine, Collins is facing one of the toughest reelection fights of her career — but she remains one of the strongest-polling GOP candidates this cycle. The RealClearPolitics average has Jackson ahead by less than a point, while a New York Times/Siena poll released last week showed Collins up three points. Voters who rank Israel as a top issue favor Collins, according to The Times survey. She also has a history of significantly outperforming pre-election polls, including her 2020 reelection, when she won by nearly 10 points after trailing in most pre-election polls.
The Cook Political Report rates the race, which could determine control of the U.S. Senate, as a toss-up.
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