Troy Jackson, the Democratic candidate for Senate in Maine, told Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) to “shut up” during Thursday’s debate.

According to The Hill, the debate was briefly interrupted by an anti-data center protestor who started yelling while Collins spoke.

“So, this is obviously one of Troy’s supporters,” Collins said.

“Oh, shut up. I don’t even know that kid,” Jackson responded.

Watch below:

“Unacceptable behavior coming from Troy Jackson tonight,” the Maine GOP stated.

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The rest of the forum focused on President Trump, campaign finances, immigration reform and the candidates’ voting record as the Senate race enters its final stretch.

Collins was pressed on her ties to the Trump administration at a time when only 36 percent of Pine Tree State voters approve of the president, according to a recent poll from The Washington Post and Schar School.

The senator pointed to her efforts to block Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s confirmation, saying she organized Republican opposition to his nomination. But she added that another GOP senator, likely referring to outgoing Sen. Thom Tillis (N.C.), changed his mind at the last minute.

Her opponent later accused her of only breaking with Trump and the GOP when her vote was not needed.

Collins is also the only Republican senator seeking reelection this year in a state that backed former Vice President Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election.

Jackson faced criticism from the audience, meanwhile, when he admitted to receiving $15,000 from the oil and pharmaceutical industry — breaking his campaign promise to reject money from billionaires and corporate political action committees.

Jackson accused Collins of “looking down on him and other working-class Mainers,” NEWS CENTER Maine stated.

“I do not look down on you or on anyone. I grew up in Caribou. My first job was picking potatoes, and I have worked since I was age ten,” Collins responded.

“Literally since I was age ten,” she added.

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Maine Public shared further:

As he’d done throughout their three previous joint appearances, Jackson sought to portray Collins — a 30-year Senate veteran — as a key cog in a Republican majority in Congress that he says refuses to stand up to what he believes is a dangerous president.

“They will not stop Donald Trump and I do think our democracy is risk,” Jackson said before accusing Trump of trying to suppress the vote in November. “Donald Trump is trying every trick in the book to keep power. And we’ve already seen what he will do on Jan. 6 when he led an insurrection.”

And he repeated one of his favorite statistics — that Collins allegedly votes with Trump 96% of the time.

“The reality is that 100% of the time, when Donald Trump needs her, Susan Collins is going to be there,” Jackson said. “The votes that she throws away are managed votes that she already knows the outcome.”

As she’s done in previous debates, Collins accused Jackson of cherry-picking a number from a study that only examined about one-third of the votes that have been taken. The real figure, she said, is about 72%. And Collins pointed to years of analysis consistently showing her the most or one of the most bipartisan senators from either party.

“He is going to be an automatic vote for the Democratic position no matter what,” Collins said of Jackson. “We have lost a lot of the centrists and one of the reasons is we need people who will work across party lines.”

Watch the full debate below:

 

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