Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Troy Jackson sparred with two separate critics on Facebook over four days, calling President Donald Trump a “child rapist” in one exchange and dismissing a voter’s criticism of his record as “bull—-” in another.
The Trump claim is unfounded. The exchanges, posted on Thursday and Sunday, show the former Maine Senate president and logger from Allagash still mixing it up online even as he runs one of the biggest Senate campaigns in the country, a race against Republican U.S. Sen. Susan Collins that could decide control of the chamber.
His temper has become one of the traits Republicans have scrutinized most since he emerged as the Democratic nominee this summer, with critics questioning whether the same combativeness that fires up his base shows he lacks the temperament for the job he’s seeking.
The first exchange came Thursday, when former state Senate Majority Leader Garrett Mason argued in a Facebook post that Jackson had brushed off the rape allegation against Graham Platner, the man Jackson replaced on the ballot after Platner’s campaign collapsed following a rape allegation.
In the clip from August shared by Mason, Jackson says he wished “nothing would have happened with Graham.” Jackson’s campaign said the quote was taken out of context, noted that the candidate called for Platner to withdraw immediately after the allegation was made public.
“Says the guy that supports a child rapist in Donald Trump!” Jackson commented on the Mason post.
The Facebook comment, which remained up as of Monday afternoon, referred to Trump’s former close association with the late financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, Jackson’s campaign said Monday.
In 2016, a woman claimed in a lawsuit she was raped by Epstein and Trump in Epstein’s New York apartment in 1994 when she was 13, but the suit was dropped months later. In 2024, the Associated Press and fact-checkers debunked widely shared social media claims that the AP reported Trump could face charges for sexual abuse of children.
Trump has been accused of sexual assault or harassment by more than 20 women in claims dating back to the 1980s. He has denied wrongdoing and never been criminally charged for sexual misconduct. In 2023, he was found liable for sexual abuse in a civil case in New York.
Some Democrats have branded Trump as an “adjudicated rapist” based on that, but few have publicly gone as far as Jackson. The terminology also carries legal risk. ABC News paid Trump $15 million in 2024 after anchor George Stephanopoulos called him “liable for rape” on air, wording a judge said went beyond the verdict itself.
Mason said Jackson’s comment about Trump was “certainly beyond the pale.” He added that there were several red flags about Platner, and suggested Jackson should have been clearer in his comments about wishing “nothing would have happened” with Platner.
“I don’t dislike Troy at all, we’ve gotten along well over the years, but we’re in the political arena,” Mason said. “You’ve got to mean what you say and say what you mean. Politics is the business of public affairs and people.”
Jackson was just as blunt three days later, replying “bull——” to a Sunday comment on a Facebook thread in which one Mainer noted Republican claims of mortgage fraud and his son’s past activities as a lobbyist. The mortgage issue was aired in a 2023 ethics complaint that the Maine Ethics Commission unanimously declined to investigate.
Collins’ campaign declined to comment. The White House did not respond to a request for comment.
The Washington Post and CNN reported in July that Jackson once threw a water bottle during a State House fight over drug pricing and was kicked out of then-House Speaker Rachel Talbot Ross’s office during a shouting match over gun legislation. Claims in a Republican Senate leadership-tied ad that Jackson aimed at or hit anyone with the water bottle were deemed false by witnesses and fact-checkers. He also spent time in 2012 trolling then-Gov. Paul LePage in Bangor Daily News comment sections, CNN revealed.
Mike Carpenter, a former Maine attorney general who served in the Senate as a Democrat from Houlton with Jackson and Mason, said Jackson’s style isn’t going to turn off voters, many of whom are looking for a change.
“One of the consistent themes, whether talking about Republican or Democratic challengers, is that the electorate is looking for someone that’s going to fight for them,” he said. “That’s Troy’s mantra. Say something mean or untrue about me, I’m going to snap back.”