Politics
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Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Troy Jackson apologized Wednesday for suggesting in a TV interview that some Mainers are uncomfortable calling Israel’s actions in Gaza a genocide because they are Jewish.
Jackson, who has called the war in Gaza a genocide on the campaign trail, including at a recent town hall, used the term again during an interview with News Center Maine that aired Wednesday. In it, he said some Mainers are uncomfortable with the word “only because, you know, they’re Jewish and … you know what that means to them with the Holocaust.”
The generalization drew quick attention from Republicans and Jewish publications during Jackson’s pivotal race against U.S. Sen. Susan Collins. The candidate offered an apology and issued a statement that sought to clarify his views in a Wednesday statement.
“I believe what’s happening in Gaza is genocide, and I also understand that word carries particular weight for many Jewish families given the Holocaust — the genocide of six million Jews,” he said. “In trying to acknowledge that, I misspoke and made a generalization about Jewish Mainers’ views that doesn’t reflect what I meant to say. I apologize for the pain that caused.”
Jackson noted that Mainers “hold a range of deeply considered views.” The Democrat said he would fight antisemitism and work for lasting peace and security in the Middle East.
Jackson’s comments on News Center Maine came during a discussion on foreign policy, which is new territory for the former Maine Senate president and former logger from Allagash. He took over the nomination in July from Graham Platner, a sharper Israel critic who ended his campaign following an ex-girlfriend’s rape allegation.
In the interview, Jackson criticized both Collins and President Donald Trump over the war in Iran impacting the Maine economy, acknowledging that the Israel-Gaza issue was something he “never had to deal with” as a state lawmaker. But he condemned the “horrendous” actions of Israel under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whom Jackson has called a war criminal.
“I don’t want the United States sending money, a blank check, to him anymore,” he said.
Meanwhile, Jackson has faced pressure from some on the left on the issue. Jamila Levasseur who asked Jackson about his views at a recent town hall described his response as “tepid” in comments to the progressive Drop Site News. She is married to Ray Luc Levasseur, the former leader of a Marxist group who served prison time for bombings and robberies.
In a recent interview with the Wall Street Journal, Collins, a longtime Israel supporter, counted the Israel-Gaza conflict as one of Jackson’s central campaign issues, suggesting that Platner had required his replacement “to be very anti-Israel, to accuse Israel of committing genocide.”
“In fact it was Hamas, the terrorist group, that killed more Jewish citizens of Israel and Americans on [Oct. 7, 2023], the greatest loss of Jewish life in a single day since the Holocaust,” she said.