Jackson doesn’t regret telling Collins to ‘shut up’ after protester interrupts Maine Senate debate

WASHINGTON (AP) — Maine Democrat Troy Jackson said he doesn’t regret telling Sen. Susan Collins she should “shut up” after the Republican suggested a protester who interrupted their recent debate was one of his campaign supporters.

READ MORE: What happened in the first Maine Senate debate between Collins and Jackson

“She said he was a Trojan supporter. She accused me of setting this up. I had no idea who it was,” said Jackson, a former state Senate president who is trying to deny Collins, the longest-serving Republican woman in Senate history, a sixth term. He spoke in an interview with CNN’s “State of the Union” broadcast Sunday.

During their final debate Thursday night in the hotly contested race, ahead of the Nov. 3 election, a protester opposed to data centers began shouting as Collins spoke. As moderators called for the person to be removed, the senator said the protester was “obviously one of the Trojan supporters.”

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

Watch the debate moment in the video player above.

The group Sunrise Movement posted on its Instagram page that the explosion came from one of its members. In the caption of an Instagram post, the group’s page read: “We are proud of this Sunrise volunteer who took action yesterday.”

The New York Times said the protester, Henry Elgie, a 19-year-old student at Bowdoin College in Maine, told the newspaper in an interview Saturday that he had “no coordination” with Jackson’s campaign. “I don’t know Troy Jackson personally, not at all,” he reportedly said.

The Sunrise Movement is a left-wing political advocacy organization that champions the Green New Deal, aiming to transition the U.S. economy to 100% renewable energy. The group, which has local branches across the country, regularly organizes climate protests, sit-ins and strikes.

Jackson told CNN that he shook Collins’ hand after each of their debates.

“But what I’m not going to do is Senator Collins bash him,” he said. He added: “I fight for Mainers and I just think this was another situation where she was badmouthing me and I’m not going to apologize for that.”

WATCH: Collins and Jackson face off in tough debate in Maine’s U.S. Senate

Collins told Fox News’ Sean Hannity on Friday that she was “struck by how thoughtful the response, ‘Oh, shut up,’ was.” Collins said that “the fact that it seemed to be such an automatic and rapid response was very telling.”

She cited what she said was “the reputation” Jackson had in the Legislature “especially when dealing with women he disagreed with. So in some ways it didn’t surprise me.”

Some state lawmakers who worked with Jackson criticized him for his short-tempered nature, including once throwing a plastic water bottle on the ground in frustration while disagreeing with a female lawmaker. Asked by reporters during the campaign about the clashes, Jackson said: “I wear my heart on my sleeve.” He took responsibility for his outburst and apologized to those he had confrontations with at the time.

Jackson was asked on CNN about some Republicans who say there have been stories that he has been aggressive in his tone toward women since his time in the Legislature and that his remark Thursday night was another example.

Jackson said some Republicans have spent millions “attacking me and my family by making false statements. … So that doesn’t surprise me.”