Democratic Senate nominee Troy Jackson is walking back a remark about Jewish Mainers five weeks before Election Day, giving Sen. Susan Collins an opening in New England's most competitive Senate race.
In an interview released Tuesday by News Center Maine, Jackson said it is unfortunate that some Jewish residents reject calling the Gaza war a genocide, saying they do so "only because they're Jewish" and citing the Holocaust.
On Wednesday, Jackson apologized, saying he misspoke and made a generalization about Jewish Mainers' views. He still maintains that Gaza is a genocide.
The remarks drew criticism from both Democrats and Republicans, some of whom accused him of drawing a moral equivalency between Israel and Hamas. Jackson also called Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a "war criminal" in the interview.
The apology follows a July statement in which every congregational rabbi in Maine urged political leaders to stop using the word, saying it inflames hatred toward the local Jewish community. Jackson replaced Graham Platner on the ballot, and Platner frequently said Israel was committing genocide. Collins has long supported Israel.
Polling remains close. An AARP poll had Jackson ahead 50% to 47%, while the NYT/Siena poll had Collins up 49% to 46%.
Collins is under fire too. Democrats this week launched a $3.4 million ad campaign built on a ProPublica report about defense contractor Martin Kao. Collins and her campaign deny wrongdoing and call the report a political hit job that rests on a convicted felon's word.
Absentee ballots go out to Mainers in early October, and multiple debates between Collins and Jackson are scheduled once the Senate adjourns.
