Back in September after Maine incumbent GOP Senator Susan Collins bragged about which Canadian tariffs she had gotten MAGA Republican President Donald Trump to roll back, C-SPAN asked her midterm opponent, state Democratic Senator Troy Jackson, to respond.
In his response, Jackson outlined how Trump's trade war with Canada was impacting Maine, including its effects on tourism, sales of woodland industry byproducts, and Canadian shoppers buying from border town stores in Maine.
You can see Jackson's full answer here:
That response should have given Collins plenty of time to prepare an adequate response for her October 6 debate with Jackson.
With that prep, Collins said during the debate:
"I have been strongly voting against the tariffs with Canada. I’ve also been working behind the scenes."
"Troy mocked it, but I was successful in getting concrete, pulp, and road salt removed from the tariff list."
Jackson countered:
"I didn’t mock the fact that she got road salt back. I mocked the fact that—what about everything else? I mean, we can’t eat road salt."
You can see the moment here:
The former logger and union leader added:
"And the thing about it is that everything that she is doing with the Iran war and stuff like that, there’s gonna be so many less people that are gonna be able to afford to drive that I’m not even sure the road salt is gonna be worth anything either."
"I’m not gonna give her credit for getting one thing back when we have thousands of things that people are having to pay more money for because she won’t talk back at Donald Trump."
Jackson later added, of Collins support for Trump's policies and appointees:
"Collins is like an arsonist who helped set the fire, and then she wants credit for bringing a cup of water to put it out."
People found Jackson's responses spot on.
@Pretefunkera/X
@bonnieblue2025/X
Trump's war of words and tariffs with Canada is particularly hard on the state of Maine.
In 2025, 41% of goods exported by the state went to Canada—the highest share by percentage of any state. In 2024, Canadian travelers spent roughly $497.7 million in the state. Canadian cross-border shopping represented a vital share of total revenue for Maine merchants, particularly in northern border communities—where both Jackson and Collins are from—and coastal outlet destinations like L.L. Bean.
With Canadians boycotting both United States products and destinations, Maine has been heavily impacted economically.
Whether her support of Trump—voting for his whims 96% of the time—will cost Collins her Senate seat remains to be seen.
@mmpadellan/X
