{"id":336107,"date":"2026-09-30T09:36:39","date_gmt":"2026-09-30T09:36:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usa.timesofnews.com\/breaking-news\/political\/maine-dem-sen-candidates-working-class-cred-shredded-by-both-parties-when-internet-sees-latest-cringey-ad.html"},"modified":"2026-09-30T09:36:39","modified_gmt":"2026-09-30T09:36:39","slug":"maine-dem-sen-candidates-working-class-cred-shredded-by-both-parties-when-internet-sees-latest-cringey-ad","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usa.timesofnews.com\/breaking-news\/political\/maine-dem-sen-candidates-working-class-cred-shredded-by-both-parties-when-internet-sees-latest-cringey-ad.html","title":{"rendered":"Maine Dem Sen candidate&#8217;s &#8216;working class&#8217; cred shredded by both parties when internet sees latest &#8216;cringey&#8217; ad"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>  <a href=\"javascript:void(0)\">     <span class=\"overlay\" data-v-7b1896ea=\"\">Video<\/span><\/a> <!--&gt; \n\n<h4 class=\"title\" data-v-7b1896ea=\"\"><a href=\"javascript:void(0)\">Republican Sen Susan Collins of Maine raises red flags over Democratic challenger Troy Jackson\u2019s \u2018temper\u2019<\/a><\/h4>\n\n \n\n<p data-v-7b1896ea=\"\">GOP Sen. Susan Collins of Maine told Fox News Digital her Democratic challenger Troy Jackson apparently \"struggles to control his temper\" in Kittery, Maine, on Aug. 14, 2026.<\/p>\n\n \n\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\" class=\"speakable\"><a href=\"javascript:void(0)\">Maine<\/a> Democratic Senate candidate Troy Jackson, a fifth-generation logger who has touted his working-class bonafides on the campaign trail, is facing backlash from both sides of the aisle over a viral ad that critics are labeling as tone-deaf pandering.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\" class=\"speakable\">\"If Republicans spend $46 million on these tv ads, who\u2019s gunna be convinced by that?\" Jackson is asked in the ad as he sips a boba tea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\">Jackson then looks around and smiles before saying \"the 1%ers\" as a photo of his opponent Sen. Susan Collins and Tesla CEO <a href=\"javascript:void(0)\">Elon Musk<\/a> are shown on the screen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\">The ad\u2019s caption reads \"sips boba tea\" alongside a boba and wide-eyed emoji.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\"><a href=\"javascript:void(0)\"><strong>SUSAN COLLINS TEARS INTO BRIBERY ALLEGATIONS AS NEW CLAIMS EMERGE DURING CRITICAL SENATE BATTLE<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n--> <a href=\"javascript:void(0)\"> <span class=\"overlay\">Video<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\">The ad\u2019s post on X was widely mocked by Democrats and Republicans and has been <a href=\"javascript:void(0)\">viewed over 2 million times<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\">&#8220;Maine is the oldest median age electorate in the nation,&#8221; Democratic strategist Steve Schale <a href=\"javascript:void(0)\">posted on X<\/a>. &#8220;I know I\u2019m not a DC strategist but I really, really don\u2019t get it.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\">&#8220;Troy Jackson needs to win but videos like this are unhelpful and cringey,&#8221; liberal influencer Harry Sisson <a href=\"javascript:void(0)\">posted on X<\/a>. &#8220;Please change it up! No boba tea!&#8221;<\/p>\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\">&#8220;The same people that ran Mallory McMorrow&#8217;s campaign into the ground are telling you to do this goofy sh**,&#8221; left-wing podcaster Kyle Kulinski <a href=\"javascript:void(0)\">posted on X. <\/a>&#8220;Just get out there and tell the truth and speak from the heart for economic justice and against war and stop with all this bullshit. C&#8217;mon man. You&#8217;re smarter than this.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\"><a href=\"javascript:void(0)\"><strong>DEM SENATE NOMINEE BREAKS SILENCE AFTER SUSAN COLLINS&#8217; OFFICE WAS VANDALIZED WITH VULGAR MESSAGE<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span>Maine Democrats picked progressive former state lawmaker Troy Jackson as their new US Senate nominee, giving them another shot at the crucial race after previous pick Graham Platner dropped out.<\/span> <span>(Graeme Sloan\/Bloomberg via Getty Images)<\/span><\/p>\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\">&#8220;It&#8217;s a little bit funny to be desperately trying to position as working class masculine male and have gen-z women run your socials like they would run their own personals,&#8221; Republican communicator Matt Whitlock <a href=\"javascript:void(0)\">posted on X.<\/a><\/p>\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\">&#8220;&#8230; ,&#8221; National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) Southern Regional Press Secretary Reilly Richardson <a href=\"javascript:void(0)\">posted on X<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\">&#8221; Weird,&#8221; GOP communicator Steve Guest <a href=\"javascript:void(0)\">posted on X<\/a>. &#8220;Looks like the first time that Troy Jackson has ever had boba.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\">&#8220;Boba tea! Just like regular people! &#8221; Journalist Chris Cillizza <a href=\"javascript:void(0)\">posted on X.<\/a><\/p>\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\">&#8220;Want to remind you that Democrats were openly proud of how masculine their Maine campaign was going to be and then they ran this ad,&#8221; former Trump campaign communications director Tim Murtaugh <a href=\"javascript:void(0)\">posted on X.<\/a><\/p>\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\">Fox News Digital reached out to Jackson&#8217;s campaign for comment.<\/p>\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\"><a href=\"javascript:void(0)\"><strong>CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span>FILE &#8211; Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, accused the Trump administration of undermining Congress\u2019s Constitutional power of the purse.<\/span> <span>(CJ Gunther\/Getty Images)<\/span><\/p>\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\">A recent poll indicates Collins is ahead of her Democratic challenger in a crucial Senate showdown in <a href=\"javascript:void(0)\">blue-leaning Maine<\/a> that could determine the balance of power in the U.S. Senate.<\/p>\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\">Collins, who is running for a sixth six-year term in the Senate, stands at 49% support among likely voters, with former Maine Senate President Troy Jackson, the Democratic nominee, at 46%, with 5% undecided in the New York Times\/Siena poll. Collins&#8217; three-point edge is within the survey&#8217;s margin of error.<\/p>\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\">The survey, which was conducted Sept. 15\u201322, is one of the first to indicate Collins ahead of Jackson since he replaced former Senate nominee Graham Platner in late July.<\/p>\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\">Platner, a combat veteran and oyster farmer, won the June Democratic Senate primary in a landslide. But a month later he dropped out following an explosive report containing an allegation of rape from a woman he previously dated. <a href=\"javascript:void(0)\">Platner denied the report<\/a> but stepped aside. Collins slightly trailed Platner in most polling at the time he ended his campaign.<\/p>\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\">Jackson, who campaigned alongside Platner earlier this year as he unsuccessfully ran for governor, won a special nominating convention to fill the party&#8217;s vacant Senate nomination.<\/p>\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\">The poll release came as Collins pushed back against a report by <a href=\"javascript:void(0)\">ProPublica<\/a> that the FBI sought to launch a pay-to-play investigation examining Collins and others. The investigation was later dropped and no one working for Collins was charged.<\/p>\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\">Collins ripped the report as &#8220;offensive&#8221; and a &#8220;partisan hit job&#8221; orchestrated by Democrats.<\/p>\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\">Jackson took to social media to claim that &#8220;Susan Collins is blatantly corrupt.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\">Collins&#8217; advantage over Jackson in the new survey comes even as 55% of those questioned said they prefer Democrats to control the Senate next year, with 43% saying they&#8217;d like the GOP to retain the majority.<\/p>\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\"><i>Fox News Digital&#8217;s Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report.<\/i><\/p>\n<p> <!--&gt; --> <\/p>\n<p>Andrew Mark Miller is a reporter at Fox News. Find him on Twitter @andymarkmiller and email tips to AndrewMark.Miller@Fox.com.<\/p>\n<p>Article source: https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/politics\/maine-dem-sen-candidate-working-class-cred-shredded-both-parties-internet-sees-latest-cringey-ad<\/a>\r\n<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Video Video The ad\u2019s post on X was widely mocked by Democrats and Republicans and has been viewed over 2 million times. &#8220;Maine is the oldest median age electorate in the nation,&#8221; Democratic strategist Steve Schale posted on X. &#8220;I know I\u2019m not a DC strategist but I really, really don\u2019t get it.&#8221; &#8220;Troy Jackson [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[84],"class_list":["post-336107","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-political","tag-political"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usa.timesofnews.com\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/336107","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usa.timesofnews.com\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usa.timesofnews.com\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usa.timesofnews.com\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usa.timesofnews.com\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=336107"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usa.timesofnews.com\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/336107\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usa.timesofnews.com\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=336107"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usa.timesofnews.com\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=336107"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usa.timesofnews.com\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=336107"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}