Sen.Susan Collins, R-Maine, had a sly way of addressing reports that Troy Jackson, her Democratic opponent, fathered two children with his second cousin."Well, I'm not going to bring up the fact that the mother of his two children is his second cousin," Collins told a Politico reporter when asked if Jackson’s personal life would be fair game on the campaign trail.
"I don’t know whether people know that or not.""But you just mentioned it," the reporter shot back.The clip quickly spread across social media as conservatives praised Collins for her political savvy.TOP DEM OPERATIVE BRUSHES OFF LATEST SCANDAL PLAGUING MAINE SENATE CANDIDATE AS 'SALACIOUS GOSSIP'Former Maine Senate President Troy Jackson, left, is on a glidepath to replace ex-candidate Graham Platner as the Democratic Party's Senate nominee in Maine and face off in the midterm elections against longtime Republican Sen.Susan Collins.
(Ryan Murphy/Getty Images; Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)Republican political operative Jesse Hunt reacted to a clip of the interview by calling Collins a "silent killer.""A less-than-2-minute precis of how Susan Collins is as stone-cold a political combatant as the Senate has ever seen," Politico editor Mike DeBonis wrote on X.National Rifle Association public affairs director and Maine native Justin Davis responded to the clip by predicting that "the upcoming debates are going to be gold." NOTUS reporter Igor Bobic, meanwhile, said that Collins used a "Trump tactic" by bringing up a subject while pretending not to mention it."Count Collins out (like everyone did in ‘20) at your own peril," Targeted Victory CCO Matt Gorman posted on X."Susan Collins from the top rope on Troy Jackson," GOP communicator Steve Guest posted on X.Reports about Jackson’s relationship with his second cousin first surfaced in July, when The Maine Wire reported that Jackson and his longtime partner share the same great-grandparents.MAINE DEMOCRATS CROWN TROY JACKSON AS PLATNER REPLACEMENT AS ...