Maine Democrat Senate candidate Troy Jackson claimed at Thursday’s WMTW debate that Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) and her husband are profiting from the war in Iran, prompting the five-term incumbent to demand an apology on camera.

Jackson leveled the charge during an exchange on home heating oil prices, arguing that the conflict was driving Maine’s energy costs and that Collins had the power as Appropriations chair to choke off funding for the war:

She still could do something. She could use her leverage to stop this war. But instead, they’re making money. I mean, Senator Collins and her husband making money more off of this war, and so isn’t a whole bunch of other people, and that’s why this doesn’t stop because they got us in another forever war that we’re never going to get out of, and people in the state are feeling the effects of it.

Collins rejected the accusation twice and said the challenger owed her an apology.

“That is absolutely outrageous, and you owe me an apology,” Collins said. When Jackson shot back, “No, you owe me,” she repeated the demand. “That is absolutely outrageous to say that my husband and I are making money off the war in Iran is absolutely outrageous.”

The Appropriations Committee chair said she had repeatedly voted to end the conflict and defended her record under the War Powers Act.

“First of all, I have voted nine times to bring the war in Iran to an end,” Collins said. “Under the War Powers Act, for the first 60 days, the president, as commander in chief, has broad discretion to commit our troops and to enter military action. After that, it requires congressional approval, and that is why I have voted nine times to end this war.”

Jackson tied the fighting directly to Maine’s cost of living, warning that residents paying “$6.50 a gallon” for heating oil “will freeze to death this winter because they can’t afford to heat their home.”

Collins’ Iran votes are on the record. She was among four Republicans who crossed party lines on June 23 to adopt a war-powers resolution restraining President Donald Trump, 50-48, after backing a similar measure that failed a week earlier. Maine heating fuel prices had climbed more than 30 percent since the war began.