Bill McGurn discusses Maine Democrat Graham Platner’s mounting controversies
Fox News contributor Bill McGurn discusses Maine Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner’s mounting controversies, including resurfaced Reddit posts, a Nazi symbol tattoo and sexually explicit messages. Democrats are now pushing Platner to exit the race following recent sexual assault allegations, raising questions about prior endorsements despite his problematic history.
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After Maine U.S. Senate candidate Graham Platner was accused of drunkenly raping a woman, a litany of progressive Democrats are tucking tail and heading for the hills as their ringing endorsements of the continuously embattled candidate come back to haunt them.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., said at an April rally that Platner is, “My kind of man.”
She issued a statement Monday night after allegations emerged that Platner drunkenly raped 41-year-old Maine resident Jenny Racicot in 2021.
Graham Platner, Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate, speaks to an overflow crowd outside a campaign event Sunday, June 7, 2026, in Portland, Maine. (Robert F. Bukaty/AP Photo)
“Now more than ever we need leaders in Washington who reflect our values. There can be no tolerance for sexual assault,” Warren’s statement said.
“Working families are counting on Democrats to win the Senate election in Maine to unrig our economy and hold Donald Trump accountable. With so much at stake, the best path forward is for Graham Platner to step aside as the Democratic nominee and address these serious allegations outside this Senate race.”
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A spokesperson for Warren did not answer specific questions about whether the senator regretted backing Platner, who has not dropped out of the race as of Tuesday morning, through his numerous prior scandals.
Progressives supported Platner despite a months-long series of damning scandals, including the revelation that the candidate had a Nazi-linked tattoo on his chest. He was also exposed for infidelity to his wife, making lewd Reddit comments about masturbating in portable toilets on a now-deleted account and mocking a Purple Heart veteran.
He also faced accusations last month of physical misconduct and violence against an ex-girlfriend who was then smeared as a conservative political operative.
Ranking member Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., questions Kevin Warsh, nominee to chairman of the Federal Reserve, during his Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee confirmation hearing on Tuesday, April 21, 2026. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., has so far been silent on the rape allegations. In a June statement, he said he would “do everything I can to make sure that Graham Platner is the next Senator from the state of Maine.” That could now be put to the test.
The left-wing commentariat played a massive role in propping Platner up.
Fox News Digital reached out to Sanders’ office for comment, but did not hear back at time of publishing.
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Former Obama aides Jon Favreau, Jon Lovett, Dan Pfeiffer and Tommy Vietor, who now host the “Pod Save America” podcast, were chief among those supporting Platner’s rise in the Democratic Party.
“Graham Platner isn’t just our best and only chance to beat Susan Collins, he’s a good, decent man who’s struggled and grown and is always trying to do better,” Favreau said on X in April, well after the Reddit post and Nazi tattoo scandals.
Favreau changed his tune Monday night.
Sen. Bernie Sanders and Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner stand together during a “Fighting Oligarchy” tour stop at the Collins Center for the Arts on the University of Maine campus in Orono, Maine, on May 24, 2026. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
“Platner needs to drop out ASAP – these are awful, credible allegations,” he posted. “Said on the pod after the (also credible) June NYT story that his biggest problem going forward would be credibility. It’s now abundantly clear that he just hasn’t been honest about his past and can’t be trusted as a candidate for office.”
Vietor defended Platner after Rep. Jake Auchincloss, D-Mass., who is Jewish, condemned the candidate’s Nazi-linked tattoo and Reddit posts as “disqualifying” in May.
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“Have you called or met with him to discuss it?” Vietor asked Auchincloss on X.
Vietor had also interviewed Platner after those scandals.
But he, too, reversed course on Monday night.
“This story is really bad, well-documented and credible, and obviously the right course of action for Platner is to drop out as soon as possible so that Maine democrats can get a replacement on the ballot,” he said.
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert and guests Jon Favreau, Jon Lovett & Tommy Vietor during Monday’s January 20, 2025 show. (Scott Kowalchyk/CBS via Getty Images)
Pfeiffer followed suit.
“The allegations against Graham Platner are well-documented, very credible, and highly disturbing. He should drop out ASAP,” he said, on X.
Lovett didn’t make a statement, but posted a clip of Monday’s episode of “Pod Save America,” where despite his apology, Vietor jumped straight back to politics and remarked that he was, “very worried now about the prospect of winning this seat” but said the Democratic Party, “could ultimately be in a stronger place politically.”
Fox News Digital reached out to Crooked Media, the parent company of “Pod Save America,” but did not hear back.
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Some not only failed to condemn Platner, but instead took offensive positions.
“Graham Platner may drop out. (I hope he doesn’t, but.) Meanwhile, the Abuser in Chief just keeps on keepin’ on,” author Stephen King wrote on X, referring to allegations against President Donald Trump over the years.
King followed-up with another post claiming everyone in politics in Washington, D.C. is corrupt.
“Tell you what–if you knew the whole truth about everyone in the Senate and House of Reps, those chambers would be dead empty. Jesus said, ‘Let him without sin cast the first stone.'”
Cenk Uygur, Founder and CEO of TYT attends The Young Turks (TYT) 20th Anniversary Celebration at YouTube Space LA on May 25, 2022 in Los Angeles, California. (Anna Webber/Getty Images for TYT)
Far-left media personality Cenk Uygur of The Young Turks spent much of Monday blaming everyone but Platner for the scandal, including the media and the “Israeli lobby.”
“Congratulations to national media on politically assassinating Graham Platner,” he said in one post. “If he drops out and Democratic Party tries to give us two candidates who are both for Israel and corporate pacs [sic], they’ll face a revolt like they’ve never seen. Days of bull—- false choices are over.”
Fox News Digital reached out to Uygur.
Ryan Grim, formerly of The Intercept, spent ages defending Platner online.
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“Democrats need people like Platner if they are going to come to terms with the true nature of our country, with what we have done to people at home and abroad, and pull together the coalition needed to heal and reshape it,” he said in a June post regarding an opinion piece that promoted Platner.
He reported on X Monday night that Platner “lost his base,” but did not address the rape allegations or his support for the candidate directly.
Grim did not return a Fox News Digital comment request.
Others prominent Democrats who abandoned the Platner ship include Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee Chair Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y.
