Left SPIRALS as Senate Candidate’s Scandals Mount — Trump-Collins Alliance Emerging

Liberty Check

• Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner faces explosive allegations from ex-girlfriends of violent behavior, rape fantasies, and heavy drinking—yet the left rallies behind him anyway
• Progressive elites Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, and Ro Khanna rush to defend a candidate with a Nazi-adjacent tattoo and disturbing PTSD excuses
• Republican Sen. Susan Collins demands accountability while Democrats circle the wagons around a deeply troubled nominee

A Democratic Senate candidate in Maine is crumbling under the weight of multiple explosive controversies—yet the progressive left is doubling down in a desperate bid to unseat a sitting Republican senator.

Graham Platner, a military veteran and oyster farmer challenging longtime Republican Sen. Susan Collins, held a rally Friday in Bar Harbor, Maine, where he dismissed mounting allegations as “politically motivated” and “false accusations.”

The allegations include inflammatory Reddit posts from a decade ago, a chest tattoo resembling a Nazi symbol that he only recently covered up, and new claims from ex-girlfriends describing a pattern of violent episodes, rape fantasies, and excessive drinking.

“When hurtful things I said on the internet a decade ago came out into the public as I shared my personal journey through PTSD and darkness of recovery and accountability and growth. Maine had my back,” Platner told supporters.

“Now, as every single piece of that past and journey gets dug up, litigated, and weaponized, you have my back. And when politically motivated, serious and false, false accusations are made against me. Maine, you have my back.”

Platner is running a far-left campaign backed by Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, and Rep. Ro Khanna of California. He defeated the Democratic establishment’s preferred candidate, two-term Gov. Janet Mills, who dropped out earlier this spring after trailing badly in fundraising and polling.

The race is one of a handful nationwide that could determine whether Republicans maintain their narrow Senate majority. Collins, a moderate Republican who occasionally votes against President Trump’s agenda, is seeking her sixth term in left-leaning Maine.

Platner has acknowledged battling post-traumatic stress disorder from multiple tours in Afghanistan and Iraq. He apologized last fall for controversial Reddit posts that surfaced after he launched his Senate campaign.

He claims he got the skull and crossbones tattoo in 2007 while drinking with fellow Marines in Croatia and only learned last year it resembled a Nazi symbol. But new allegations are raising questions about his timeline.

Rep. Ro Khanna, who organized Friday’s rally, defended Platner in an interview, saying the candidate had been in a “very dark period” after returning from combat.

“I’m more concerned about making it clear that we’re opposed to misogyny, those relationships were toxic and volatile, there’s no excuse for that,” Khanna said.

“I talked to Graham and he says he was at a very dark period, he had come back from two tours of duty in Iraq as an infantry man seeing violence and death. That doesn’t excuse it.”

Khanna added that Platner “really grew as a person when he came back to Maine and he was an oyster farmer and he found peace and he is ashamed of that period.”

“To me that suggests someone taking accountability and improving their lives and we need that redemption in this country. And I agree with a lot of his economic polices, that we should be taxing the billionaires, we should be focusing on the working class.”

Sen. Collins, fresh off casting her 10,000th consecutive Senate vote, responded to reporters’ questions about the allegations Friday.

“The allegations in the latest story are troubling,” Collins said.

“And I believe that Graham Platner has a lot of questions to answer.”

Outside groups aligned with Collins have been running ads highlighting Platner’s controversies, while the Republican National Committee blasted the candidate on social media.

“Graham Platner says his violent and erratic past is being ‘weaponized’ against him. Platner said he would rape someone to show his dominance and ‘rape was about power,'” the RNC research team wrote on X.

Meanwhile, Gov. Janet Mills’ name remains on the primary ballot, and sources confirm she’s receiving calls urging her to re-enter the race. But there’s no active campaign effort on her behalf at this time.

Khanna predicted Platner would prevail in the primary.

“The great thing about democracy, you can run full steam ahead, you can kind of run ambiguously like Janet Mills, you can keep your name on that campaign. That’s why I love American democracy,” Khanna said.

“Platner is going to come out victorious. And we need to unite and realize that the goal is defeating the the Susan Collins. And everyone from Schumer to Sanders is unified around that goal.”

Platner’s campaign claimed over 600 people attended the rally and that they raised $200,000 in the past 24 hours—their strongest fundraising day since Mills suspended her campaign.

Maine voters interviewed before the rally were divided.

Jeff from Waterboro said Platner has “so much damage” and predicted Democrats would need to find someone else if they wanted to win.

“It’s not a good situation,” he said.

“I think it’s somebody who shouldn’t be in the mix. I am a conservative but he’s just got so much damage, if the Democrats want to have a winner, they’re going to have to find somebody else. He’s not the guy. It’s just too much.”

But Ellen from Acton, a registered Republican, said she believed Platner could still do a good job despite his flaws.

“Is he a perfect person, heck no,” she said.

“I think he will go in and do a good job.”

Americans deserve better.