What A Day - Can Democrats Solve The Platner Problem?

Episode Date: July 8, 2026

Maine Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner burst into the national spotlight last year with a campaign centering around his supposed working class bonafides and promises to fight the establishment. He easily won his primary despite multiple scandals, ranging from problematic Reddit posts to “unsettling” behavior from past partners. Then, on Monday, Politico published the most serious allegation yet — that Platner allegedly broke into a partner’s home while drunk and sexually assaulted her. He denied the allegations and dropped out of the race late Wednesday evening. There are a lot of questions about what comes next. To find out more, we spoke with Dave Weigel, political reporter at Semafor.And in headlines: President Donald Trump threatens to unleash more military strikes against Iran, a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer shot and killed a man in Texas, and a federal judge orders $5 million to be released to E. Jean Carroll in her sex abuse and defamation case against Trump.Show Notes: Dave Weigel's work – https://www.semafor.com/author/david-weigel Call Congress – 202-224-3121 Subscribe to the What A Day Newsletter – https://tinyurl.com/y4y2e9jy What A Day – YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/@whatadaypodcast Follow us on Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/crookedmedia/ For a transcript of this episode, please email [e-mail]

Even if he drops out while we're talking, he dragged his feet longer than a lot of Democrats wanted to. I talked to one of the Democrats, Nareef Shah, who wants to, who might want to replace him. He hasn't declared yet. He was saying the best moment for him to drop out was when this started. The next best would be any minute now. I'm Jane Koston, and this is Water Day. The show that thinks President Donald Trump is definitely at the top of his game. And definitely not an 80-year-old man who is losing his marbles. For example, here he is at the NATO Summit in Turkey-A today.

I told the story yesterday, we had 111 missile shot by the Islamic Republic of Japan. Like I said, top of his game. On today's show, we talk about Graham Platner, and what's next for the critical race for Maine Senate seat? Before we get into all that, here's what we're following today, Wednesday, July 8th. To me, I think it's over. I don't want to deal with them anymore. There's scum. You know what scum is? They're scum, they're sick people.

Trump did a lot of ranting about Iran on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Turkey-A-t today. He threatened to unleash more military strikes against Iran after saying that Iranian attack signaled the end of the ceasefire. But he later said the most recent exchange of fire with the Islamic Republic did not herald a return to full-scale war. Though to me, this seems pretty war-adjacent. His comments come after assaults on commercial shipping and the Strait of Hormuz escalated into an exchange of fire on Iranian and U.S. military targets. A U.S. immigration and customs enforcement officer shot and killed a man in Houston, Texas, after he attempted to evade arrest in his vehicle on Tuesday, the agency said.

The Department of Homeland Security wrote in a statement that the man, a Mexican national, was targeted in an operation because he was living in the country without legal permission. DHS said he ignored commands and attempted to ram an agent who fired his weapon in self-defense. According to DHS, the man's car struck an ICE vehicle. He died after being transported to a hospital. To be clear, all of this information is from the Department of Homeland Security. So there's that. The shooting comes amid a newly intensified push by the Trump administration to carry out its mass deportations agenda.

During the five-day period at the end of June, ICE arrested more than 10,000 people. Trump is going to have to say goodbye to the $5 million set aside for E. Jean Carroll. which he absolutely does not want to pay. Sad. The money was set aside after a jury determined Trump sexually abused her in 1996 and defamed her after she revealed the attack. Today, a federal judge ruled that money must be released to Carol with interest. Carol's lawyers requested the disbursement after the Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal of the 2023 civil verdict. Unsurprisingly, Trump resumed defamatory attacks against Carol while his lawyers considered asking the court to reconsider its decision.

For someone who doesn't want to fork over money to Carol, he sure loves defaming her. Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky met with Trump on the sidelines of the NATO summit, as Russia and Ukraine continue to trade attacks. During their meeting, Trump said the U.S. would give a license to Ukraine so it could manufacture Patriot Air Defense systems to help counter Russian missile attacks.

The tone of the meeting was markedly different from their, um, acrimonious encounter at the white. White House last year, and even Trump took notice. We've actually developed a good relationship. It's hard to believe, right? From the Oval Office to now, we've developed. I think we've developed a very good relationship. Trump said he believes a deal on ending the wars on the horizon,

and that the U.S. would, quote, work on some kind of security package to provide Ukraine. And that's the news. Let's talk about Graham Platner. Last year, the main Democratic Senate candidate burst into the national spotlight with a campaign that centers around his supposed working-class bonifides and promises to fight the establishment, even within his own party. His pretty campaign story got dirty, fast.

First, there were the Reddit posts and the Nazi tattoo. Then there were credible allegations of, quote, unsettling behavior from past partners. But he won his primary anyway, thanks to a base of supporters who believed that he would challenge Democratic politics as usual. Then, on Monday, Politico published the most serious allegation yet. that Platner allegedly broke into a partner's home while drunk and sexually assaulted her. Since then, most of his big backers, like Vermont Independent Senator Bernie Sanders, have withdrawn their support.

As of our recording on Wednesday afternoon, Plattner is still in the race, but there are a lot of questions about what comes next. To find out more, I spoke with Dave Weigle. He is a political reporter at Semaphore. Dave, welcome back to Wadaday. Oh, it's good to be back. Thank you. So, Grant Platner has had a weird campaign. campaign, to say the least. Stories about his past started dropping pretty quickly as he started hitting kind of the national sphere, and they just kept getting worse. So I feel like an obvious question is, how did this happen? Did his team just not vet him at all? The vetting question

is multi-layered because there is vetting that campaigns do. Wall Street Journal was first to report. I wish I was first, but they were first to report that the recruiters who found him, They found him in part by going and seeing this video about his oyster business, which you can still see on YouTube. They paid for a quick vetting. They did not get into his entire background. A campaign manager, they hired, talked to his family, talked to his wife, I should say, and heard from her about his problems in the past with women. Not all of it. Heard that he had been texting after women.

And the campaign basically stayed committed to Platner with this overarching theory that, yes, This guy had made some mistakes, but lots of people have made mistakes. And the Democratic Party has a problem with judging, especially white men, white veterans who've made mistakes in their life. He should be forgiven just like lots of people are forgiven for screwing up in their life. That's the vetting that they knew about. What has hurt him in the final days of, well, it might be the final days of his campaign, are accusations of sexual assault.

That would not come up in a vetting. There's no vetter who interviews everybody's ex-girlfriends and asks. If you're hiring some of the FBI, you don't comb their entire history for questions about their sexual behavior in the past. That seems to be what's fatal. That wouldn't come up about a vetting. But that destroyed the narrative, which Morris Katz, who's key strategist for the campaign, believed in, which is this guy made mistakes and it's a redemption story. He's being redeemed, just like the whole state needs to be redeemed. That might have worked with, I don't know, 70% fewer scandals.

Just for background, that is not how it normally works for people who are getting recruited to run for the Senate. Like typically, they're not like, wow, you look great on YouTube, let's ask a couple of questions and send you out there. Like, typically, it's a big effort to recruit someone and then to check in to everything about them. Yes, and you're aware that other people are doing opposition research on you. If you're getting into the race, if you're Janet Mills, who Chuck Schumer convinced to run, ran a kind of lackluster campaign, very lackluster campaign dropped out. was aware that Republicans were going through her entire history, and she's in her 70s and she had a history as an attorney as an attorney general. They were going to portray her as crooked in a couple of ways, ask questions about possible drug use. They had a lot to go into.

That's pretty common, that you are ready to be totally combed and possibly humiliated by the vetting process. Anyone who's jumped into a vice presidential contest has had this experience, that's the highest level. Typically what happens in politics is that people run for one office, they get a little bit of a grilling, they run for a higher office, they get a bigger one because more reporters are interested, more of the opposition team is interested, Republicans are not doing oppo books on everyone running for state rep. They are when you're running for Senate and Congress. So, yeah, unusual. But there is the sense that floated over all of this, that the world had changed, that Democrats were too antsy about people's personal lives and voters who had in Maine, in Maine, especially in the second district voted for Trump, 40-some percent of state voted for Trump, that voters have just been less censorious, less worried about people's personal lives. I think that was a very comfortable myth for people to tell themselves. Because the other progressive priority race for Senate this year is Abdul al-Said in Michigan. Part of his appeal has always been.

He's a high-achieving, smart guy who married his college sweetheart in Chick-C college is a Muslim who doesn't drink. Implicit in that is that you're not going to find skeletons in his closet. So there was a lot of excuse-making and cope for the fact that Platner had them. We'll get back to my conversation with Dave in a moment for more on what happens if Platner drops out. But if you like the show, make sure to subscribe. They have a five-star review on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Watch us on YouTube and share with your friends.

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thicker, stronger, faster-growing hair in three to six months with Nutrafol. For a limited time, Nutrafol is offering our listeners $10 off your first month subscription and free shipping when you visit NutraFold.com and enter promo code day 10. That's NutraFold.com, spelled NU-2,000.com, spelled NU-2, T-R-A-F-O-L-com, promo code day 10. Let's get back to my conversation with Dave Weigel. Plattener's campaign has run into a ton of issues, even before this Politico piece that broke earlier this week, thanks to this lackluster vetting and this whole theory of change. But for months, it seemed like nothing could shake his support both on the ground and with

national Democrats. But it seems like these most recent allegations of sexual assault are too much. Platner has denied the allegations, but he's also losing a lot of support. I think he needs to drop out. He should probably drop out. It would be better for everybody else if he drops out. Why is he dragging his feet? So even if he drops out while we're talking, he dragged his feet longer than a lot of Democrats wanted to. I talked to one of the Democrats, Narif Shah, who wants to, who might run or replace them. He hasn't declared yet. He was saying the best moment for him to drop out was when this started, the next best would be any minute. now. Why do he stay in the race? Well, in talking about this forgiveness idea and the Democrats think that there needs to be a little bit less, not scrutiny, but a little bit less Puritanism

about people's lives, that's something that Bernie Sanders believes, and that's something that Graham Platner believes. And Sanders was very comfortable arguing that the corporate media, as he calls it, and there's a lot of corporate ownership of the media, he's not wrong, obsesses over a scandal so it doesn't have to cover policy. I got the sense talking to Platner over the last year. He agrees with that. I interviewed him after the first stories about his Reddit posts were published by CNN. That was the argument I was saying was his argument, that I've made mistakes. Does the Democratic Party really want to be saying you cannot serve in office if you've ever screwed up and never had a dark period of your life where you said stupid things online? That is the Bernie opinion. I think

that is the Platner opinion, that I should be allowed some grace. And also, you guys in the media care about this, but voters don't. That's also not crazy. Every candidate, who's out there, gets feedback from voters, and I saw some of this myself when I was in Maine. The people coming on for Platner agreed with that. They resented that they would open their phone or open the newspaper or watch TV, and instead of a Platner speech about the importance of the labor movement, you'd hear questions about his personal life. They really hated that. They thought that was unfair. And there was a bit of 2016 hangover. They remember seeing the Access Hollywood stories and thinking, well, Trump can't win anymore and then Trump winning. And I do think there has been this

overall derangement for both parties about what it is the constitutes a scandal. In talking to Democrats around the Platter thing, too, is when Republicans said they were offended by something Platner did, and they did a lot. Look at this Reddit post. How dare he say that? The honest answer I'd hear from Democrats is, we know Republicans don't believe that. If this party believe that, they would not have gotten behind Donald Trump three times. If they really believe these things were offensive, they would not be going on these podcasts or people are saying offensive. They don't, who cares was the overall response? And it was eubristic. And the classic political hubris. So I'm saying this now on Wednesday. It seems pretty unlikely that Platner will just stay in the

race. CNN is already reporting that he's, quote, trying to navigate an exit from the race. So you mentioned that there are already people who want to get in. If he does drop out, what is the process for replacing Platonor with another candidate? Yeah, Maine Democrats have a lot of freedom in selecting a new candidate. If they wanted to, the party committee, the state party committee, people who are permanent activists whose names are not famous, could just meet and say, we have a new candidate, hop-a-miss candidate. They are clearly leaning towards some sort of open process that would involve candidates doing interviews, candidates showing up in public, candidates campaigning in some way. Shah, who I mentioned once at least one debate between these

candidates and then some voting process. Who'd be involved in the voting process? That's even TBD. Would it be people who are Democratic delegates who showed up at the convention a couple months ago? Would it be a caucus with multiple sites where the party has to count the ballots? This would all have to happen before July 27th. But that's the answer is that this is being shaped by the process. There are candidates who want to run saying, if I run, I hope it's like this. Nobody wants it to be a closed door meeting that picks a candidate because all this also, I mentioned 2016. The 2016 hangover the idea among Democrats that when the party selects a candidate, it is bad, it's anti-democratic, very powerful for, I think, multiple wings of the party, and they want to avoid that impression.

So we're in a weird moment where a couple of months ago, Platner was seen as Democrats' best shot to unseat Republican Senator Susan Collins. But even before the Politico stuff came out, that was kind of up in the air. The polling had started to change because voters heard about all of this stuff and started to go, what does this entire debacle do for Democrats' chances in Maine this November if he were to drop out and there would be a new candidate? Yeah, I hate relying on betting markets, but I agree with them in this case that you saw people put more bets on a Democrat beating Susan Collins when this latest iteration of the scandal happened because there is a precedent, not a lot of precedent

for a party ditching a candidate, putting in a new guy who wins. There's precedent for that not working? There's precedent for it working. We have an example from 2002 where Bob Torricelli is running for re-election as Senator from New Jersey. He decides he can't win. He drops out and is replaced. And the replacement, Frank Lautenberg, wins when it was much closer to the election. We were in a much different media environment. They're looking now at what would happen if on July 28th, we have a new candidate. That new candidate would get some vetting in the media. But the probably be somebody who ran for governor and they got that vetting already. What if they're reintroduced from this campaign for governor, or they ran TV ads, people kind of knew who they are,

and they're more of a generic Democrat against Collins. The partisanship of Maine right now, the popular Donald Trump right now, suggests that most Mainers would like to elect a Democrat. So they actually feel pretty good about what would happen when the cameras pack up and leave. Dave, as always, thank you so much for joining me. Thanks for having me. That was my conversation with Dave Weigel, political reporter at Semaphore. before we go. We are somehow only halfway through 2026, and what a six months it's been. Trump started a war in the Middle East just to feel something. Elon Musk became the first trillionaire, and the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool turned into a metaphor for democracy.

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