What A Day - Democrats' Platner Problem

Episode Date: June 8, 2026

Maine voters will head to the polls tomorrow to decide who will take on five-term Republican Senator Susan Collins. And somehow, Graham Platner still has a sizable lead in the Democratic primary. You probably know a few things about the presumptive Democratic nominee for Maine’s Senate seat. He served in the Marine Corps and now runs an oyster farm. And you’ve probably heard a lot of other things about Platner over the last few weeks – like about a Nazi tattoo, or his allegedly abusive behavior towards past romantic partners. None of the new information is good. But will it matter to Maine voters? And more importantly, should it? To find out, we spoke with Jon Lovett. He’s co-host of Crooked Media’s Pod Save America.And in headlines, President Donald Trump abruptly ends his interview with NBC’s Meet the Press, Iran and Israel trade fire for the first time since the U.S. agreed to a ceasefire with Tehran, and Chinese President Xi Jinping visits North Korea for the first time in seven years.Show Notes: Check out Pod Save America – www.youtube.com/@podsaveamerica 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 visit crooked.com/whataday

When an establishment says, sorry were your only choice, people have a way of telling you to fuck off. I'm Jane Koston, and this is what a day, the show that was wondering how Republicans would find a way to blame the screw worm outbreak that's devastating the cattle industry on Democrats. But Kansas Republican Senator Roger Marshall figured it out Monday on Newsmax. We've been through this before. We eradicated the screw worm in 1966, and we'll talk about this. But this is another thing we can thank Joe Biden for, that when millions of

people came out of Central America, they brought this screwworm with him. Not only is that not true. Actually, we stopped investing in the proven methods to stop screwworms of the last two decades, but also, it's June of 26. Time to find a new skate president. On today's show, I talked to John Lovett about Tuesday's main Democratic Senate primary and the grand platinum of it all. Before we get into all that, here's what we're following today, Monday, June 8th.

What changed because you insisted no new wars? President Donald Trump was on NBC's Meet the Press Sunday, where he dismissed the idea that starting the war with Iran this year betrayed his no new wars campaign promise. While we've officially hit the 100-day mark since the start of the conflict, and it has shaken the global economy, driven energy prices up around the world, made many basics more expensive and killed thousands of people.

And Sunday, Israel and Iran traded fire for the first time since the U.S. agreed to a ceasefire with Tehran two months ago. As of Monday afternoon, the strikes appear to have stopped, but both countries warned they are ready to launch retaliatory attacks if provoked. Things got pretty heated during that meet-the-press interview, and apparently Trump couldn't handle the heat, so he got out of the kitchen. Or in this case, a barn in Wisconsin. NBC's Kristen Welker pressed an increasingly agitated Trump for evidence to support his claim that California's recent primary election. elections were rigged. California's notoriously prolonged vote count has been a magnet for election conspiracy theories. And Trump has claimed without evidence that Democrats are rigging the election, because as more

votes are counted, Republican vote totals are, quote, dropping fast. And no surprise, that brought Trump to his own complaints about 2020. You have more evidence. There's more evidence than ever presented. Let's talk about your elections in this country. We're like a third world country. Your elections are crooked, and you're crooked, and Mr. Press is crooked, and so is ABC and CBS and CNN. Your one-sided crooked networks, right, let's call it quits because I've had enough.

Thank you, darling. Have a good time. Have a good time? To no one's surprised, the Trump appointed top federal prosecutor in Los Angeles said Friday that his office had opened, quote, multiple election fraud investigations. Chinese president, Xi Jinping and North Korean leader Kim Jong- Moon held a closely watched summit in North Korea today. Xi's first visit to North Korea in seven years is likely an attempt to reassert Beijing's unique influence over its socialist neighbor. According to an online report by China State Broadcaster, Xi expressed China's willingness

to expand cooperation in a wide range of areas, including trade, agriculture, construction, and technology. Remember that upcoming Ultimate Fighting Championship fight card that's set for the White House South Lawn on President Trump's 80th birthday? because I know you've been so looking forward to it. Yeah, well, a federal lawsuit filed Saturday is trying to stop that atrocity from happening. The suit contends that the Trump administration's authorization of the UFC event is unlawful and violates national park service regulations.

The White House, however, said in a statement that the legal challenge doesn't have any legs and that the event is, quote, no different than the various other White House-hosted events in the South Lawn and properly permitted events on the ellipse and national mall throughout the Here. No different. And that's the news. Let's talk about Grand Platner. Tomorrow, Maine voters will head to the polls to decide who will take on five-term Republican Senator Susan Collins. In his race against Governor Janet Mills, Platner still has a sizable lead in the Democratic primary. You probably know a few things about the presumptive Democratic nominee for Maine Senate seat. He runs an oyster farm. He served at the Marine Corps doing three

tours of duty in Iraq. But you've probably heard a lot of other things about Plattenor over the last few weeks, like his Nazi tattoo, or about shitty things he said on Reddit about rape victims, for example. And last week, the New York Times detailed allegations that Platner was intimidating and even physically aggressive with past romantic partners. None of the new information is good, but will it matter to main voters, voters who want to take back the Senate? And should it? To find out, I spoke to John Love it. He's co-host of Crooked Media's Pod Save America. John, welcome back to what today. Great to be back.

Tomorrow, Maine Democrats will decide if they want to vote for Graham Platner, who has been through a bunch of scandals since announcing his Senate primary. But he's still doing very well in polls, and a lot of party Democrats are standing by him. Why do you think that is? I think a couple things. One, and probably most importantly, the most recent And I would argue, worst story for Grand Platner broke a week before Maine Democrats had their primary. And after Janet Mills suspended her campaign, and all Janet Mills has said in the days since the story broke is, well, I'm technically still on the ballot, which is, I'm not sure the purpose of saying that to get a few extra votes while losing and signaling that Grand Platner is weak without doing anything to change the situation. situation. I think there's the conversation Maine voters are having and there's the conversation watchers are having and they're sort of disconnected. Right. Okay. So walk me through the conversation

you think Maine voters are having because I think outside of Maine, people did not know who he was when he announced his run for the Senate. Like his political experience was serving as the planning board chair and harbor master for his hometown of Sullivan, which seems lovely. Maine's governor, Janet Mills, as you mentioned, was kind of supposed to be the Democratic frontrunner. Why are Maine voters, it seems like sticking with him. Well, first of all, we don't know that. Right. We just don't know because right now Democrats who are going to vote in the primary, he's really running on a post and maybe we'll see in the results that come through tomorrow how much frustration there is, right, if a lot of people show up and vote for Janet Mills,

even though she's not really in the race. I think that would tell us something about how main voters feel about this. I think we don't really have that much good polling or any good polling since this story broke. I think we don't have any, actually. And so what we have is people that clearly have metabolized the Reddit story, the tattoo story, and are willing to give a person a chance who says they've grown and they've changed. What happens if they keep saying they've grown and they've changed and then you keep seeing bad stories? They're like, oh, that's yet another thing.

I've grown and changed. I've grown and changed so much. Actually, each of these stories only proves how much I've grown and changed because it's yet another thing I had to stop doing. But why do you think you got so much support in the first place? I think two things are happening. One is what people are looking for and the other is what the Democratic Party is offering. So let's talk about what the Democratic Party is offering first, which was, I think, in the classic of the current mainstream Democratic Party, a tolerable and very old classic Democrat who is the safe choice and who represents an establishment that people are really frustrated by. Janet Mills. Janet Mills, the governor. And who would, how old would she have been at the end of her term?

Old. old. She's 78 right now. She was she was she's, she's, uh, would be in her mid 80s at the end of her term. She promised to run one term fine. And so then you're said, okay, well, this election is so important because we have to defeat Susan Collins. But then the next election, which presumably will also be important, we're going to have to get somebody new anyway. But this time we're going to, we're going to, because we don't trust ourselves to find a new candidate. We have to use the kind of the old guard to try to defeat Susan Collins at a time when people are clamoring for a different direction who want, you know,

fresh ideas and new voices and someone that acknowledges that politics has not been delivering for people in a way that leaves them pretty cynical and turned off. And so that's what the establishment offered. And then you have this younger guy who's been in the military, had traumatic experiences in the military, built himself back up and who just was an eloquent and charismatic speaker about why normal people are turned off by the political system and want something different. And that was really captivating. And when people feel as though, and I think this applies in all kinds of democratic elections,

when an establishment says, sorry, we're your only choice, people have a way of telling you to fuck off. We'll get back to my conversation with John in a moment, but we will never tell you to F off. If you like the show, make sure to subscribe. Leave a five-star review on Spotify and Apple Podcasts, watch us on YouTube, and share with your friends. More to come after some ads. What a Day is brought to you by AuraFraim. Celebrate Father's Day by sharing some of your favorite photos with your dad on an orafram.

My dad is not a big photo guy, but he loves to take photos. From the Hawk who lives in his front yard to his latest renovation project, He loves sharing the world around him with his friends and family, so an orrame is a perfect gift. With ore frames, you get free unlimited storage. Add as many photos and videos as you want. And you can preload photos before chips. Keep adding from anywhere, anytime.

Oro makes it easy to shop for dad. Named number one by wirecutter, you can save now by visitingoraFrames.com. For unlimited time, listeners can get $35 off select frames with code Watt. That's A-U-R-A-Frames.com promo code Wad. Support the show by mentioning us at checkout. Terms and conditions apply. What a day is brought to you by Upwork.

Hiring help shouldn't be a headache or a drain on your budget. Upwork makes it easy to hire specialized freelancers quickly, so you can get the expertise you need now, without weeks of recruiting or a full-time hire. The fastest growing businesses aren't doing more. They're delegating smarter. Upwork helps you bring in expert freelance help fast, so you can delegate and keep moving.

Upwork is a one-stop platform to find, hire, and pay expert freelancers across web and software development, data and analytics, marketing, business operations, and more. Upwork helps grow your business by giving you fast access to specialized channels across 125 plus categories, so you can fill skill gaps, launch projects faster, and scale support up or down without committing to full-time headcount. You can browse profiles, review past work, and get help scoping the role so you can hire with confidence and get started quickly. It's free to sign up and posting a job is easy. Visit Upwork.com right now and post your job.

for free. That is upwork.com to connect with top talent ready to help your business grow. That's upw-o-r-k.com. Let's get back to my conversation with John Lovett. Plattenor's issues to a national audience first started in October when these old problematic, I hate using that term, but let's say problematic Reddit posts came to light. And of course, there have been more issues that have kept coming. And you've got the New York Times reporting you just mentioned, you've got the Nazi tattoo. He said he didn't know. It was a Nazi tattoo. You've got allegations of a bunch of other stuff. But the context he's running in is that Donald Trump is president. Has Trump totally scrambled our political priors? Like, we went from an era in which, like,

Howard Dean's screaming was like, well, we can't have that. To now it's like, is there a line? What is the line? How do we try to figure that out? So I think there's a big difference. And to me, the big difference is on the Republican side, people like Donald Trump, in part because he's an unrepentant asshole. But that's a perk. Yeah. That's a selling. That's a selling feature. Thomas Massey had a quote about his loss that I thought was really smart and interesting. He said, I thought that I was winning because people wanted someone with my libertarian views. It turns out they were just voting for the craziest person, and now he's getting out-competed by Trump. With Platner, I actually think what's happening is people are, like, what is the debate among

Democrats broadly, right? Yes, it's caustic and often unproductive, but at root it is about whether or not he's an asshole, whether or not a person, whether or not his being sorry is enough to justify giving someone the responsibility of being a sender. Can a person grow beyond the asshole that they had been, right? That's what Democrats are asking. So nobody wants Graham Platiner because of the Reddit post, because of the tattoo. I mean, maybe there's people out there, but that's not what Democratic voters are saying, right?

And certainly it wouldn't be because he was a bad boyfriend and possibly a boyfriend who grabbed an ex-girlfriend by the wrist and shoved her into a room. Like, that's not a selling point. It's more, A, are these things disqualifying for him as a candidate? it and B, are they going to cost him the race? Something else that's been interesting about Platner is that a lot of times if you watch his campaign events, like obviously he's going after Republicans, but he's going after Democrats, too. And I've seen some arguments on the left that Platner and everything that he's had to kind of come

to terms with actually makes him more real and that his controversies make him more appealing than so-called, quote, upper-class ninnies. This idea of like, well, you know, this is better than some McKinsey, Deloitte, Democratic establishment candidate, is this kind of some sort of like left-wing populism at work? Because you're saying, like, oh, people don't like him because of these issues. But there is a sense in people generally online that it's like, oh, you know, we all have tattoos, we regret.

And we've all done bad things. Like there's this idea of like the fact that he's not practiced makes him better. This is where I feel like the online hyper-engaged debate is very silly. and one I'm not super interested in participating in. It's a lot of people fighting their factional battles, making claims about what people wants, even though they're not there. Especially talking about the working class

while definitely not being a part of it. Right. And it's just like, yes, I am annoyed by the kind of running for president since they were seven smartest kidding class, no hair out of place, no mistakes, perfect resume. I have been annoyed by those people my entire life. There is a lot of people who aren't that and also who don't have these toxic and terrible stories in their lives. And by the way, there are also people who can speak eloquently about what people are facing in a way that doesn't sound like a politician who manage to get from childhood to adulthood without these kinds of allegations.

So I find that all a bit like of a cope and of a kind of, I don't. know, like a fan fiction about what people are like. So with all of this, the bigger context to me is that Democrats want to win the Senate. Democrats want to win the Senate, like, real bad. And I think still, Platner might be Democrats' best chance to oust means long-time Republican Senator Susan Collins, who has been the lightly boring white whale of Democrats for pretty much the entire time I've been writing about politics. What do you think Platner needs to do if he wins tomorrow to win over main voters in the general?

What's all of this still swirling? I think he has to, first of all, deal with the fact that he has lost a lot of trust because we've had so many cycles of him explaining how he's changed and he's grown from the tattoo to the Reddit post to now this terrible story about his past relationships. And I think a big question mark is if there are more stories and what he does. if there are more stories. But Maine is a place where you can probably talk to most of the people whose votes you need, and he's a very capable and charismatic speaker who has really resonated for that reason. And then outside of Maine, I think there's a lot of like online discourse about whether he should have been the candidate, whether he shouldn't have been. If he is, And what is our responsibility here?

And we can all spend our days online, kind of arguing about whether it should have been Janet Mills or not or whether people were right about Grand Platner all along. I think the threshold question is, would you rather have a Democratic majority with Grant Platner in the Senate? Or would you rather have a Republican majority with Susan Collins in the Senate? Now, if you have come to the conclusion that Graham Platner, his conduct is so deplorable that you don't believe he should be elected to the point that you would rather have Susan Collins or Republican majority. I understand that. I don't agree, given the stakes for the country.

And once you get beyond your own personal feelings about it, your own either disgust or frustration or whatever it may be, the question is, do we want a Democratic majority? And if we do, I think it behooves us to spend less time lamenting and fighting our little factional beefs and claiming you were right all the long than figuring out the best way to help. Maybe you don't want to help in the main race, but I would say posting about how annoyed you are by the whole thing probably is unproductive in the long run. John, as always, thanks for joining me. Thanks for having me.

That was my conversation with John Levitt, co-host of Potsave America. Before we go, Stacey Abrams wants to look towards the future with hope and solutions. because corruption works best when we forget that we the people are in charge. In her latest episode of Assembly Required, she's talking with experts about state's rights and the power we have at the state level to lead the forefront of civil rights and representative democracy. Check out Assembly Required every Tuesday on YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts. That's all for today. If you like the show, make sure you subscribe, leave a review.

Good luck to New Yorkers in their efforts to walk through Midtown Manhattan tonight and tell your friends to listen. if you're into reading, and not just about how Donald Trump has decided to grace game three of the NBA finals with his presence. And now multiple blocks around Madison Square Garden will be closed off, and the watch party outside the arena has been canceled, like me. What Today is also a nightly newsletter. Check it out and subscribe at cricket.com slash subscribe. I'm Jane Koston, and here's hoping that the collective powers of Jalen Brunson and Carl Anthony Towns will be enough to ward off the bad vibes of Donald Trump. What Today is a production of Crooked Media. Our show is produced. by Caitlin Plummer, Emily Four, Erica Morrison, and Adrian Hill.

Our team includes Haley Jones, Greg Walters, Matt Berg, Joseph Dutra, Johanna Case, and Desmond Taylor. Our music is by Kyle Murdoch and Jordan Cantor. We had helped today from the Associated Press. Our production staff is proudly unionized with the Writers Guild of America East.