Ron Klain defends Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner's Nazi tattoo, sparking backlash from Jewish groups and Republican critics on social media.
A woman claiming to be a former partner of U.S. Senate candidate Graham Platner alleges infidelity and says his Nazi tattoo story changed over time.
Maine Senate Dem nominee Graham Platner says he kept his Nazi tattoo to remind himself “the US was the evil bad guy” while he was deployed overseas, according to a woman who says she dated him while he was engaged to someone else in 2021.
Graham Platner is the embodiment of performative left-wing populism, whose empty rhetoric makes former Vice President Kamala Harris sound weighty by comparison.
Sens. Chuck Schumer (N.Y.) and Ed Markey (Mass.) are just the latest high-profile Democrats to throw their support behind scandal-plagued Senate candidate Graham Platner.The progressive oyster farmer from Maine won the Democratic nomination Tuesday night, a result that was widely expected after Gov. Janet Mills (D) suspended her campaign in April. Despite Mills still appearing on the ballot, Platner managed to secure 72% of the vote share, setting up a general election against five-term incumbent Sen. Susan Collins (R). 'In November, Maine voters will elect Graham Platner, and we will win a Senate majority.'Prior to Election Night, Platner had received the endorsements of Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.), and Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) and Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.). Many moderate Democrats have been hesitant to endorse the anti-establishment populist over the course of his candidacy due to his troubling past, including a now-covered-up chest tattoo that resembled a symbol used by Nazi concentration camp guards, sexually explicit messages he sent to several women while married, and past Reddit posts in which he downplayed sexual assault in the military. Although Schumer initially backed Mills, he and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) released a joint statement on Wednesday saying, “In November, Maine voters will elect Graham Platner, and we will win a Senate majority.” Gillibrand reiterated her position when asked by reporters about Platner’s victory. “We are going to win Maine, and we are going to flip the Senate,” she said.RELATED: Graham Platner trots out wife to deal with his extramarital sexting scandal, giving some Democrats the ick Joe Raedle/Getty ImagesAfter Platner clinched the nomination, Markey posted on his X account: “We need more leaders in Washington who will stand up to corporate power, fight for working families, and take bold action on the climate crisis. That’s what Graham Platner is fighting for in Maine. And that’s how he will help Democrats take back our Senate majority.”The senator’s statement stands in contrast with his awkward CNN interview last Thursday during which he evaded endorsing Platner while praising his campaign and policies to anchor Boris Sanchez. "So why not say that you endorse him?" Sanchez asked.Markey responded, “In my opinion, he has taken the issues and he's galvanized a grassroots movement all across Maine. People are responding at the town meetings, they are up, they're energized, and in my opinion he is on a pathway to victory in the state of Maine."Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey (D) also proclaimed she would support Platner against Collins even as she denounced his past comments.“I’m disgusted by what [Platner] posted, and I’ve been disgusted by some of his other, you know, behaviors and antics. But here’s the thing: You know, come November, there’s going to be a clear choice,” she said. “There’s going to be Susan Collins on the one hand, who has stood with Trump.”While both Sens. Peter Welch (D-Vt.) and Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) stopped short of official endorsements, Welch expressed his support for the voters’ decision, while Schatz is working to raise funds for Platner’s campaign.“He’s got a lot of controversy around him, but that’s been out there. The Democratic voters in Maine were fully aware of it, and they gave him a very solid Democratic victory in the primary,” Welch said.Sen. Tina Smith (D-Minn.) followed suit, posting on X early Wednesday morning: “Graham Platner made a passionate case for loving and serving Maine. Powerful.”"I’ve made mistakes in my life, mistakes that I regret, that I live with and that I continue to learn from. And I’m still far from perfect," Platner said in his victory speech Tuesday night.Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!
Politics, religion, movies, and generational gripes collide in a wide-ranging conversation that ends with Robby Soave preparing for his trip to Ukraine.
President Donald Trump pulled back threatened military strikes against Iran, a stark reversal that came just hours after he vowed to hit the Islamic Republic “VERY HARD” and threatened to seize its oil infrastructure.
Donald Trump has canceled an attack against Iran that was scheduled to take place Thursday evening.The president in a post on Truth Social suggested that the two countries had come to an agreement.“Discussions and final points have been, in both concept and great detail, approved by all parties involved, including the United States, Israel, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar, Turkey, Pakistan, Bahrain, Kuwait, Jordan, Egypt, and others,” Trump wrote. “The Naval Blockade will remain in full force and effect until this Transaction is finalized—Time and place of the signing to be announced shortly,” he added.The markets immediately reacted to Trump’s announcement: Stock indexes soared and oil prices plummeted.The Trump administration’s negotiating strategy with Tehran has promised peace deals week after week to no avail. The wildly unpopular Middle East conflict is currently in its fourth month.U.S. forces had already bombed Iran through two consecutive nights this week in the White House’s latest attempt to force Iranian leadership into negotiations to end the war. The attacks occurred despite the obvious risks of escalation.“If we need to negotiate with bombs, we will negotiate with bombs,” Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Wednesday. “We will strike them hard tonight and hopefully Iran makes a good decision.”The development comes in the immediate wake of a violent threat Trump made against Iran earlier Thursday, in which he pledged that the U.S. would strike Iran “VERY HARD TONIGHT” and would further take control of Iranian oil assets and infrastructure, including Kharg Island.Negotiators worked through Wednesday night in Tehran to iron out the specifications of the peace deal, which both Qatari and Iranian leadership believed would satisfy the White House’s expectations, reported Axios. Insiders that spoke with the publication said that the new plan narrowed in on three main issues: focusing on the mechanism for releasing Iran’s frozen assets, arranging to reopen the Strait of Hormuz during a 60-day ceasefire period, and creating a roadmap for negotiating Iran’s nuclear program during the ceasefire.This story has been updated.