Platner on Chris Hayes tonight.

and those vibes have gotten stronger over the past months. I certainly want us to defeat Collins, but I don't want another Eric Swalwell debacle.

sister’s been on the shows, I guess about a book,

Thinking of Al Franken, too.

And they were both in elected office already.

New Yorker
The Case of Al Franken
Jane Mayer
July 22, 2019

https://web.archive.org/web/20190829044419/https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/07/29/the-case-of-al-franken

Agreed, he should never have resigned.

It seems to me that everything she writes is top notch. I always pay attention to what she puts out there.

Per one of the exes, he knew exactly what the tattoo was and why he got it. I personally don't believe for a second he didn't know what it was.

"Ms. Fifield said he told her that he and other members of his unit selected the tattoo because “they were like a death unit, they were killers,” and saw a parallel between their unit and the Nazi Schutzstaffel, or S.S., unit, that used the skull-and-crossbones image."

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/04/us/politics/platner-maine-senate-girlfriends-relationships.html

Would vote for Collins. Of course, she told the NY Times it was a joke when she put that in writing.

Would you not count that as a corroboration?

This is definitely a "rough patch" for his campaign.

I for one hope he can weather it because chances of winning the Senate improve if he pulls it out.

And Susan Collins needs to go.

Trump and the GOP, whether they meant to or not, have given us a playing field equivalent to Howard Dean's 50 State Strategy.

That means, we get to play EVERYWHERE, but it ALSO means we have to play the ball as it lays. And what was the motto of that strategy, anyone remember? Bueller? BUELLER??

'First, get democrats elected. Then, get BETTER democrats elected.

I'll take Planter, asshole tattoo and all, if it means we get to start putting these fucking criminals under oath where they belong.

The caveat is, i don't live in Maine and you all have to do you (but seriously, consider the alternative is another 6 YEARS of Senator Concerned).
Cheers, and Happy Voting!

I live in WA, so I don't have an actual say, but I will do my bit to put the choice in crystal clear relief. (And I will probably throw my vote of confidence in the form of a few dollars his way.)

And this is the choice as I see it.

You can choose to view his life as a quintessentially America story of redemption and reform. A progressive spirit rising out of a past in which he got a nazi tatoo and dealt with anger issues and alcohol abuse (and the attendant terrible interactions with those near and dear).

You can choose to view him as someone you are so sure has not *really* reformed that you would vote for Collins (or not vote), and thereby vote to keep control of the Senate in the hands of the Trumpublicans.

He has acknowledged as poor behavior. But keep feeling if this is what they came up with after working and trying so hard I personally can’t get that worked up about it. It seems like so much focus being made to take this guy down. And im much more interested in taking Susan Collins down.

He was a terrible boyfriend. And a bad husband who decided to work on that. He had anger issues. He drank too much. Stuff he’s acknowledged.

They spoke to 3 women he previously dated during different times - none more recently than 2016. The only “serious” allegation — if you want to call it that is one said Platner knew what his tattoo stood for. She is Lindsey Fifield, a conservative activist who met him when he was a student at George Washington University. Their roughly two-year, on-again, off-again relationship, as Ms. Fifield described it, was heady and passionate. She said re tattoo that he had taught her the word for it years earlier, referring to it as “my Totenkopf.” She also described volatile arguments where they got physical but never hitting etc. She was quick to note that he “never hit me, he never punched me.” Also per NY Times, no person could corroborate this.

“A friend who knew Mr. Platner and Ms. Fifield during that period said the comments sounded out of character.” And The Times reviewed texts between Ms. Fifield and Mr. Platner, along with Google Chat exchanges, texts and Facebook messages between Ms. Fifield and her friends during and after the relationship. The Times also reviewed some of Ms. Fifield’s diary entries from after the relationship had ended, and spoke with two of her friends who confirmed that the pair had an emotionally volatile relationship but could not corroborate the physical altercations or the most controversial comments she described.

Re Tatto -

before he acknowledged having it. I think it's pretty clear she didn't make that up. She also said other people in his unit got the exact same tattoo to symbolize that they were killers, similar to SS. Seems easy enough to check if the others have the exact same tattoo.

is why did he only tell her about it. Not a single other woman. If he was so proud he gave it a name why not let his other lovers in on it? And if Nazi tattoos are outlawed in the service, what about all his friends that got it at the same time and were also in the service.

Just some questions. But honestly there is nothing in his recent past that gives me, a Jew, concern re any antisemitism. Nothing. Far more frankly worried, as a Jew and with Israeli family who has spent much time in Israel, about the blind trust of Israel and its war mongering with Bibi.

So I am not sure why voting for Collins is suspicious.

co servati e activist I dont doubt she would. Why she said she was only kidding to the NY Times I have no idea.

Suspicious? I have questions which I enumerated.

Given that, are you really surprised if his ex-girlfriends are not going to vote for him?

“Similar “

The thing is, he will be the nominee in a few days.

I will be pulling for him in the general. (I live in WA, so have no say). I have trouble imagining a skeleton big enough to make Susan Collins and lower chances of Dems winning the Senate a "better" option.

I could be wrong about him. He could win and implode in office, but Susan Collins will be gone.

And, if he did implode, and Shah (or whoever gets the nod on the 9th) wins the governorship, we'd have a Dem appointed until a special election.

Because that's abusive behavior.

And the most recent of the women dated him from 2019 to 2021, so that part of your defense is incorrect.

The New York Times cited critical comments from two other women. Jenny Racicot, 41, a Democrat from Maine, who said she dated Platner from 2019 to 2021, told the paper: “When I saw the old comments that he made online, I recognized a version of him that I had experiences with.”

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jun/04/graham-platner-maine-new-york-times-report

This is:

Also friends of both of theirs said it was a volatile relationship but that seemed out of character for him. But yes she said it.

In full disclosure once my husband of 45 years and I were fighting in a car and I wanted to get out and tried to open door at a red light. He grabbed my arm. It hurt but we made up by the time we got home.

Or is it OK for a man to "manhandle" a woman and leave bruises?

I must say I'm finding it quite distressing that Democrats on this board are willing to overlook not only these allegations, but also the well proven instances of his misogyny and racism.

Let's recall that he has blamed women for their rapes if they'd drank alcohol, but excuses his Nazi tat and poor behavior because he was drunk.

Boys will be boys, right?

I am afraid. And not just overlook, we have some posters demanding we ignore all these red flags.

It is nauseating.

We gotta just accept all these issues, before this individual is even nominated.

If so, are you for fucking real?

experience. Did it happen back when they were in a volatile relationship but that she says so. He says no. Me? Don’t care. He’s been open about his troubles and trying to be a better man. Hopefully that’s transformative. Sorry, it’s not disqualifying to me. I trust he wouldn’t have voted for Kavanaugh - a real rapist.

And of course compared to Trump I am not sure what could possibly be disqualifying. But that is a very low bar.

using the "R" word as a slur - the list goes on.

I appreciate if he's actually trying to be a better man, but maybe he should have done that first before running for one of the highest offices in the country.

than Collins.

I don't live in Maine. I realize that some here think I should just STFU. Many of those don't have a problem constantly slamming our elected Democrats but for some reason Platner cannot be criticized for any reason whatsoever.

I believe everyone deserves to weigh in on all candidates so I would never tell you to butt out. I don’t live in Maine but I’d definitely vote for him if I were there. But my vote isn’t yours. So if you aren’t in Maine but need to drag him down based on this - fine. We all get to support candidates or not in whatever way we want. Democracy.

Interesting dynamic. I wonder why that is.

Edit: "Need to drag him down"?? He's dragged himself down with lies, Nazi tattoos, and a lengthy list of nasty comments about women, the mentally challenged and POC, and who knows what else.

Some of us find that unacceptable.

victim here. This is all his history.

That he didn't clean up before he started running for Senator. Now he's going all over the place putting out fires that he created.

I have no idea why he wouldn't have addressed this before it was exposed. It's been serious enough for Dem Senators to have a meeting about it.

You keep on making accusations that's not backed up with what he's said in his own words but just seem to be interpretations.

And again yr wrong. He can be criticised, but there's a difference between that and smearing, and I see a few folk veering off gleefully into Smear-Land.

I have a question for you. If Platner wins the Primary, will you support him as much as you've been 'criticising' him? Or will you just go silent and never say another word about Platner at DU?

Last edited Sat Jun 6, 2026, 04:09 AM - Edit history (1)

a couple of those early threads that had his quotes from Reddit.

It's okay for him to blame alcohol for his Tat. Sure.

But women in the military... That's an entriely different matter..

He didn't break her arm.

crap outta me. And, he would be dumped muy pronto.

Mahlao for that, mcar.

And yes, one of the women is conservative but another is a Democrat. Are we still sticking with "boys will be boys" here?

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/04/us/politics/platner-maine-senate-girlfriends-relationships.html

Lyndsey Fifield, 40, a Virginia conservative who has worked for right-leaning groups and Republican campaigns, recalled him as “cavalierly contemptuous of women’s emotions, of our ‘weakness.’” Ms. Fifield, who dated Mr. Platner from roughly 2013 to 2015, said that his offensive online posts “reminded me of just how much he hated women.”

Jenny Racicot, 41, a Maine Democrat, who said she dated him casually off and on between 2019 and 2021, said the posts deepened her belief that he did not respect women. “When I saw the old comments that he made online,” she said, “I recognized a version of him that I had experiences with.”

Some of the women also raised questions about his trustworthiness. Mr. Platner’s insistence that he did not know that his tattoo was a Nazi symbol until it became a campaign issue last fall was simply not true, Ms. Fifield said. After all, she said, he had taught her the word for it years earlier, referring to it as “my Totenkopf.”

She is not the 1st one to say he called it a Totenkopf either.

for Liberty and her friend of more than 15 years? Hadn’t heard anyone else.

They talked to one of his guy friends who said he referred to it as his "Little Totenkopf" years earlier.
Search back to the earlier post here on du about it it's in there.

So the choices are he either lied about knowing what it was or he's too stupid to know what a tattoo he had on chest for almost 20 years was, which I find unlikely.

Now I think he is much worse a person. RUN away from him!!!

However, after listening to him tonight, I like him even more because his candor was extremely appealing and refreshing.

Just stop

Omg …

This is absolutely wearying

Please quit juicing the guardians of pedophiles crap, okay?

"The morality of the Senate is not something that's gonna be brought down by the addition of Graham Platner."

A glowing testimonial.

The US should never have been in the position for this election to matter SO MUCH.


"David Costello (D) supports Medicare for All. Short of that, he supports ongoing Democratic efforts to strengthen Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act."

Too bad Bernie chose to boost Platner over David Costello. He sounds like a decent, politically experienced man.

https://mainemorningstar.com/voter-guides/contests/2026-democratic-primary/

platform and qualifications. Not to mention a breath of fresh air.

Thank you! I've seen his picture, too..