# Are there any reasons to reject Graham Platner in Maine (campaign suspended July 8, 2026) **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [March 4, 2026, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-reasons-to-reject-graham-platner-in-maine-campaign-suspended-july-8-2026/1028179 "2026-03-04T03:50:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 24
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2026, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-reasons-to-reject-graham-platner-in-maine-campaign-suspended-july-8-2026/1028179/463 "2026-05-04T20:42:44Z")
> [@DigitalC](#): > > Who else but a nazi would be a long time fan of an anti semite podcaster? _Alleged_ antisemitic podcaster. I searched Google for info on whether the channel or the host was considered antisemitic- and every hit was the Planter show. In other words, if the channel or the host was a well known antisemitic, apparently this wasnt known until Platner appeared on that show. Do you have a cite showing either the host or the channel is antisemitic that is _before_ Platner was on there? Youtube _does not allow any antisemitic conten_t, and that channel would be reported and shut down if that was a well known fact. Mind you, I didnt listen all the way thru, perhaps some comment made by the presenter could be considered antisemitic- but that is different than that being a well known purveyor of bigoted content. ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2026, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-reasons-to-reject-graham-platner-in-maine-campaign-suspended-july-8-2026/1028179/464 "2026-05-04T20:45:12Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > _Alleged_ antisemitic podcaster. The lengths you people will go to deny the truth, jesus fuck. [Here you go](https://x.com/a_picazo/status/2028753871351234679/video/3), took literal seconds to find. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2026, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-reasons-to-reject-graham-platner-in-maine-campaign-suspended-july-8-2026/1028179/465 "2026-05-04T20:46:01Z")
> [@DigitalC](#): > > > [@Smapti](#): > > > > So you _don’t_ have any examples of him espousing Nazism, then. > > That is not what I was asked, but keep moving those goalposts. Smapti’s wording clearly is not what I asked for . . . but, what you supplied isn’t either. > [@crowmanyclouds](#): > > > [@DigitalC](#): > > > > claiming to be a big fan of their anti semite content > > I’m sure you can provide a quote that says those exact words. ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2026, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-reasons-to-reject-graham-platner-in-maine-campaign-suspended-july-8-2026/1028179/466 "2026-05-04T20:47:44Z")
Ok, he said “long time fan” instead of “big fan”. Frankly its worse. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2026, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-reasons-to-reject-graham-platner-in-maine-campaign-suspended-july-8-2026/1028179/467 "2026-05-04T20:49:34Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Youtube _does not allow any antisemitic conten_t Not open antisemitism, but if you avoid certain words then YouTube doesn’t do much about antisemitism and allows content creators that have been banned for it to open new accounts. ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2026, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-reasons-to-reject-graham-platner-in-maine-campaign-suspended-july-8-2026/1028179/468 "2026-05-04T20:49:46Z")
If you guys demanded a tenth of effort from Platner to prove he is not a nazi as you are demanding of me to do your homework this conversation would have been over in one post. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2026, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-reasons-to-reject-graham-platner-in-maine-campaign-suspended-july-8-2026/1028179/469 "2026-05-04T20:52:14Z")
No, "big fan of their anti semite content. Either you can provide that or your putting words into his mouth. ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2026, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-reasons-to-reject-graham-platner-in-maine-campaign-suspended-july-8-2026/1028179/470 "2026-05-04T20:54:31Z")
That is some embarrassing level of nitpicking. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2026, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-reasons-to-reject-graham-platner-in-maine-campaign-suspended-july-8-2026/1028179/471 "2026-05-04T20:54:36Z")
Yes, prove you’re not a witch! Maybe we should build a bridge out of him or at least see if he floats. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2026, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-reasons-to-reject-graham-platner-in-maine-campaign-suspended-july-8-2026/1028179/472 "2026-05-04T20:55:30Z")
It wouldn’t be embarrassing if you actually had the quote. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2026, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-reasons-to-reject-graham-platner-in-maine-campaign-suspended-july-8-2026/1028179/473 "2026-05-04T21:01:27Z")
> [@DigitalC](#): > > He could possibly be the senator that leaves us with two nazi parties in the country The chances are of D control of the Senate are nearly 50%. A win in Maine is a necessary but insufficient step in that coin flip landing the way I want it to land with major consequences assured. The path that a now closeted Nazi admirer leads to the Democratic Party becoming a Nazi party is not in the same statistical realm. To be clear, I am very confident that the Democratic Party already has closeted antisemites in high positions of power. They may not have been dumb enough to get Nazi tattoos or to admire a hate podcast, but they are there. I am also sure we already have Democratic idiots in high positions. ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2026, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-reasons-to-reject-graham-platner-in-maine-campaign-suspended-july-8-2026/1028179/474 "2026-05-04T21:02:49Z")
@DigitalC, @Babale, if you were Maine voters, I guess you would vote for Collins? Because if Platner just stays a Dem in name only and votes to make the Dems the majority leader and head up all the committees, that’s a pretty big win. There are two choices, one that keeps the power with Trump for sure (Collins) with no Senate oversight and one that has a good chance of real oversight. If I were a Maine voter, I would definitely vote Platner. Staying home is dumb. It’s either a vote for oversight or not, in my mind. Platner is not some camel’s nose that’s going to make all the rest of the party Nazis. ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2026, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-reasons-to-reject-graham-platner-in-maine-campaign-suspended-july-8-2026/1028179/475 "2026-05-04T21:05:56Z")
I’d just leave it blank, or write someone else in. Susan Collins is just as bad, but the moment we start accepting nazis into the party we already lost. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2026, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-reasons-to-reject-graham-platner-in-maine-campaign-suspended-july-8-2026/1028179/476 "2026-05-04T21:24:08Z")
> [@DigitalC](#): > > If you guys demanded a tenth of effort from Platner to prove he is not a nazi as you are demanding of me to do your homework this conversation would have been over in one post. Right, so your “proof” that Platner is a secret Nazi who’s been faking being a leftist for 25 years so he can get elected and singlehandedly turn the Democratic party fascist is, AFAICT, thus; 1. He got a totenkopf tattoo when he was in his 20s and drunk. 2. At some point between 2007 and 2025 he became aware of what a totenkopf is. 3. He appeared on a podcast whose host might be an antisemite and said he was a fan. So a yourhful mistake + guilt by association. You’ve provided exactly zero examples of him actually SAYING anything antisemitic, or expressing admiration or sympathy for Nazism. I am unconvinced. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2026, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-reasons-to-reject-graham-platner-in-maine-campaign-suspended-july-8-2026/1028179/477 "2026-05-04T21:25:43Z")
> [@Moriarty](#): > > I know you’ll give this no credence, but he is saying that he didn’t know it was a Nazi symbol until he was running for office. Not years ago. Right, so add the fact that he’s lying about it. Lying about it doesn’t make him any better. ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2026, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-reasons-to-reject-graham-platner-in-maine-campaign-suspended-july-8-2026/1028179/478 "2026-05-04T21:26:56Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > So a yourhful mistake + guilt by association. If you wanna take the word of a liar with a nazi tattoo, I guess. ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2026, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-reasons-to-reject-graham-platner-in-maine-campaign-suspended-july-8-2026/1028179/479 "2026-05-04T21:28:02Z")
> [@DigitalC](#): > > If you guys demanded a tenth of effort from Platner to prove he is not a nazi People have literally asked him. He’s literally denied it . And there are no statements in his history which would tend to show otherwise. So how exactly is he supposed to _prove it_? > [@](#): > > **In recent days, there have been revelations about a 2024 group chat with Paul Ingrassia in which [he wrote](https://www.politico.com/news/2025/10/21/trump-pulls-ingrassia-nomination-racist-texts-00617041), “I do have a Nazi streak in me from time to time,” among other things. Do you think that that’s a disqualifying statement?** > > Absolutely. A hundred percent. By the way, you’ll never find a single utterance of mine in which I have any affiliation or affinity for racism or antisemitism or Nazism. I grew up a little punk rock kid on the Dead Kennedys and the Dropkick Murphys. Hating Nazis has been something I have been into since I was about 12. Somebody in politics saying that they themselves believe that they have a little bit of a Nazi streak is absolutely disqualifying. There is no space in American politics for Nazis. > > **Do you think that America writ large has a Nazi problem?** > > Yes, of course. America has a serious antisemitism problem, as does the world, for that matter. You see it in this [Young Republican stuff](https://www.politico.com/news/2025/10/14/private-chat-among-young-gop-club-members-00592146). Some of these people hold positions of power in campaigns and in political organizations. They are actively making jokes—legitimately racist, and not in a jokey way. That isn’t funny. That’s a problem. And the cancer of racism, the cancer of antisemitism, the cancer of Nazism, this is something that needs to be excised from the American body politic. It is something that we need to be fighting against every day. > **[Graham Platner Tells VF He’s Already Gotten Rid of His Nazi Tattoo](https://www.vanityfair.com/news/story/graham-platner-nazi-tattoo-interview?srsltid=AfmBOoqxLOd0q3XBp77T6ou0CjSxxnsP4RWkE3ZKXVWQuEZHRx9YGuyc)** > > “It’s been covered up with some kind of Celtic knot with a dog on it, because that’s far more in line with my opinions,” the embattled Democrat tells Vanity Fair in a wide-ranging interview. By the way, do you know what his dog’s name is? > [@](#): > > He and his wife, Amy, married last year, and they live in his hometown with their dogs. One, Zevon, is named after one of his sources of inspiration, singer Warren Zevon. > **[Maine's Graham Platner thinks voters will overlook his past to support a new...](https://www.pbs.org/newshour/amp/politics/maines-graham-platner-thinks-voters-will-overlook-his-past-to-support-a-new-type-of-candidate)** > > Graham Platner's campaign for U.S. Senate took some early hits because of his online history and a tattoo he now regrets, but he's staying in the race for the long haul. Warren Zevon, although not a practitioner, was the son of a Ukrainian Jewish immigrant. I think that’s interesting. And here’s one of Platner’s leading campaign advisors > **[Morris Katz (political strategist)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morris_Katz_(political_strategist))** > > Morris Akiba Katz (born May 18, 1999) is an American political strategist known for working for the campaign for Zohran Mamdani in the 2025 New York City mayoral election. He was deputy media consultant for John Fetterman's 2022 Senate election campaign, and later worked for Dan Osborn's campaign in the 2024 Senate election in Nebraska. He is a close adviser of Mamdani and Graham Platner. > Morris Katz was born in 1998 or 1999 in the Tribeca neighborhood of New York City. According to the New Yo... Mores Katz, as his name suggests, is Jewish. Where’s the Nazism? ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2026, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-reasons-to-reject-graham-platner-in-maine-campaign-suspended-july-8-2026/1028179/480 "2026-05-04T21:28:24Z")
> [@Moriarty](#): > > People have literally asked him. He’s literally denied it . This is about as meaningless as if Trump denied it. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2026, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-reasons-to-reject-graham-platner-in-maine-campaign-suspended-july-8-2026/1028179/481 "2026-05-04T21:29:10Z")
Oh, and > [@Smapti](#): > > I can’t imagine deciding who to vote for on the basis of who the party’s nominee in _another state_ is. You can’t imagine that? Really? Because that’s incredibly common. Even right here on this board, even in this very thread, there are people who are saying that they can’t possibly vote for any Republican in any election, because of the actions of other Republicans in other states. Some people have the same view of Democrats. Now, we can argue that they’re wrong, but they still hold that view. And if the Democrats start running literal Nazis for office, even in only one state, it will result in a lot more people thinking that way. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2026, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-reasons-to-reject-graham-platner-in-maine-campaign-suspended-july-8-2026/1028179/482 "2026-05-04T21:30:22Z")
> [@Moriarty](#): > > By the way, do you know what his dog’s name is? Wait, we’re seriously going “he can’t be a Nazi because he named a dog after a Jew”? That’s even worse than “some of my best friends are Jewish”. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-reasons-to-reject-graham-platner-in-maine-campaign-suspended-july-8-2026/1028179.md?page=23) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-reasons-to-reject-graham-platner-in-maine-campaign-suspended-july-8-2026/1028179.md?page=25)