There is the shallow issue of “did he know it was a Nazi tattoo” which is debatable (though a not particularly winnable debate).
But that was never the only thing. It was the icing on the pattern of a military guy who went onto be a military contractor, who later had a number of red flags surfaced by women in his life, and posted some of his own online, including weird stuff about raping home intruders, blaming women for getting too drunk to consent, all kinds of things.
The Nazi tattoo is simply what ought to have been the most undeniable sign that this man has poor impulse control, poor judgment, and questionable character. The tattoo was never the only issue, it was part of a pattern of a toxicially masculine abuser type who showed numerous separate flags about that.
It is totally wild to me that we’re sitting here going “okay, so maybe he’s got a credible rape allegation and maybe he lied about doing that and lied about the victim’s allegations, but I still totally buy that the Nazi tattoo was an accident.”
And to be clear, I don’t think he’s a mustache-twirling Nazi carrying around a copy of Mein Kampf and plotting to invade Poland. I think he’s a toxic asshole who knew he was getting a Nazi tattoo simply because he enjoyed seeing himself as the kind of guy who could get away with having a Nazi tattoo. Or a little mild domestic violence, or even a little sexual assault.
He’s been lying to you this whole time. He thought you’d buy it, and he was right.
And yet everyone in the thread has jumped to “the accusations are absolutely true and he should drop out because he’s a proven rapist”, when the timing and the source make it clear that what’s happening here is the Surrender Caucus saying to itself “Calling him a Nazi didn’t work, we need to try something else”.
Cool! Do you need them not to be rapists who call their victims liars? Setting aside whether you think that’s the case here, is that a standard you hold?
You’re not entirely wrong. But I don’t care to be a supporter of a party, nor a candidate, which has chosen to ignore decency and morality in order to win elections.
And if you feel that winning at any cost is worth it, then, I’m sorry for you.
As for who the state Democratic Committee could name as a Platner replacement, some mention Troy Jackson, who came in third in the 2026 Maine gubernatorial primary. Nariv Shah. who came in second, might have a better chance at winning median voters – although I may be influenced in saying that because of personal preference for such competent technocrats:
Well, if they placed second and third in a primary they planned on running in, the sky’s the limit on what they can accomplish when they’re flung into a race they weren’t interested in with four months to go and no primary mandate!
If I were a Mainer and one of them replaced Platner I’d vote for them in a heartbeat, but I’d do so expecting them to lose.
Obama wasn’t part of the establishment. Trump’s not part of the Republican establishment. Biden stopped being part of the establishment when he sided with Obama over the candidate whose turn it was ito run for president n their machine.
Platner also stole someone’s turn. That’s why he had to be destroyed - to keep the “kids” from stepping out of line and daring to claim the votes they’re entitled to. It’s why they picked a man who was dying of cancer for leadership over AOC. It’s why they had no problem endorsing a sex pest when his opponent was a 30-year-old progressive.
Collins would have loved to hold on to this (along with the 10 other things we all know she has) until it was legally too late for the nominee to be changed. Getting it out now is only going to help the Democrats in this election. Of course, some people don’t want just any electable Democrat to win the election and would prefer a choice between “a far-left DSA person ranting about Netanyahu controlling America” and “getting to complain for another six years about how The Billionaires stole the election” to sending a normal Janet Mills type to the Senate.
And with absolutely no money from the Democratic Senate Campaign Committee. Which they and the chair of the party have said they will pull from the Maine Senate contest if Platner is the nominee.