The Republican National Committee is releasing a new video Friday highlighting Democrats struggling to answer questions about Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner, whose controversies have put the party on defense in a race Democrats view as crucial in their push for the Senate majority.
The four-minute video, exclusively provided to Breitbart News, intersperses headlines and news-anchor segments about allegations and controversies surrounding Platner with clips of Democrat senators, representatives, governors, and candidates being pressed on whether they support him, whether he has the character to serve in the U.S. Senate, and whether they would campaign with him.
The video includes some of the quotes below, while other quotes come from separate clips RNC Research has highlighted of Democrats defending or dodging questions about Platner.
Sen. Angela Alsobrooks (D-MD) was asked about Platner and his controversies. Alsobrooks responded, “I don’t know him,” before adding, “I’m supporting Democrats. We need Democrats in office.”
Sen. Michael Bennet (D-CO) was asked on CNN whether Platner meets the “high standard” to serve. Bennet replied, “I’m busy running for Governor of Colorado.”
Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ), asked on NBC whether Platner has the character to serve in the Senate, said, “He has a lot of issues but my God we need the Senate.” Asked whether he would campaign in Maine, Booker said, “I don’t have any plans.”
Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE) was asked on CNN whether he was willing to campaign with Platner this fall. Coons answered that he has his “own election campaign” to focus on and said he is helping current colleagues.
Matt Dunlap, a Democrat running in Maine’s Second Congressional District, said he still supports Platner.
Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) downplayed Platner’s Nazi tattoo as a “stupid tattoo” and said it was acceptable for him to associate with antisemites because, according to Gallego, other Democrats do as well.
Rep. John Garamendi (D-CA), asked by CNN about Platner’s electability and suitability for the Senate, said Platner “certainly has many good attributes” and “a great background” before adding that “like most everybody there are stumbles along the way.”
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), after meeting with Platner, said she was “very optimistic that we are going to win Maine.”
Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ) criticized Platner in a CNBC clip, saying, “I’m not just talking about the Nazi tattoo which he clearly knew about,” and urged viewers to look at what had come out about his alleged “abuse of women.”
Rep. Adam Gray (D-CA), asked whether he supports Platner, did not directly answer, saying there was “a lot of ‘whataboutism’” before later adding, “I don’t know much about him.”
Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-NM), asked whether he was reconsidering his support for Platner after CNN noted resurfaced posts in which Platner reportedly called himself a “communist,” dismissed “all police as bastards,” and said white Americans “actually are racist and stupid,” replied, “I’m not,” adding that Platner has “owned” his mistakes and should be given “the benefit of the doubt.”
Rep. Chrissy Houlahan (D-PA), asked on CNN whether she supports Platner as a candidate after the anchor noted she is the daughter of Holocaust survivors, said, “I don’t make that choice for the people of Maine; I am hopeful that his candidacy is successful.”
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), asked on NBC whether Platner has the character to be a U.S. senator, said he was focused on making sure Democrats take back control of the House.
Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA), asked whether he was comfortable having a potential colleague with a Nazi tattoo, said, “Maine voters need to make this call.”
Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA), asked by Fox News about allegations from women against Platner, said, “I do believe those women… almost the entire Democratic party is supporting him.”
Sen. Andy Kim (D-NJ), asked by CNN if he had concerns about Platner, said, “I haven’t been able to focus as much on this” and that voters would decide. Pressed again, Kim said, “I have not met him.”
Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL), asked whether Platner is still a good representative of Democrats, said, “I have strong concerns at this point.”
Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA), asked whether he supports Platner’s campaign, said Platner is “running on the issues Maine cares about.”
Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR), asked whether Platner is the best choice for Maine, said, “The citizens of Maine are going to decide.”
Rep. Seth Moulton (D-MA) defended Platner over the tattoo, saying, “Look, Graham clearly made a mistake… I don’t think that’s disqualifying.”
Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT), asked by CBS News’s Margaret Brennan whether Platner passes the “character test,” said, “I haven’t followed this story as closely,” before pivoting to say that character also involves “standing up to people who are bankrupting and corrupting this country.”
Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) appeared with Hunter Biden, who defended Platner as Newsom nodded and laughed along. “As it relates to Graham Platner… I have not heard anything, in any way, that would say to me that he is a abusive, misogynistic, or antisemitic, or racist person,” Biden said, according to the RNC clip.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), asked about abuse allegations against Platner, said, “There’s a lot in that behavior that’s really challenging, it’s hard to stomach some of it, but, but… I think that this is a choice.”
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) reiterated his support for Platner when asked about reports involving explicit posts and Platner’s activity on Kik.
Sen. Adam Schiff (D-CA), asked whether he was still supporting Platner, replied, “Going upstairs, thank you.”
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) was asked several times about Platner before reaffirming his endorsement. “Any other subject you got?” Schumer said at one point. Asked whether he was still supporting Platner, Schumer replied, “I endorsed Graham Platner.”
Rep. Greg Stanton (D-AZ), asked whether he was confident Platner was the right person for the job, said, “Well, that’s up to Maine voters.”
Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) praised Platner, saying, “Platner has clearly proven himself to be somebody who can grab the attention of a lot of voters.”
Florida Democrat U.S. Senate candidate Alex Vindman is shown walking away after being asked whether Platner, whom the RNC described as having a Nazi tattoo, should drop out.
Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA), asked by CNN whether he would endorse Platner, said, “I’m focused on my own race…” Asked whether Platner would cost Democrats the chance to retake the Senate, Warner said, “I’m not going to weigh in on race after race after race.”
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), asked by CNBC about having campaigned with Platner despite allegations that included the Nazi-symbol tattoo, his comments about rape, and praising Hamas, said, “He has apologized.”
James Walkinshaw, a Democrat running in Virginia’s 11th Congressional District, said that when evaluating candidates who “have made mistakes in their past,” the question is whether they have “acknowledged and taken responsibility for those mistakes and grown as a human being.” Walkinshaw added, “I think Graham Platner has demonstrated he’s taken some responsibility, he hopefully has grown as a human being.”
Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-GA), asked by NBC whether Platner has the character to serve in the U.S. Senate, plugged his book: “Character matters, and that’s what I’m saying, uh, in this new book that I’ve written.”
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), according to a post from HuffPost reporter Igor Bobic said he was “not impressed” by allegations against Platner in a New York Times report. “Seems like a lot of nothing,” Whitehouse said, adding that “the only one who had anything to say that seemed ‘unsettling’ was a woman who works for right-wing political operations.”
Platner, who won Maine’s Democrat Senate primary earlier this month, is set to face incumbent Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) in November.
Senior Breitbart News writer John Nolte reported Thursday that Rep. Seth Moulton (D-MA) allegedly knocked a journalist’s phone after being asked whether he endorses Platner in Maine. In the video described by Nolte, the reporter asks, “Do you endorse Graham Platner in Maine?” Moulton responds, “Who are you to ask this question?” before the video goes unstable and Moulton says, “You need to do a better job of hanging on to your phone.”
Moulton’s campaign later told the Boston Herald that the reporter was a “MAGA tracker with America Rising” and accused him of harassment, saying Moulton “takes on MAGA anywhere, anytime, and won’t back down.”
Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) also criticized Democrats on Tuesday for continuing to support Platner, arguing on The Pulse of the People that party leaders had repeatedly excused his controversies because he represented the party’s progressive wing. Cuomo said Democrats had brushed aside concerns over Platner’s Nazi tattoo, anti-police views, and accusations from women, adding that they prioritized a “far-lefty fringe” candidate over nominating the strongest challenger to take on Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME).
President Donald Trump also brought up Platner earlier this month when Breitbart News asked him about Democrats losing ground on the generic congressional ballot. Trump said Republicans were “coming up strong” because voters were seeing “lunatics” on the ballot, including “the guy in Maine with the swastika.”