On Thursday’s edition of NBC’s “Meet the Press NOW,” Maine House Speaker Ryan Fecteau (D) said that the overlooking of prior allegations against Graham Platner and his Nazi tattoo “speaks to the frustration people have. They’re looking for someone who’s going to be a changemaker, and they’re willing to forgive some past misdoings. I, certainly, was very concerned about those misgivings.”
Host Kristen Welker asked, “We’re out of time, but I just, very quickly, there were a number of controversies swirling around Graham Platner prior to this final allegation of rape — which he denies — past girlfriends alleging he was aggressive toward them, he denied that as well. Of course, this Nazi tattoo, which he says he didn’t know what the implications, what it actually meant. Do you think Democrats and his top supporters and endorsers failed in terms of their judgment and lack of vetting him and lack of seeing that he was a candidate who, by his own admission, could not move forward?”
Fecteau responded, “I think the fact that Graham Platner took off is really indicative of our politics right now. People are frustrated –.”
Welker then cut in to follow up, “But what about all of those controversies that were overlooked by so many people, was it a failure?”
Fecteau answered, “I think it speaks to the frustration people have. They’re looking for someone who’s going to be a changemaker, and they’re willing to forgive some past misdoings. I, certainly, was very concerned about those misgivings. But, at the end of the day, Maine voters were willing to take a risk because they see the stakes in their own lives being — only getting greater and greater as the challenges they face back home are pinching their wallets and causing them economic harm. People want change and they want to see Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) no longer be a U.S. Senator.”
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