The Democrat Party's civil war over Graham Platner is getting messier by the day, and leave it to Jessica Tarlov to pick the wrong side.
While prominent Democrats are tripping over each other to distance themselves from Platner, the Fox News contributor spent a chunk of Monday's America's Newsroom doing the exact opposite. She went on the defensive, and it was not pretty.
I mean, come on, even Sen. Cory Booker is admitting that he “has concerns” about Platner. “That guy has questions to answer,” he said. “And that’s what campaigns are for.”
Tarlov, however, went into a full-throttle defense, complete with deflection and whataboutism.
“There are Democrats who have concerns, and some of them are speaking out about it,” she conceded. “This was the first weekend that I feel like Democrats were really pushed on the Sunday shows. Dana Bash was doing that as well with Andy Kim from New Jersey, who wanted to talk about what's going on at Delaney Hall. And she kept bringing it back to this. Listen, Graham Platner, his wife is not a professional political spouse, and Graham Platner is not a professional politician himself. And you're seeing that come to light.”
I’m not sure how not being a “professional politician” is supposed to absolve you from having a Nazi tattoo for nearly twenty years, for making racist, homophobic, and misogynistic comments online, for having a sorta-potty fetish, and for maintaining an account on a chat app used by sexual predators, but hey, that’s apparently the argument Tarlov is choosing to make.
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“Chuck Schumer wanted Janet Mills to win,” Tarlov continued. “He got her to jump into this race because someone like a Jared Golden didn't want to get in. And that didn't work. Mainers have consistently said, ‘We know who Graham Platner is and this is what our choice is at this point.’”
Oh, okay, so this is who Maine Democrats want, so end of story?
Weird, because she immediately pivoted to Ken Paxton's divorce, Donald Trump's endorsements, and anything else she could throw at the wall. "We're not going to be lectured at this point from certainly Republicans that support Donald Trump or telling us in Texas that Ken Paxton is a better choice than James Talarico," Tarlov said.
In other words, judge Republicans, not Democrats.
Bill Hemmer wasn't buying it, noting that he'd never once heard Booker say he had concerns about a fellow Democrat.
Tarlov's response was telling. "That, to me, is more honestly about the Totenkopf, about the tattoo than it is about those text messages," she said.
There are Democrats who have concerns about Platner, but the idea that we’ll be lectured by folks that support Donald Trump and want Texans to choose Ken Paxton is ludicrous. The man’s wife left him on biblical grounds!
— Jessica Tarlov (@JessicaTarlov) June 1, 2026
Mainers know who Platner is and chose him anyway. They want… pic.twitter.com/w3E34Wc9vP
Melissa DeRosa, who served as chief of staff to former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, indicated that she won't mourn a Platner loss. "The Maine race really demonstrates the civil war that's happening within the Democratic Party, and there are a lot of Democrats, moderate Democrats like myself, who will not cry tears should we lose Maine," DeRosa told Fox News. "I mean, that would be a pickup to begin with."
Former Biden press office chief of staff Yemisi Egbewole went further, arguing that Platner's supporters inside the party have real explaining to do. "I think when we're talking about moral clarity and what we want to see from Democrats, I think he is an issue," Egbewole said.
Rep. Jake Auchincloss of Massachusetts told CNN he finds the Totenkopf tattoo disqualifying. "I find that tattoo and his commentary about it to be personally disqualifying," Auchincloss said. "I hope Maine voters agree with me. I think it would be a mistake for the Democratic Party to think that Graham Platner's brand of the Democratic Party is what wins us durable majorities throughout this country."
Leave it to Tarlov to stay on the Platner train car.
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