It probably won’t be long before Graham Platner drops out, and the left has settled on a shiny new narrative about him. It goes something like this: Poor, unsuspecting Democrats had no earthly idea who this guy was, and gosh darn it, somebody forgot to vet him. That's the fairy tale they're spinning now that Platner's Senate campaign is circling the drain, and we can't let them get away with it.
On CNN's Anderson Cooper 360°, Alyssa Farah Griffin claimed that "Democrats did not do their due diligence in vetting this man and now their path to the Senate looks significantly bleaker because they went all-in on this one."
Seriously?
That's a blatant lie. The vetting happened. Since he entered the race, a steady trickle of damning information about Platner has dripped into public view, and Democrats ignored every drop. The Nazi tattoo. The unhinged internet posts. His presence on an app widely known as a playground for predators. The domestic abuse allegations. Any one of those would end a Republican's career in about 45 seconds. Democrats looked at the entire pile and decided he was their guy.
And it’s not like Democrats didn’t have a choice.
The New York Times exposé dropped on June 4, and Maine’s primary elections were on June 9. Gov. Janet Mills (D-Maine) may have suspended her campaign before that, but she was still on the ballot. Democrats knew and made their choice.
ICYMI: Here’s What Graham Platner Doesn’t Want You to Know About His Accuser
So, when Anderson Cooper asked whether Maine Democrats could nominate a replacement without alienating Platner's supporters, Scott Jennings zeroed in on Griffin’s vetting excuse and reduced it to rubble.
"The only thing I disagree with is when she said that he hadn't been vetted," Jennings said. "No, he had been vetted. All of the things that have been stated — it was all out in the public, and people like Ro Khanna, Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Tim Walz, 'The Bulwark,' 'Pod Save America' — all of these people came together to overlook it all, to explain it all, to rationalize it all."
Jennings kept up the well-earned reaming. "He was vetted. People knew all these things, and a whole bunch of Democrats in Maine showed up and voted for him anyway," he pointed out. "You already signed off on Nazi tattoo, a self-described communist, somebody who's had rape fantasies, somebody who has been on a social media platform known as a playground for predators, and on, and on, and on, and on, and on."
Then he identified the one variable that changed. "And the difference between this accuser and the previous one is simply this: She's a liberal," Jennings said. "It's okay, I guess, for Democrats that their candidates assault conservatives."
His conclusion left nothing standing: "They knew it, and they signed up for it, and I don't know why they're backing away from this scumbag today when they had already signed off on all that other crazy behavior."
Scott Jennings just blew up the Democrats’ favorite excuse.
— Overton (@overton_news) July 7, 2026
They’re now claiming Graham Platner wasn’t properly vetted, but Jennings wasn’t buying it for a second.
He reminded the CNN panel that prominent Democrats like Ro Khanna, Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, and Tim Walz… pic.twitter.com/oMQ6AxjDwj
He's right, and everyone knows it. The Democrat Party made a calculated bet that a Nazi tattoo and a trail of ugly allegations wouldn't matter as long as Platner kept the seat in play. The bet went bust, and now the same people who placed it want you to believe they never saw the ledger.
This is the party that spent a decade lecturing the rest of us that "character matters," but character never mattered to these people. It was a talking point. That’s why they stood behind a guy with an actual Nazi tattoo for so long. Maine voters didn’t care. They chose him over Gov. Janet Mills, for crying out loud.
Character didn’t matter until the polls showed that Collins was starting to win the race. Remember that the next time a Democrat climbs onto a soapbox to talk about character and decency.
The problem isn’t that Democrats didn’t vet Platner; it’s that they did.
Editor's Note: Do you enjoy PJ Media's conservative reporting that takes on the radical left and woke media? Support our work so that we can continue to bring you the truth.
Join PJ Media VIP and use promo code FIGHT to receive 60% off your membership.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member