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Fetterman vs. Platner
Sen. John Fetterman escalated his attacks on fellow Maine Democrat Graham Platner in a Friday appearance on Fox News' The Ingraham Angle, saying that if Platner were a Republican, Democrats would call him a “degenerate,” and arguing some in his party were effectively standing by him because he has a “D” after his name.
“‘Democrats want to win': Platner’s support reflects a changing party in the Trump era ‘Democrats want to win': Platner’s support reflects a changing party in the Trump era WASHINGTON (AP) — Minnesota Sen”
Fetterman told Fox News' Laura Ingraham that “if you can’t really defend him, you could at least say, well, he has a ‘D’ after his name, but he’s not even a Democrat,” and he also called Platner a “creep” and a “dirtbag.”
Platner fired back at a Portland, Maine, town hall ahead of his primary win, saying he did not want to go to Washington and “simply be not functional,” and adding: “You can’t just go down there and be John Fetterman…and just kind of sort of be an a******.”
The feud has become more than a personality dispute, with the Newsweek account framing it as a fight over electability, party standards, and how much controversy Democrats are willing to absorb in one of their most important Senate races.
The reporting also ties the dispute to the prospect that Platner could become a Senate colleague next year if he defeats incumbent GOP Senator Susan Collins in November.
Party splits and Trump
Democrats split on whether to back Platner, with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer moving to support him after Gov. Janet Mills suspended her Senate campaign in April, while Democratic Representative Brad Schneider said there was “no way” Platner did not know the meaning of the tattoo linked to Nazi symbolism.
In the Washington Post framing, Democrats’ “one name keeps coming up: Donald Trump,” with Liz Goodwin and Joanna Slater describing an argument that “Democrats want to win” by lowering the bar on past behavior to flip control of the Senate.
AP reported that Minnesota Sen. Tina Smith said “Democrats want to win,” and it described how Smith and other Democrats backed Maine U.S. Senate candidate Graham Platner despite controversies including a tattoo recognized as a Nazi symbol and sexting with other women shortly after he married.
AP also quoted Sen. Adam Schiff saying, “He won the nomination. That was the decision of Maine voters. And I respect that decision,” while Sen. Bernie Sanders said voters care more about “how we’re going to have a government that represents all of us” than “the marriage problems of a campaign.”
The Washington Post account places the debate in the context of Trump’s record, noting that the president “lowered the bar” after allegations of misconduct from multiple women and being caught on tape bragging about grabbing women’s genitals.
Primary momentum, November stakes
Maine’s primary results gave Platner major momentum, with Maine Public reporting that he has already received more primary votes than any other Democratic U.S. Senate candidate in Maine history and that he received more than 150,000 votes on primary Election Day so far.
Maine Public also reported that his vote share was significantly more than all eight of the Republican candidates running for governor combined as of Thursday, and it said more than 18,000 unenrolled voters cast absentee ballots as of Tuesday afternoon, with 75 percent voting in the Democratic primary.
The Intercept described Platner’s primary win as “an overwhelming win,” saying he came in at over 70 percent of the vote and that the AP called it on Tuesday night with 8 percent showing.
As the general election approaches against incumbent Sen. Susan Collins in November, AP said the support for Platner reflects a Democratic Party increasingly willing to overlook behavior it might once have deemed disqualifying, while Vox’s account described how Platner’s victory sets up a contest in which he must win over Mainers beyond the primary electorate.
Against that backdrop, Fetterman’s attacks and the internal party arguments over standards and electability remain tied to the same November stakes: flipping the Senate and testing how Democrats handle controversy in a high-profile Maine race.
