That the Democrats are pinning their hopes and dreams of retaking the U.S. Senate in the 2026 midterms on goofs like Graham Platner shows us the absolute state of things on the left, and it, of course, is not good.
Platner is seemingly riding high right now as the party's presumptive Senate nominee for Maine, with the full backing of members of the socialist wing, which includes Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), and somewhat favorable polling numbers ahead of the expected general election matchup between himself and Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME).
He's been able to do this despite (or perhaps because of?) a wave of negative stories that started early in the primary and which have continued that largely center around a lengthy history of sexist, racist, homophobic, and inflammatory Reddit comments where he's blamed sexual assault victims for being raped, spouted derogatory remarks about black people, has insulted rural white Americans, and bragged about being a communist. He even went so far as to wish some of his fellow military veterans had died horrible deaths in combat.
READ MORE: Graham Platner Was Already Disgusting — These Latest Unearthed Posts Make It Much Worse
Between all that, bizarrely bragging about self-pleasuring in a porta-potty, and even the Nazi tattoo scandal, the cringe against Platner is stacking up, which isn't good for a guy who needs to win not just Democrats but some independent voters if he hopes to defeat Collins in the fall.
The latest example comes from Platner's repeated insistence that Collins "voted to send me to Iraq," a campaign line he's been using since at least mid-May, when he uttered it in a New York Times interview:
The anger that I feel is for the people that sent me, who are frankly still the same people who are sending people off right now to be in harm’s way so we can have this stupid war with Iran. Susan Collins voted to send me to Iraq, and she’s also there to help Donald Trump continue this absolutely insane conflict in the Strait of Hormuz.
Except Susan Collins voted for the Iraq war resolution in 2002. Platner didn't enlist until late 2003, several months after the war started.
Others at the time pointed to comments Platner posted on Reddit, where he noted how enthusiastic he was about enlisting, so that he "could kill some people":
The next time you hear @grahamformaine say that @SenSusanCollins sent him off to war. Just remember what he said himself. pic.twitter.com/lWFKpyX1mc
— Jeff (Opinion Contributor) (@magine_3037) May 13, 2026
Since Platner has continued with the baseless attack, reporters are still talking about it, and Collins was asked about it during a Thursday groundbreaking in Maine.
She landed a solid on him, pointing out that not only did he enlist twice after the war started, but that he "also went to work for a controversial security company" sometime after his service was over. Further, she made the point that Platner was "not drafted" to serve:
Collins also took issue with Platner’s repeatedly saying she sent him to Iraq by voting in 2002 to authorize President George W. Bush to start the war, which began in March 2003. Platner enlisted in the Marines later that year, after finishing high school, and served three combat tours in Iraq. In 2009, he enlisted in the Army, which deployed him for one combat tour in Afghanistan.
Collins said, “He not only enlisted twice, after the war was started, but he also went to work for a security company, a controversial one named Blackwater, after his term in the service was over. So, I respect anyone who steps forward to serve their country. But the fact is, that was Platner's decision to serve. He was not drafted.”
Watch:
Senator Collins responds to the scurrilous claim from Graham Platner that she sent him to "die in Iraq."
— The Maine Wire (@TheMaineWire) May 28, 2026
"That was Platner's decision to serve. He was not drafted." pic.twitter.com/3hyPjxkfyn
Incredibly, Platner's response was to pretend she was attacking veterans, and to pretend he was their defender after years of disparaging them:
Just to spell out Platner's game here -- he's falsely accused Susan Collins of voting to send him to Iraq. She responded by pointing out that Platner volunteered 2 years after her Iraq vote. Now, he's framing her response as an attack on ppl who served https://t.co/xNjCsyRndS
— Chuck Ross (@ChuckRossDC) May 28, 2026
Here's what Platner wrote in 2012, back when he wasn't running for political office. https://t.co/xNjCsyRndS pic.twitter.com/3VDetQDfNf
— Chuck Ross (@ChuckRossDC) May 28, 2026
One of the "selling points" Platner and his prominent backers, like Sanders and Warren, have been using is that he's a veteran who supposedly served honorably. Yet, his Reddit attacks on his fellow service members, including the late Navy SEAL and American sniper Chris Kyle, and now this, where he first falsely presented himself as a victim of Collins' Iraq war vote, and then pretended to be a defender of veterans whom Collins did not attack as she called him out, is a pretty dishonorable thing to do, in my opinion.
It is unlikely to sit well with folks for whom serving their country meant a lot more than enlisting just so they "could kill some people." Just how much that impacts his general election campaign remains to be seen, but good on Collins for ensuring that hole Platner keeps digging for himself gets a little deeper.
Editor’s Note: The 2026 Midterms will determine the fate of President Trump’s America First agenda. Republicans must maintain control of both chambers of Congress.
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