Back when Graham Platner was on his way to becoming the Democrat nominee in the Maine Senate race, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) delivered what ultimately turned out to be one of his "kisses of death," politically speaking.
During an April event that featured Warren and Platner appearing together, the senator infamously proclaimed that Platner was "my kind of man" even after multiple controversies, including the revelation of the Nazi tattoo and his bigoted remarks about black people and misogynistic statements he posted about women on Reddit:
Warren said the path to having a Democratic majority in the Senate runs through Maine, calling it an "all-hands-on-deck moment" from now until November. Warren added she immediately liked Platner after hearing him say in an interview that he understood the system was "rigged" when none of the bankers went to jail after the 2008 financial crisis.
"I said to myself, 'That’s my kind of man,'" Warren said to applause from the crowd. "That is a man who believes in accountability, and we need a little accountability coming out of Washington right now."
Watch:
Elizabeth Warren on the Nazi tattooed Graham Platner: “That’s my kind of man.” https://t.co/SrihBYJdVw
— Steve Guest (@SteveGuest) April 18, 2026
When confronted about it, she pivoted to how he had supposedly apologized, and stated, without evidence, that he was a different man than he was when he said and did such disgusting things. Three months later, Platner dropped out after he was accused of sexual assault by a former girlfriend, causing Democrats who had previously made excuses for him to panic over his general election prospects against Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME).
We are now two weeks away from Election Day, and Platner's replacement, problematic former state senate president Troy Jackson, has been busy digging a hole for himself after telling Collins to "shut up" at their final debate last Thursday. When pressed on it three days later, Jackson doubled and tripled down, refusing to apologize and insisting that it was Collins who had the problem because she supposedly had "talked down" to him.
In an update to this story, Warren had the unfortunate luck to be making a campaign appearance two days later with him in Portland, ME, amid the backlash. She was asked about the viral moment. Her defense? He said it because he wasn't a "polished politician":
Senator Elizabeth Warren, Democrat of Massachusetts, was campaigning with Mr. Jackson at the rally and said that he was “not a polished politician” but that “the people of Maine know who he is, and that’s what matters.”
Um, one doesn't need to be a "polished politician" to understand that telling someone to "shut up" in general is frowned upon as a general rule except in cases where something particularly egregious was said. But a man telling a woman, especially one 14 years his senior whose only apparent crime was disagreeing with Jackson, to "shut up" is not ever going to be considered a good look, especially when that man has a controversial history of not only disrespecting women but also allegedly getting violent with them.
This follows reports that he once got so angry in a legislative meeting that he threw a water bottle and hit a female legislator. Can Maine Democrats find a candidate who DOESN’T have a history of violently abusing women? https://t.co/2098T2wP2g
— Matt Whitlock (@MattWhitlock) August 13, 2026
Warren says, “The people of Maine know who he is, and that’s what matters." Just like "my kinda man," that might turn out not to be the ringing endorsement Warren might think it is.
As for Jackson, he hasn't backed down from what he said, which, as Collins remarked, is "very telling." But with just days to go before Election Day, his campaign is undoubtedly grateful that Jackson didn't have a water bottle in hand during that debate.