{"id":134796,"date":"2026-06-06T16:32:47","date_gmt":"2026-06-06T20:32:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/nyt-panel-debates-whether-graham-platner-is-a-dirtbag-or-democrats-answer-to-trump-era-politics-134796"},"modified":"2026-06-06T16:32:47","modified_gmt":"2026-06-06T20:32:47","slug":"nyt-panel-debates-whether-graham-platner-is-a-dirtbag-or-democrats-answer-to-trump-era-politics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/nyt-panel-debates-whether-graham-platner-is-a-dirtbag-or-democrats-answer-to-trump-era-politics-134796","title":{"rendered":"NYT panel debates whether Graham Platner is a \u2018dirtbag\u2019 or Democrats\u2019 answer to Trump-era politics"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

New York Times Opinion panelists on Saturday debated Democrat Graham Platner’s Maine U.S. Senate campaign on “The Opinions,” asking whether his scandals, outsider image and support ahead of Tuesday’s primary show how deeply President Donald Trump has changed voters’ expectations for character in politics.<\/p>\n

“Obviously, he\u2019s not Donald Trump. I mean, he is the gateway drug to Trumpism. Let\u2019s put it this way: If he wins and [Texas Senate candidate James] Talarico loses, the cry across the land, in that Democratic consultant class, will be: \u2018Find me more Platners. We need more Platners. These are the guys who know how to win.\u2019 And where have I heard this before?” columnist David French said.<\/p>\n

The discussion on The New York Times Opinion podcast “The Opinions” centered on Platner\u2019s bid to challenge Sen. Susan Collins<\/a>, R-Maine, and the repeated controversies surrounding his campaign.<\/p>\n

Columnist Jamelle Bouie argued that Platner should not be compared directly to Trump, even while describing the Maine candidate in blunt terms.<\/p>\n

THE GROWING LIST OF CONTROVERSIES THREATENING DEMOCRAT GRAHAM PLATNER’S MAINE SENATE BID<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

“You know, I don\u2019t think it\u2019s fair. And I say that because, so far, what we\u2019ve learned about Platner is that, for lack of a better term, he\u2019s kind of a dirtbag<\/a>. Just a dirtbaggy kind of guy,” Bouie said.<\/p>\n

Bouie said Platner’s flaws placed him closer to Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., than to Trump or Texas Republican Senate nominee Ken Paxton. Fetterman successfully campaigned on a more working-class image in his 2022 victory.<\/p>\n

“That\u2019s versus Trump, who isn\u2019t just a reprehensible person, but is actively engaged in harming other people in his private life, right?” Bouie said.<\/p>\n

“And I\u2019d say the same for Paxton: not just a slimy guy, but a guy whose modus operandi, as a human being, is to try to dominate the people around him in really ugly ways. And so, I think Platner is more on the John Fetterman continuum than he is on the Trump continuum, which is just kind of dirtbaggy.”<\/p>\n

DEMOCRATIC MAINE SENATE CANDIDATE GRAHAM PLATNER CONFRONTED BY MS NOW HOST ABOUT TATTOO CONTROVERSY<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

French said the problem for Democrats was not just the number of controversies but the pattern they suggested about Platner’s judgment.<\/p>\n

“Yeah. The guy is waving red flags everywhere. It\u2019s like he\u2019s waving flags, \u2018Abort, abort. No, don\u2019t do this,\u2019” French said. “Because it\u2019s not just that he has a number of scandals<\/a>. The nature of them, though, and the way that he\u2019s responded to them, raises the possibility that he\u2019s not the kind of person you would want in the United States Senate, to put it mildly.”<\/p>\n

French said he did not accept Platner’s explanation that he did not understand the meaning of his old tattoo<\/a>, which has Nazi connections.<\/p>\n

WATCH: PLATNER DOESN’T APOLOGIZE TO PURPLE HEART RECIPIENT, VOTERS WHEN CONFRONTED ON POST MOCKING SOLDIER<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

“No, the guy\u2019s a history buff. The story has been that he\u2019s gone through a tough time. He didn\u2019t know exactly what he was doing,” he said. “He\u2019s come out of the tough time. He\u2019s better now. And then we get the sexting scandal. Well, the sexting scandal takes place after he\u2019s married, relatively recently.”<\/p>\n

Moderator Michelle Cottle asked whether character issues that once might have ended a campaign still mattered in a political environment shaped by Trump\u2019s own scandals.<\/p>\n

“As you\u2019ve noted, with the morality question, Trump has basically blown that up,” Cottle said. “When we talk about leadership and character, that\u2019s almost laughable these days.”<\/p>\n

CLICK HERE FOR MORE COVERAGE OF MEDIA AND CULTURE<\/u><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Bouie said Platner\u2019s appeal may survive because the controversies fit the candidate\u2019s political image as an unpolished outsider rather than undermine it.<\/p>\n

“Unless these scandals or these revelations, or whatever you want to call them, tip into actual illegality or something extremely unethical,” Bouie said. “I\u2019m actually pretty confident he\u2019ll weather all of them, because they are the kind of scandal that reinforces the political persona.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Source – https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/media\/nyt-panel-debates-whether-graham-platner-dirtbag-democrats-answer-trump-era-politics <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

New York Times Opinion panelists on Saturday debated Democrat Graham Platner’s Maine U.S. Senate campaign on “The Opinions,” asking whether his scandals, outsider image and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"twitter_2902945987_2902945987":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[16563],"tags":[],"stock_ticker":[],"class_list":["post-134796","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-market-news","entry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nNYT panel debates whether Graham Platner is a \u2018dirtbag\u2019 or Democrats\u2019 answer to Trump-era politics - Wall Street PR<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/nyt-panel-debates-whether-graham-platner-is-a-dirtbag-or-democrats-answer-to-trump-era-politics-134796\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"NYT panel debates whether Graham Platner is a \u2018dirtbag\u2019 or Democrats\u2019 answer to Trump-era politics - 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