A bitter public feud between Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) and Maine Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner is exposing growing fractures within the Democratic Party as left-wing activists and establishment figures increasingly find themselves at odds ahead of the 2026 midterms.
The latest clash erupted Sunday when Platner, speaking at a town hall in Maine, referred to Fetterman with a profanity while discussing lawmakers he would potentially work alongside in Washington. &#8220;The Senate really is a place of relationships,&#8221; Platner <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/platner-calls-fetterman-a-hole-town-hall-democratic-feud-heats-up">told supporters</a>. &#8220;You can&#8217;t just go down there and be John Fetterman and just sort of be an a**hole.&#8221;
When audience members reacted, Platner doubled down, adding, &#8220;He&#8217;s said mean things about me, I&#8217;m allowed to say that.&#8221;
The comments marked the latest escalation in a war of words that has increasingly become a proxy battle over the future direction of the Democratic Party.
Fetterman has emerged as one of Platner&#8217;s most vocal Democratic critics in recent weeks, repeatedly attacking the Maine progressive over a growing list of controversies that have dogged his Senate campaign. The Pennsylvania senator has <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2026/06/02/politics/graham-platner-senate-democrats-maine">referred</a> to Platner as a &#8220;creeper,&#8221; questioned his past conduct, and accused fellow Democrats of overlooking behavior they would ordinarily condemn.
&#8220;What kind of a creeper has spent a decade on a platform like Kik, and send a dozen explicit kinds of messages and who knows what else?&#8221; Fetterman said during a recent CNN interview. In another appearance, Fetterman argued that Democrats were supporting Platner primarily because of party loyalty rather than enthusiasm for the candidate himself. &#8220;If they&#8217;d just be honest, they&#8217;d say, &#8216;Well, the only thing I can say about him is, well, he&#8217;s a Democrat,'&#8221; Fetterman <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2026/06/06/politics/video/fetterman-roasts-maines-dem-senate-candidate">said</a>. &#8220;He&#8217;s not really technically a Democrat — in his own words, he said, &#8216;I&#8217;m a communist socialist.'&#8221;
Platner has fired back repeatedly, accusing Fetterman of abandoning progressive principles and aligning himself with more moderate and pro-Israel factions within the party. Over the weekend, Platner <a href="https://x.com/grahamformaine/status/2063395224592761326">wrote</a> on X that Fetterman had become &#8220;a stooge for AIPAC and the Republican Party,&#8221; highlighting one of the major ideological fault lines driving the dispute.
The increasingly personal nature of the conflict comes as Fetterman himself has become a controversial figure among many leftists due to his strong support for Israel, criticism of anti-Israel activists, and willingness to break with fellow Democrats on several high-profile issues.
While Democratic leaders have largely attempted to focus attention on defeating Republicans in November, the Fetterman-Platner fight underscores deeper tensions simmering beneath the surface. Those divisions pit an ascendant hard-left contingent that embraces democratic socialism and confrontational politics against more moderate Democrats who argue the party risks alienating voters through ideological purity tests and controversial candidates.
The dispute could also offer an early preview of broader battles expected to intensify ahead of the 2028 presidential election. As Democrats search for a post-Biden identity, competing factions within the party are increasingly wrestling over questions of ideology, messaging, foreign policy, and the type of candidates they want representing the party on the national stage.
For now, those disagreements are playing out in Maine, where Platner remains the heavy favorite to secure his party&#8217;s Senate nomination. But the increasingly public feud with Fetterman suggests that even if Democrats remain united against Republicans at the ballot box, unity within the party itself may prove far more difficult to maintain.
If Platner wins the nomination and advances to a general election showdown against incumbent Republican Sen. Susan Collins, Democrats may face a difficult balancing act: defending a candidate embraced by the party&#8217;s left-wing grassroots while answering questions raised by one of their own sitting senators.

Senate Votes on Reconciliation

Fetterman Vs. Platner: The Democrat Civil War Is Getting Ugly

Democrat

Democratic Party

graham platner

John Fetterman

Politics

Senate

A fierce ideological civil war has erupted within the Democratic Party over the candidacy of Graham Platner, who is running for a Senate seat in Maine.
The deep-seated factional split was thrust into the national spotlight during a contentious segment on CNN hosted by Abby Phillip. The debate exposed a glaring double standard as establishment figures and Democratic strategists locked horns over how to handle a baggage-laden candidate with a Nazi tattoo, sexually explicit <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/see-it-graham-platner-has-active-profile-on-predators-paradise-messaging-app">messaging scandals</a>, and regressive comments on race and gender.
The rift became clear during an exchange between former Rep. Joe Cunningham (D-SC) and Democratic strategist Yemisi Egbewole. Cunningham epitomized the pragmatic, win-at-all-costs wing of the party, shrugging off Platner&#8217;s mounting personal liabilities. First, he mocked the GOP, saying, “I&#8217;ll withhold my comments about, you know, the Republican Party having — you know, speaking from the high ground of moral clarity, which I don&#8217;t believe that they do considering the candidates that are running this cycle under the Republican banner.”

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He then argued, “You know, Democrats right now just want a candidate who can, you know, speak plain English, and communicate to voters and be authentic, and talk about issues that resonate with people, not, you know, these obtuse issues, like whether it be like, you know, save democracy, and so vague.”
Egbewole, however, dismantled this narrative, delivering a devastating rebuke to the leftist establishment, as she stated:
<blockquote>
I think we&#8217;ve lost the plot on authenticity. I think Graham Platner is cosplaying working class. He wears it like a Halloween costume, and that has been placed on him by the same people who have run a lot of progressive candidates across the nation.
In this pursuit of getting to know the everyman, we keep picking these people who I think show the worst parts of society. If I am to believe that Graham Platner can relate to everyday Americans, then that means I am to believe that everyday Americans are okay with Nazi tattoos because they get them accidentally when they&#8217;re drunk. Or because they served in the military, they have very regressive views on race and on gender. I just cannot accept the fact that to gain the working class, we have to dress up people who show the lowest of our values.</blockquote>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Democrat Strategist Yemisi Egbewole TORCHES Graham Platner:
“We have lost the plot on authenticity. To think Graham Platner is cosplaying working class. He wears it like a Halloween costume, and that has been placed on him by the same people who have run a lot of progressive… <a href="https://t.co/C4Rrq3wnIO">pic.twitter.com/C4Rrq3wnIO</a>
&mdash; Steve Guest (@SteveGuest) <a href="https://x.com/SteveGuest/status/2061643458549281249?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 2, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.x.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
CNN host Abby Phillip further fueled the intraparty division by seemingly trying to downplay Platner&#8217;s actions, attempting to frame them as no worse than the controversies surrounding Texas Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton. Phillip noted that despite the &#8220;drip, drip&#8221; of scandals, voters in Maine have actually made Platner more popular, suggesting that Democrats are now doing exactly what they have accused Republicans of doing since 2016: shrugging off personal scandal.
However, this attempt to establish moral equivalence between Platner and Paxton was quickly shut down by former New York City Republican councilman Joe Borelli. Borelli forcefully illuminated the critical difference between the two men, pointing out that Paxton was acquitted by the Texas Senate of the corruption and bribery charges brought against him while Platner still faces ongoing scandals.
&#8220;To be clear, I think the Nazi tattoo is disqualifying. I think the idea that women are responsible for their own rapes is completely disqualifying and he should be punched in the face, to be frank with you. I mean, that&#8217;s an appalling thing to say,&#8221; Borelli said.
Ultimately, the segment laid bare a Democratic Party in crisis, caught between Egbewole’s refusal to sacrifice basic morality for political expediency and an establishment willing to embrace anyone to win.

MixCollage-02-Jun-2026-08-01-AM-349

‘Cosplaying Working Class’: Dem Strategist Highlights Party’s Big Graham Platner Problem

Maine

nazi tattoo

What the Democrats are doing in Maine is totally insane.
Graham Platner is the Senate Democratic candidate in Maine. He has a Nazi tattoo; he wrote on public Reddit threads about how happy he was that an American soldier had been shot; he has posted repeatedly about how he likes to pleasure himself in porta-potties; he has been exposed in a sexting scandal.
But Democrats say that you must vote for him to stop Susan Collins.
Susan Collins is the most moderate GOP member of the United States Senate; I agree with her roughly 65% of the time.
She voted to convict Donald Trump in his 2021 impeachment trial. She voted against the One, Big, Beautiful Bill Act. She sank the Affordable Care Act repeal bill in 2017. She even blocked it from going through. She&#8217;s one of three Republicans who voted to confirm Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court in 2022.
But Democrats say you have to vote for Platner to stop her.
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/ben-shapiro-show-ep-2435?elementPosition=1&amp;row=0&amp;rowHeadline=Recent+Episodes&amp;rowType=Horizontal+Show+Episodes+Carousel"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-981859" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/ben-banner.avif" alt="" width="1024" height="171" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/ben-banner.avif 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/ben-banner-300x50.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/ben-banner-768x128.jpg 768w" sizes=" (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></a>
Graham Platner is a fake oyster farmer from Maine who had a privileged upbringing, volunteered for the United States military, and then decided to crap on his fellow troops when he came back.
Platner’s wife, Amy Gardner, who married him in 2023, told a senior campaign aide that her husband had been exchanging sexual messages with multiple other women.
It&#8217;s worse than that. The Daily Wire&#8217;s Tim Rice <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/see-it-graham-platner-has-active-profile-on-predators-paradise-messaging-app?author=Tim+Rice&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=SEE+IT%3A+Graham+Platner+Has+Active+Profile+On+%E2%80%98Predator%E2%80%99s+Paradise%E2%80%99+Messaging+App">reported</a> that Platner has an active profile on the messaging app Kik, known as &#8220;predator&#8217;s paradise.&#8221; Rice reported, “The National Center on Sexual Exploitation deems the anonymous messaging app a ‘predator’s paradise,’ thanks to a number of features that allow underage users to join the app and communicate with adults.”
The report continued:
<blockquote>A <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/thomasbrewster/2017/08/03/kik-has-a-massive-child-abuse-problem/#53f0fc31a142">Forbes investigation</a> found that Kik had a “huge child exploitation problem,” while the BBC found that the app was at the center of over <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-45568276">1,100 child sexual abuse cases</a> in the United Kingdom between 2013 and 2018.
But even among consenting adult users, Kik is no ordinary messenger. The platform has been <a href="https://www.wave3.com/2025/10/23/messaging-app-allegedly-used-louisville-sex-crimes-case-described-predators-paradise/">described</a> as “the app with the most severe sexual content.” Kik offers sexually explicit live chats with women, and is often found at the center of “sexploitation” cases, wherein predators coax someone to send nude photos, and then use the images for blackmail, the New York Times <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/06/us/social-media-apps-anonymous-kik-crime.html">reported</a> in 2016.</blockquote>
Seventy percent of users on the app are between the ages of 13 and 24. Platner only deactivated his profile in the last couple of days.
The Democrats are insisting you must vote for the National Socialist with the sexting problem to stop Susan Collins.
I don&#8217;t want to hear any more from Democrats or anyone supporting this kind of garbage about Republicans having a moderation problem.
It&#8217;s ridiculous. Graham Platner is running against Susan Collins, who has long been the bugaboo of the traditional Republican Party. It’s better to have her there than a Democrat —  but only by a marginal amount.
She votes on major issues with the Democrats a significant percentage of the time, but Democrats still argue that you should vote for the ambulatory psychotic who has to routinely visit counseling so he doesn&#8217;t randomly sext women in Maine.
Wacko Connecticut Senate Democrat Chris Murphy said on Face the Nation:
<blockquote>I have not followed this story as closely as others have, but I mean, Graham Platner is somebody that served our country. He served his community. He&#8217;s also made mistakes. And he has admitted that. Character also involves standing up to people who are bankrupting and corrupting this country. And this race is going to be a contrast between somebody that has put his life on the line for this country, against somebody that is literally empowering the moral hollowing out of our nation from the White House.</blockquote>
The idea is, “We must defend this guy no matter what because — Trump.”
Once you&#8217;re in this mode, there are no limits.

platner_skeletons

Meet Democrats’ New Boyfriend. Then Open The Closet.

Ben Shapiro

Maine Democrats

Opinion

Susan Collins

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass is getting roasted online after an obscene verbal slip-up during a live mayoral debate became one of the night’s most viral moments.
The awkward exchange happened while Bass was defending her administration’s handling of the catastrophic Palisades fires that devastated parts of Los Angeles earlier this year.
“Was that a mistake?” the moderator immediately asked as Bass stumbled through the response. Attempting to explain problems with the city’s emergency response, Bass appeared to accidentally say “fire f*cks” instead of “fire trucks” before quickly correcting herself.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560">
Karen Bass makes obscene gaffe during live LA mayoral debate <a href="https://t.co/vgEXB5WlmC">https://t.co/vgEXB5WlmC</a> <a href="https://t.co/Gyp1EMAF3U">pic.twitter.com/Gyp1EMAF3U</a>
— California Post (@californiapost) <a href="https://twitter.com/californiapost/status/2052455751470428580?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 7, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Clips of the moment spread rapidly across social media, where critics mocked the mayor for looking flustered and unprepared during one of the most high-profile debates of the race so far.
The gaffe came during an especially rough night for Bass, who repeatedly found herself on defense over Los Angeles’ homelessness crisis, public safety concerns, and the city’s wildfire response. Several moments during the debate saw Bass interrupted or forced into lengthy explanations as challengers pressed her on the city’s ongoing problems.
Much of the criticism centered on Bass attempting to blame former Fire Chief Kristin Crowley for staffing issues during the deadly fires. Bass argued that firefighters had been sent home before conditions spiraled out of control — a claim that immediately sparked backlash online from critics accusing the mayor of trying to shift responsibility.
The debate quickly turned combative as frustration over the condition of Los Angeles dominated the discussion. Questions about rising crime, drug addiction, homelessness encampments, and taxpayer spending repeatedly put Bass on the defensive throughout the night.
Political observers noted that Bass often appeared tense and struggled to regain control during several exchanges as the audience reacted loudly to attacks over the city’s decline.
The viral debate performance now adds even more pressure to Bass as anger continues to build over the direction of Los Angeles ahead of the June 2 mayoral election.

Karen_Bass_Censored

Karen Bass Obscene Debate Gaffe Goes Viral For All The Wrong Reasons

Karen Bass

Los Angeles

President Donald Trump commented on the federal charges facing the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) early Friday morning, arguing that the leftist group&#8217;s potential fraud &#8220;is another Democrat Hoax&#8221; that places the 2020 election results into doubt.
Trump made the comment in a <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/116457972455781406">post</a> on Truth Social, marking the first time he has publicly addressed the allegations against the SPLC, which was charged earlier this week with multiple counts of wire fraud over its scheme to pay the leaders of multiple white supremacist groups in exchange for information.
&#8220;The Southern Poverty Law Center, one of the greatest political scams in American History, has been charged with FRAUD. This is another Democrat Hoax, along with Act Blue, and many others,&#8221; Trump wrote. &#8220;If it is true, the 2020 Presidential Election should be permanently wiped from the books and be of no further force or effect! Thank you for your attention to this matter.&#8221;
The SPLC, which started in the 1970s as an organization to push back against racism and segregation in the South, has been paying leaders of extremist groups for decades, according to an indictment unsealed by the Justice Department on Tuesday. The indictment states that the SPLC secretly used donor cash to pay so-called informants affiliated with racist groups, including the Ku Klux Klan, over $3 million between 2014 and 2023.
The SPLC is closely aligned with Democratic Party goals and talking points and has a political action fund that almost exclusively <a href="https://www.splcactionfund.org/endorsements/">endorses</a> Democrats in state and local elections in the South.
Between 2015 and 2023, the SPLC <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/lefty-anti-hate-group-paid-white-supremacist-to-plan-infamous-charlottesville-rally-indictment">paid</a> a member of a white supremacist group that planned the &#8220;Unite the Right&#8221; rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 2017, according to the indictment. The rally, which turned deadly when a man drove his car through a crowd of counter protesters, became the main reason behind former President Joe Biden&#8217;s 2020 election campaign. Biden pointed to the rally in his campaign announcement video, pinning blame on Trump and saying, “In that moment, I knew the threat to this nation was unlike any I had ever seen in my lifetime.”
The SPLC has also engaged in a campaign to label mainstream conservatives as &#8220;extremists&#8221; and has used its influence to pressure social media companies and the federal government to censor conservative voices. The SPLC was used as a resource by the FBI to identify extremists before FBI Director Kash Patel cut the bureau’s ties with the leftist organization last year.
In his post on Friday morning, Trump also called out Democratic Party fundraising platform ActBlue, which is under scrutiny over accusations that it allowed foreign contributions in American elections. Trump maintains that he was the rightful winner of the 2020 presidential election, which Biden won by over 70 electoral votes amid major controversy over mail-in ballots and ballot harvesting methods.

Donald Trump

Trump Hints At Major 2020 Move If SPLC Found Guilty Of Fraud

2020 Election

Executive

Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC)

Democrats in Michigan nominated a Muslim attorney who has honored terrorists for a position on the University of Michigan&#8217;s Board of Regents.
At the Michigan Democratic Party&#8217;s nominating convention on Sunday night, delegates chose Amir Makled over incumbent regent Jordan Acker for a seat on the board that controls the university&#8217;s budget and leadership appointments, The Detroit News <a href="https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/politics/2026/04/19/jordan-acker-university-of-michigan-board-of-regents-amir-makled-wins-democratic-convention-vote/89691921007/">reported</a>. The contrast in the race could not have been clearer for Democratic delegates, who ultimately picked a Muslim who recently shared a post that referred to Israelis as &#8220;demons&#8221; over a Jewish regent who has faced antisemitic attacks.
Last June, Makled <a href="https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/michigan/2026/04/09/university-of-michigan-regent-candidate-lawyer-amir-makled-deletes-posts-praising-hezbollah-leaders/89533176007/">shared</a> a post that called former Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah a &#8220;martyr,&#8221; less than a year after Nasrallah was taken out in an Israeli airstrike. Another post shared by Makled honored Hezbollah official Abu Ali Khalil as a &#8220;martyr on the road to Jerusalem.&#8221;
In July 2025, Makled shared a post from Candace Owens, in which Owens referred to Israelis as &#8220;demons&#8221; who &#8220;lie, steal, cheat, murder, and blackmail.&#8221; The Muslim lawyer has since deleted those social media posts.
Makled secured the nomination over Acker, who has faced antisemitic threats from anti-Israel radicals following Hamas&#8217; attack on Israel on October 7, 2023. In December of 2024, Acker&#8217;s home was vandalized and damaged, and his wife&#8217;s car was spray painted with the words &#8220;Divest&#8221; and &#8220;Free Palestine.&#8221; Anti-Israel radicals also vandalized Acker&#8217;s law firm building, which police investigated as a hate crime, CNN <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2024/12/09/us/university-of-michigan-regents-vandalized-acker">reported</a>.
Last year, Acker, along with regents Mark Bernstein and Sarah Hubbard, were given 24/7 security due to threats from anti-Israel demonstrators. Makled represented anti-Israel students who were arrested and charged last year with trespassing and resisting arrest when police broke up an encampment on Michigan&#8217;s campus.
The nomination of Makled over Acker reflects a major shift in the Democratic Party throughout the country, which has seen multiple leftist Muslims elected to public office. That shift is on full display in Michigan this year as another leftist Muslim, Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, is in a tight race for the Democratic nomination to the open seat for U.S. Senate. El-Sayed <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2026/04/19/politics/michigan-senate-democratic-primary">told</a> CNN over the weekend that Hamas is just as evil as the Israeli government.
The Michigan Democratic Party did not release the vote tally for Sunday&#8217;s nominating convention. For many statewide offices in Michigan, the Democratic Party chooses its nominees through delegates who meet to cast their votes at a nominating convention. Acker&#8217;s ticket-mate, Paul Brown, who has also called for punishment for anti-Israel demonstrators, was renominated to run alongside Makled in the general election.
Makled rode a wave of support from leftist University of Michigan students and campus labor unions to his nomination victory.
“This is beyond the support that I was expecting,” Makled <a href="https://www.michigandaily.com/news/administration/amir-makled-defeats-regent-jordan-acker-at-democratic-convention-to-run-alongside-incumbent-paul-brown/">said</a> after he was nominated. “This is the largest convention I’ve participated in in 20 years, and I’ve been coming to them since 2006. This really shows how much the Democratic Party has expanded the electorate and energized the base of what people want to see come November.”
Makled will face Republicans Lena Epstein and Michael Schostak in the general election on November 3.
Not all Democrats were enthused by Makled&#8217;s candidacy. Brandon Dillon, a former chairman of the Michigan Democratic Party, blasted Makled and <a href="https://www.detroitnews.com/story/opinion/2026/04/17/dillon-the-democratic-party-has-no-room-for-amir-makled/89665735007/">wrote</a> in a Detroit News opinion piece that Makled&#8217;s social media posts &#8220;reflect a pattern of extremism and bigotry, all of which should be disqualifying for someone seeking one of the most powerful positions in Michigan higher education and statewide office.&#8221;
Acker faced opposition from Makled and many within the Michigan Democratic Party for his desire to hold anti-Israel radicals accountable after they intimidated Jewish students and obstructed law enforcement officers. Acker also faced scrutiny just a few days before the Democratic nominating convention when The Guardian published a report on alleged messages sent by Acker on Slack that appeared to be sexual in nature and included obscene comments about a female Michigan student.
Acker said that parts of the messages sent to The Guardian appeared to be &#8220;doctored,&#8221; adding that Acker &#8220;has never been on Slack.&#8221; Acker told The Detroit News that the allegations published in The Guardian are &#8220;ridiculous&#8221; and &#8220;fake.&#8221;

Amir Makled/University of Michigan

Dems Make A Stunning Switch And Backlash Is Building Fast

anti-Israel

Elections

Jewish

Michigan

Muslims

University of Michigan

Twice-failed presidential candidate Hillary Clinton delivered an <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/09/opinion/iran-war-families-affordability-trump.html">op-ed</a> for The New York Times on Thursday, offering her advice to Democrats on how to win against &#8220;brain-dead&#8221; Republicans in the future.
Clinton, who served as Secretary of State after losing the 2012 Democratic primary to former President Barack Obama, criticized Republicans generally — and President Donald Trump specifically — for requesting an increase to the military budget, complaining that the administration was ignoring working families to do so.
Questioning those concerned with America&#8217;s falling birth rate — which is well below the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/first-came-overpopulation-panic-then-came-the-birth-collapse">replacement rate</a> and predicts an imminent population drop-off — she added, &#8220;Their answer is too often nostalgia and misogyny: If we could turn back the clock to a time when women didn’t work (and knew their place), the economy would thrive and families would flourish. This is substantively and politically brain-dead.&#8221;
Clinton then proceeded to tick off a list of priorities she believed Democrats should focus on if they wanted to succeed in the future — but most of her proposed solutions were either already well-entrenched in the Democratic Party&#8217;s platform or had already been tried, with varying degrees of success or failure, by one or both parties.
One such solution, according to Clinton, was an increase in child tax credits — specifically refundable tax credits. The IRS describes a refundable tax credit as &#8220;a credit you can get as a refund even if you don&#8217;t owe any tax.&#8221; The end result of a refundable child tax credit would be a redistribution of wealth based on number of dependents — and in past years, this has been accomplished through the Earned Income Credit.
Another solution — one that has already been embraced by both parties to some degree — is paid family leave. Clinton also focused on early education, childcare, and health care — all of which have been key elements of her party&#8217;s platform for years, if not decades. The key driver in all of those suggestions was her insistence that those programs be delivered at the national level rather than by individual employers looking for a competitive advantage or even by more local jurisdictions where the specific needs of the people in that area could be addressed.
Her final suggestion was a national baseline for artificial intelligence safeguards — again, something that both parties and the <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/12/eliminating-state-law-obstruction-of-national-artificial-intelligence-policy/">White House</a> have expressed an interest in exploring.

Bill and Hillary Clinton

Hillary Clinton Mocks Traditional Family Concerns As ‘Brain-Dead’ And Misogynistic

Two-Time Presidential Loser Has Thoughts On How Dems Can Win

Democrats

General

Hillary Clinton

Democratic Maryland Governor Wes Moore is attacking his state&#8217;s largest newspaper, The Baltimore Sun, for investigating his political record and probing potential falsehoods concerning his upbringing and military service.
The Baltimore Sun is collaborating with sister television station Sinclair to scrutinize Gov. Wes Moore as he gears up for reelection and weighs a 2028 run for the White House, <a href="https://www.semafor.com/article/04/05/2026/marylands-biggest-newspaper-is-going-after-the-governors-2028-campaign?utm_medium=media&amp;utm_campaign=flagshipnumbered1&amp;utm_source=newslettercta">Semafor reported</a>.
The investigative series, <a href="https://www.baltimoresun.com/tag/spotlight-on-maryland/">Spotlight Maryland</a>, includes FOX45 News, WJLA in Washington, D.C., and The Baltimore Sun. These outlets will examine whether Moore exaggerated his military service and investigate the athletic scholarships he received in college.
Reporters with Spotlight Maryland have exchanged tense emails with Wes Moore&#8217;s staff, citing frustration over what they describe as a lack of transparency.
“Our news team will continue pursuing this matter until they are satisfied that there is either no story &#8211; or until further investigation shows that events did not occur as they should have,” the team wrote in one letter to Moore’s office <a href="https://www.semafor.com/article/04/05/2026/marylands-biggest-newspaper-is-going-after-the-governors-2028-campaign?utm_medium=media&amp;utm_campaign=flagshipnumbered1&amp;utm_source=newslettercta">obtained by Semafor</a>. “If our team finds the latter, they will report that. … We are also prepared to present our findings and concerns to the Secretary of the Army’s office; and if gets to that point, we fully expect it will have become a national level news story requiring the Army Secretary’s attention.”
Moore’s team has complained that the investigation is &#8220;needlessly hostile and politically motivated,&#8221; according to Semafor.
Then, the liberal governor ran to MS NOW.
&#8220;The Baltimore Sun used to be our paper of record,&#8221; Moore <a href="https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:jutl4tq6nqhumm5exzk52f5t/post/3mixau63lak2m">told former Biden White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki</a>. &#8220;It&#8217;s now become the paper of the right-wing.&#8221;
Moore complained that in 2024, media executive David Smith, the executive chairman of Sinclair Broadcast Group, <a href="https://www.baltimoresun.com/2024/01/15/baltimore-sun-media-sold-david-d-smith/">bought the paper</a>.
&#8220;I think we&#8217;ve seen how their readership continued to decline, but it&#8217;s happened because you&#8217;ve had a MAGA billionaire who is now currying favor for the President of the United States,&#8221; Moore said.
The liberal governor added that he was &#8220;deeply proud&#8221; of his military service and claimed nobody in the U.S. Army questions his integrity.
In 2024, The <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/29/us/politics/wes-moore-bronze-star.html">New York Times</a> reported that Moore falsely claimed on a 2006 White House fellowship application that he had been awarded a Bronze Star for his military service while deployed in Afghanistan.
&#8220;The soldiers I served with don&#8217;t question my integrity,&#8221; Moore said. &#8220;But we are seeing how the right wing and these right-wing billionaires like David Smith is then using his wealth to be able to manipulate local media.&#8221;
Spotlight on Maryland executive producer and managing editor <a href="https://x.com/candynotcandace/status/2041903427786068360?s=20">Candy Woodall called out</a> Democrats for &#8220;putting in a lot of work to discredit a series before it&#8217;s even started running.&#8221;
&#8220;This is standard journalism to scrutinize the words and records of elected officials and candidates who hold positions of power and public trust,&#8221; Woodall said. &#8220;If you want to know more, keep reading The Baltimore Sun, a 200-year-old newspaper that has survived many governors.&#8221;

Wes Moore

Dem Presidential Hopeful Flails At Local Newspaper For Daring To Investigate His Record

Corruption

Journalism

Media

Former reality TV star Mark Moran has launched his U.S. Senate bid in Virginia, positioning himself as an independent challenger to incumbent Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA) and ripping both major parties.
Moran, best known for appearing on the short-lived HBO Max dating series &#8220;FBoy Island,&#8221; announced his campaign in a video posted Friday, saying he is “breaking free from the Democratic establishment&#8221; to run as an independent and will put &#8220;Virginia &amp; America First.&#8221;
&#8220;I’m doing that because I’m putting our country first. I’m putting it above these divisive issues that the Left, that the Right, and our corporate media control,” he said in the announcement. 
Moran has framed his campaign around what he describes as “big, bold ideas” to &#8220;simplify&#8221; and &#8220;restructure&#8221; government, arguing that &#8220;everything is wrong, and that&#8217;s because money controls.&#8221;
He has taken aim at the incumbent Democrat, calling Warner an &#8220;oligarch&#8221; and urging voters to reject establishment politics ahead of Virginia&#8217;s August 4 primary.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Today, I am putting Virginia &amp; America First, to announce that I am running as an Independent for U.S. Senate. <a href="https://t.co/NUPa5xTvd0">pic.twitter.com/NUPa5xTvd0</a>
— Mark Moran for U.S. Senate (@itsmarkmoran) <a href="https://twitter.com/itsmarkmoran/status/2039721552439066964?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 2, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Moran previously worked in investment banking and built an online following centered on what he called &#8220;Wall Street culture.&#8221; He claims to have left the industry due to moral objections.
The political newcomer has also broken with Democratic orthodoxy on some issues, including gun rights.
“After facing a personal safety issue, I got a gun. It made me realize how extreme our party’s stance has become,” Moran <a href="https://x.com/itsmarkmoran/status/2036561327699726492?s=20">posted</a> on social media. “The founders wrote the 2A to protect us from tyranny…whether that tyranny comes from Donald Trump or a state legislature trying to disarm you.”
“The Second Amendment isn’t about hunting. It’s about power…the people’s power,” Moran’s campaign website says. “It’s the final check on a government that seeks to control its citizens. It’s exactly what Jefferson warned us about.”
Moran has drawn attention for his combative online presence as well. In response to a critic on his campaign launch video, he <a href="https://x.com/itsmarkmoran/status/2039899492133089454">wrote</a>, “Read the website retard, nobody has ever talked about my ideas bc no one has had my unique experience &#8211; enjoy !!”
This was in response to an X user writing, “Yeah, cool Mark. Go ahead and TURN IT ALL AROUND once you get elected. No clue why no one else has ever thought of all these buzzwords and catchphrases before, I&#8217;m sure you&#8217;ll sort it all out.”
Moran <a href="https://dailycaller.com/2026/03/30/mark-moran-virginia-warner-spanberger-democrats-gerrymandering-second-amendment/">told</a> The Daily Caller that he has taken cues from President Donald Trump&#8217;s use of media and public persona. 
“It always makes me laugh when people think Donald Trump is dumb. Donald Trump understood the power of the medium of reality TV earlier than anyone else, and he saw that to have any sway over the American populace, you had to control the hearts and minds … of the American people,” he told the outlet. “This is a concept that goes back to Thomas Jefferson.”
He added that reality TV remains one of the most effective ways to reach a broad audience.
“I’ve always known that I would [run for office], and in looking at reality TV, I saw an opportunity to learn firsthand this … is the only medium right now, aside from social media, that can capture the attention of over 50% of Americans. Fox News can’t do that. CNN can’t do that, but reality TV can,” he said. “The Kardashians saw that. What you learned is you’re essentially a caricature of yourself.”
“You play an aggrandized version of yourself, which Trump does masterfully,” Moran went on. “And why people love him is he is so unapologetically American. And that is the thing that people come to love about certain reality TV individuals, whether it’s the Kardashians or it’s &#8216;The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City,&#8217; all of this that they’re just themselves, and they don’t apologize for it.”

Mark Moran

Failed ‘F*ckboy Island’ Contestant Launches Senate Bid

Mark Warner

Virginia

The NBA took a historic step Wednesday, voting unanimously to explore expansion in Seattle and Las Vegas. After 18 years of waiting, there&#8217;s finally real hope that the SuperSonics are coming home. It&#8217;s genuinely good news for a city that desperately needs something to cheer about.
But leave it to Washington Democrats to find a way to pick the team&#8217;s pockets before it plays a single game.
Seattle has been gutted by years of soft-on-consequences governance. King County&#8217;s homelessness authority tallied a revised 16,868 homeless individuals in its most recent completed count, and the agency&#8217;s own leadership has already signaled the 2026 survey, completed just weeks ago, will push that number higher still. Open-air drug use has become a defining feature of Seattle&#8217;s public spaces, with encampments stretching across parks and neighborhood corridors that once drew shoppers and tourists. Businesses fled. Residents followed. From 2021 to 2022, Washington logged a <a href="https://www.thecentersquare.com/national/article_faf025f3-cf18-4cb7-aa19-907760238841.html">net migration loss</a> of nearly 19,000 people and a $1.66 billion net loss in adjusted gross income.
This is the economic wreckage that Democrat-run Olympia and Seattle City Hall built through years of consequence-free drug policies and hostility to accountability. So when the NBA Board of Governors voted to formally pursue expansion talks with One Roof Sports and Entertainment, the ice hockey team the Kraken&#8217;s umbrella ownership group, fans had every reason to celebrate.
Climate Pledge Arena, a little virtue signal for woke Seattle, is ready. The fanbase never actually left. And for a city that&#8217;s been told for years things are improving while watching them deteriorate, the return of the Sonics is a rare piece of unambiguously good news. A possible 2028-29 season start is now squarely on the table.
The unconstitutional income tax that crashed the party
Here&#8217;s the catch. Just weeks before the NBA made its move, Democrats <a href="https://seattlered.com/seattle-red/jason-rantz-opinion/ferguson-delays-signing-washington-income-tax-sb-6346/4117495">rammed through Senate Bill 6346</a>, a 9.9% income tax on households earning more than $1 million annually. It passed the House 51-46 after Republicans waged a historic 25-hour floor fight, then cleared the Senate 27-21. Gov. Bob Ferguson has pledged to sign it.
Republicans called it exactly what it is. A 1933 Washington Supreme Court ruling established that income is property under the state constitution, meaning it must be taxed at a uniform rate. Democrats are betting courts will reverse nearly a century of precedent. That is a bold gamble with other people&#8217;s money.
Visiting players are on the hook
Here is what most fans celebrating the expansion news haven&#8217;t fully absorbed: SB 6346 doesn&#8217;t just hit Seattle residents. The bill codifies duty-day apportionment rules for nonresident athletes, meaning every opposing NBA team that walks into Climate Pledge Arena will owe Washington state a cut of income earned during those games. Tax professionals call this a &#8220;jock tax,&#8221; and Washington has never had one until now.
The math is ugly. For an NBA player earning $35 million a season, a two-game road trip to Seattle could generate over $800,000 in Washington-sourced income subject to the 9.9% rate, after only a minimal prorated deduction. Add coaches and high-earning staff, and a visiting team&#8217;s aggregate tax exposure for a single Seattle road stop could run several hundred thousand dollars.
This also changes the Sonics&#8217; own competitive position in free agency. For years, playing in Washington meant zero state income tax, a genuine edge when players compared contract offers. That advantage evaporates above the million-dollar threshold. Democrats didn&#8217;t just tax the team. They taxed every opponent who came to watch them play.
Silver lining: the encampments will disappear (temporarily)
There is one unexpected upside to the NBA expansion push, and Seattle residents near the city&#8217;s worst encampments already know what it is. A homeless camp sat for five months in the shadow of the Space Needle, on a vacant private lot at 5th Avenue North and Harrison Street, right across the street from Seattle Center, where Climate Pledge Arena is located. Neighbors and nearby businesses reported open drug use, discarded needles, and assaults.
The city claimed for months that it couldn&#8217;t touch it because the land was privately owned. It took a court-appointed receiver, a negotiated agreement, and a police presence to finally clear it last week.
&#8220;This is a high-profile spot, a very high-profile corner,&#8221; the receiver told <a href="https://komonews.com/news/local/space-needle-area-encampment-cleared-after-five-months-on-private-lot-housing-crisis-shelter-resources-drugs-needles-pollution-assault-crime-police-statistics-sweeps-katie-wilson-seattle">KOMO News</a>. &#8220;There was an emphasis to get this taken care of.&#8221;
Seattleites have seen this movie before. When the city hosted MLB All-Star Week in 2023, Mayor Bruce Harrell&#8217;s administration suddenly found the <a href="https://seattlered.com/seattle-red/jason-rantz-opinion/rantz-seattle-cleans-up-the-city-for-mlb-all-star-week-not-for-us/3905798">urgency to clear SODO</a>, Pioneer Square, and downtown of the encampments that residents had begged them to address for years. The streets looked almost livable for about a week.
I covered it at the time and was clear about what was actually happening. The city cleaned up for baseball executives, not for the people who live and work there. The same performance is coming for the NBA&#8217;s ownership vetting process, when someone has to justify writing a check somewhere between $7 and $10 billion for an expansion franchise. I&#8217;ll be honest with you: as a Seattle resident, I&#8217;ll take it. Beggars can&#8217;t be choosers. Just don&#8217;t mistake a pressure-wash before a sales pitch for an actual policy change. And, by the way, it did little to end the stench of urine downtown that is so thick you can taste it.
Democrats broke it. Now they want the trophy.
Progressive leadership spent years presiding over open-air drug markets, soaring homelessness, and a documented business exodus. Now they are racing to be photographed standing next to the NBA expansion announcement.
Democrats didn&#8217;t fix Seattle. They just got lucky the NBA still sees enough value in a market they&#8217;ve been running into the ground. The Sonics may well be back by 2028. They&#8217;ll arrive right as Washington&#8217;s unconstitutional income tax kicks in, ready to collect from every player who pulls on the jersey and every opponent who comes to town.
Welcome home, Sonics. Watch your wallets.
***
Jason Rantz is a <a href="https://seattlered.com/podcast_results?i=1676&amp;n=The+Jason+Rantz+Show">Seattle-based talk show host</a> and author of <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Whats-Killing-America-Radical-Destruction/dp/1546006141/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0">“What’s Killing America: Inside the Radical Left’s Tragic Destruction of Our Cities.”</a>

Kentucky v Gonzaga

The Sonics Are Coming Back And Democrats Are Already Taxing Them

Blue States

Seattle

Taxes

This piece is part of MI x DW, a collaboration that brings Daily Wire readers exclusive commentary and research from the Manhattan Institute’s world-class team of scholars.
In this piece, Manhattan Institute Vice President of External Affairs Jesse Arm warns Michigan voters not to trust a rising generation of radical lawmakers masquerading as traditional Democrats — most especially &#8220;far-left podcaster-physician Abdul El-Sayed.&#8221;
***
Michigan&#8217;s U.S. Senate race is viewed as one of the most consequential and contentious elections of the 2026 cycle. The three-way Democratic primary contest to replace retiring incumbent Gary Peters — between moderate Congresswoman Haley Stevens, progressive state senator Mallory McMorrow, and far-left podcaster-physician Abdul El-Sayed — has emerged as a proxy war over the soul of the Democratic Party. As Politico <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2026/02/01/michigan-senate-mcmorrow-stevens-el-sayed-00758408">noted</a> last month, the race is a &#8220;catch-all for every question and problem plaguing Democrats politically and tactically.&#8221; Democrats need to flip four Republican-held seats to win a Senate majority. Michigan is not optional.
But two weeks ago, the national spotlight on the Great Lakes state got a little brighter. Ayman Ghazali, a naturalized U.S. citizen from Lebanon living in Dearborn Heights, collected arms and drove an explosive-laden truck into the preschool at Temple Israel in my hometown of <a href="https://www.city-journal.org/article/temple-israel-west-bloomfield-michigan-synagogue-shooting-attack">West Bloomfield</a> — the nation&#8217;s largest Reform synagogue in the heart of Michigan&#8217;s Jewish community. By some miracle, security guards engaged him and stopped the violent rampage before he could kill the nearly 140 children and their caretakers inside.
The attack was an act of Islamic terrorism, possibly carried out as revenge for a conflict between combatants on the other side of the globe. Ghazali’s brother was a commander in the Hezbollah terrorist organization, killed in a recent Israel Defense Forces airstrike. But Ghazali’s desire to sow terror could’ve also been incubated in Michigan. He lived next to “<a href="https://www.wsj.com/opinion/welcome-to-dearborn-americas-jihad-capital-pro-hamas-michigan-counterterrorism-a99dba38?gaa_at=eafs&amp;gaa_n=AWEtsqeUTMNFjSRKEfwkYQ0IjPbfnp66S4OqNvk1IFXeBo3o5BCIKVDFzY0uvS1V54k=&amp;gaa_ts=69b39d4b&amp;gaa_sig=bX6tBUfC_GFHlVuLaQyJG3NhliIh5ORaMzQfDJqHkUzN9aDIqrza94PpOtdWtvInqzoQmCbcVWGKkEYS3tNfQw==">America’s jihad capital</a>,” a community where, in the days after October 7th, 2023, thousands marched through the streets celebrating Hamas&#8217;s slaughter of more than 1,200 innocent men, women, and children — including 46 Americans.
In the week following the West Bloomfield attack, one might expect a Michigan Senate candidate to take pains to lower the temperature. El-Sayed chose differently. Six days after the near-massacre at Temple Israel, he <a href="https://x.com/AbdulElSayed/status/2034360293116067859">posted</a> a smiling photo of himself appealing to fans of Hasan Piker. Shortly thereafter, his campaign <a href="https://x.com/AbdulElSayed/status/2036431020233293934">announced</a> joint appearances with Piker at rallies on the trail.
For those unfamiliar: Piker is a <a href="https://www.thefp.com/p/the-handsome-face-of-terror-apologia">Twitch streamer</a> and self-described <a href="https://www.wsj.com/opinion/free-expression/democrats-are-too-cozy-with-hasan-piker-2ecee4cc?st=R2ZQfB&amp;reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink">Marxist</a> with three million followers who has built his brand on antisemitism, terror apologia, misogyny, and anti-Americanism. He has called Jews &#8220;inbred&#8221; and declared that property owners who don&#8217;t rent out their homes should be <a href="https://x.com/Rightanglenews/status/1966264506486853810">killed</a> while letting &#8220;the streets soak in their red capitalist blood.&#8221; He has compared supporters of Israel&#8217;s existence to being a &#8220;rabid neo-Nazi&#8221; and <a href="https://freebeacon.com/media/from-defending-rape-to-excusing-9-11-10-statements-that-define-mainstream-media-darling-hasan-piker/">said</a> he doesn&#8217;t “have an issue with” the Iran-backed terrorist group Hezbollah. He has offered justifications for Hamas&#8217;s October 7th massacre and stated that &#8220;it doesn&#8217;t matter if rapes happened on October 7th.&#8221; He has claimed &#8220;America deserved 9/11,&#8221; praised the Chinese Communist Party, and gleefully shared Houthi terrorist recruitment videos with his audience.
El-Sayed is only a slightly more polished version of the <a href="https://freebeacon.com/democrats/michigan-senate-candidate-abdul-el-sayed-compared-an-oklahoma-ban-on-sharia-law-to-the-trail-of-tears/">same thing</a>. He has appeared at Islamist conferences alongside speakers who praised the October 7th attackers. He has raised money from an Arab-American PAC whose leader called for Israeli Jews to be sent &#8220;back to Poland.&#8221; And while speaking before a chapter of the Council of American-Islamic Relations — which has been designated a terrorist organization by both <a href="https://x.com/GovRonDeSantis/status/1998156452377293228">Florida</a> and <a href="https://gov.texas.gov/news/post/governor-abbott-designates-muslim-brotherhood-cair-as-foreign-terrorist-organizations">Texas</a> — he once compared an Oklahoma ballot measure restricting the application of Sharia law to the Trail of Tears.
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What makes much of this increasingly normalized radicalism especially maddening is how unrepresentative it all is, even of most Democratic voters. The median Michigander who tends to vote Democrat is not any sort of Hasan Piker acolyte. New Manhattan Institute <a href="https://manhattan.institute/article/do-democrats-want-to-be-normal-survey-analysis-of-todays-democratic-coalition">polling</a> of nearly 2,600 Democratic voters found that most Democrats affirm Israel&#8217;s right to exist, that a plurality want their party to move toward the ideological center, and that an overwhelming majority believe political violence is never justified. The faction demanding maximalist anti-Western positioning as the price of progressive authenticity represents a small, loud, hyper-online minority.
So why does the radical left seem to continue gaining traction? As I’ve written previously in <a href="https://www.city-journal.org/article/democrats-party-voters-manhattan-institute-poll">City Journal</a>, the answer lies in examining who controls the actual machinery of Democratic politics. Over the past two decades, a network of progressive advocacy groups, ideological nonprofits, activist donors, and aligned unions has accumulated enormous influence over candidate recruitment, messaging, and policy prioritization. In election cycles without a presidential contest and thus lower voter turnout, that influence is magnified. Hit the right notes on all the crazy woke stuff, and the George Soros-types will make it worth your while. If not, it will go to your primary challenger. Many of these entities are deploying resources to achieve total ideological fealty to their extreme ideas, rather than to help Democrats win elections. After all, were ideological moderation to prove consistently successful at the ballot box, it would be economically threatening to the progressive groups&#8217; ecosystem itself.
Look at El-Sayed’s relationship with the Pod Save America network. Jon Favreau, Jon Lovett, and Ben Rhodes — the former Obama aides turned podcast hosts — organized a <a href="https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/former-obama-speechwriters-to-fundraise-for-progressive-dem-senate-candidate-abdul-el-sayed/">fundraiser</a> for El-Sayed. Rhodes, notably, earned the <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2021/12/05/huckleberry-capone-turd-blossom-white-house-nicknames-523723">nickname</a> &#8220;Hamas&#8221; during his White House years, bestowed by senior White House staffers for his relentlessly hostile stance toward Israel even then. That same crew has now attached itself to El-Sayed&#8217;s campaign as part of a broader attempt to nationalize the lesson they took from Zohran Mamdani&#8217;s mayoral victory in New York City: that the path forward for Democrats is to move left, not toward the center.
Mamdani won a Democratic primary in one of the bluest cities in America, under highly unique circumstances and against a uniquely unpalatable field. Attempting to run that same play in a dark purple Midwestern state and expecting the same result is what you do if you are chiefly focused on advancing a radical agenda and only secondarily on optimizing for victory. But all that won&#8217;t stop a large group of well-paid consultants coasting on Mamdani’s win from trying to sell that blueprint everywhere. And it won&#8217;t stop left-wing donors eager to believe it from buying it.
Meanwhile, the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/polls/michigan-us-senate-election-polls-2026.html">polling</a> is clear. Stevens held an early lead in the primary. While the race has tightened considerably, she has consistently posted the strongest numbers against expected Republican nominee Mike Rogers — a former longtime congressman and well-known Michigan political figure who has run statewide before — in every publicly available general election survey to date.
Republican voters tempted to root for El-Sayed’s nomination — or operatives considering meddling on his behalf, as Democrats <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/house-democratic-group-meddles-michigan-republican-congressional-primary">did</a> in Michigan&#8217;s 3rd Congressional District Republican primary in 2022 when the DCCC spent big bucks boosting election-denier John Gibbs against moderate GOP incumbent Peter Meijer — should think carefully. Democrats successfully flipped that seat after helping Gibbs win his primary. But primary meddling remains a highly risky and unreliable instrument, especially in an election cycle where the fundamentals do favor the Democrats. In this case, the downside risk is particularly severe: Abdul El-Sayed in the United States Senate.
We already have a pair of bigoted, America-hostile Islamic terror sympathizers in the House in Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar. That is two too many. Patriotic Americans of all political persuasions should be unified in their desire to ensure that a third does not join them in the Senate — especially in the weeks following the resurgence of jihadist violence, not just in Michigan, but in <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2026/03/12/shooting-old-dominion-university">Virginia</a>, <a href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/suspect-in-texas-bar-shooting-wore-property-of-allah-clothing-and-iranian-flag-emblem-according-to-ap-source">Texas</a>, and <a href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/two-isis-supporters-charged-attempting-detonate-explosive-devices-during-protests-outside">New York</a> as well.
***
Jesse Arm is the vice president of external affairs at the Manhattan Institute, where he oversees communications, government relations, and polling.

Abdul El-Sayed Campaigns for U.S. Senate Seat

Michigan Voters, Don’t Let Radicals Fool You Into Thinking They’re Normal

Islam

A controversial Maine Democrat already dogged by questions over a tattoo resembling a Nazi symbol is again under fire after promoting an openly antisemitic conspiracy theorist — the latest episode in a pattern critics say underscores how radical and politically toxic he is.
Graham Platner, a 41-year-old Senate candidate seeking the Democratic nomination to take on incumbent Susan Collins (R-ME), faced backlash this week after amplifying a social media post about a looming war with Iran from Stew Peters, a neo-Nazi influencer known for Holocaust denial and antisemitic rhetoric. Platner <a href="https://www.bangordailynews.com/2026/02/26/politics/elections/graham-platner-stew-peters-post/">later deleted</a> the post, with his campaign claiming it was shared “in error” and removed immediately after discovering it elevated a “despicable account.”
But the incident was not isolated.
In late January, Platner <a href="https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/platner-sat-lengthy-interview-antisemitic-075439570.html">appeared</a> for an hour-long interview on Valhalla VFT, a YouTube show hosted by Nate Cornacchia, a retired Green Beret who has promoted conspiracy theories alleging Israeli involvement in high-profile assassinations and suggesting the global war on terror was conducted at the “behest of Israel.” During the interview, Platner described himself as “a longtime fan” of the show and said it was “an absolute pleasure” to appear.
Cornacchia has pushed claims tying Israel to the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk and agreed with assertions that President John F. Kennedy was “probably” killed in a covert joint operation between the CIA and Mossad. Platner’s campaign did not respond to Jewish Insider&#8217;s questions about Cornacchia’s remarks.
The controversy compounds scrutiny Platner has faced since last year over a tattoo on his chest that closely resembled a Totenkopf, the skull-and-crossbones emblem adopted by an infamous Nazi SS unit. Platner <a href="https://www.mainepublic.org/politics/2025-10-22/democratic-senate-hopeful-graham-platner-gets-tattoo-of-nazi-symbol-covered-up">said</a> he received the tattoo while serving in the Marine Corps during a drunken night in Croatia and claimed he was unaware of its historical meaning at the time. The <a href="https://apnews.com/article/maine-platner-senate-trump-mills-tattoo-collins-fa8328a3c8aa5d5e0f34adb379e977b8">Associated Press</a> later confirmed that he had the tattoo covered once the comparison became public, saying he did not want a symbol associated with hate on his body.
“For what it’s worth,” Maine Governor Janet Mills, who’s running against Platner in the Democratic primary for the Senate seat, quipped on <a href="https://x.com/JanetMillsforME/status/2027421147956969915">X</a> amid the controversy, “I don’t have any tattoos.”
In past posts, Platner has described U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East as being overly shaped by “foreign influence,” and has argued that Washington’s alliance structure requires “fundamental rethinking.” Critics say such rhetoric mirrors themes common in online spaces where antisemitic conspiracy theories flourish.
National Republicans have begun to take notice. A spokesperson for the National Republican Senatorial Committee blasted Platner this week, saying Democrats are “flirting with extremism” in a race they view as central to their hopes of regaining Senate control. Allies of Collins have also circulated screenshots of Platner’s deleted posts, arguing they raise serious questions about his judgment.
The Democratic primary race in Maine is expected to be one of the most closely watched Senate contests of the cycle. Democrats view the seat held by moderate Republican Collins as a key pickup opportunity. But Platner’s growing list of controversies, from boosting a neo-Nazi influencer to praising a YouTube host who traffics in antisemitic conspiracies, to the lingering fallout over his tattoo, threatens to complicate that strategy.

Graham Platner Maine

Dem Senate Darling Stumbles Into Third Nazi-Related Scandal Of Primary Campaign

Anti-Semitism

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