<div>Embattled Maine Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner’s treasurer has resigned just days after his national finance director called it quits, according to the Judge Street Journal.</div>
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<div>The <a href="https://judgestreetjournal.substack.com/p/exclusive-graham-platners-treasurer?utm_campaign=post&amp;utm_medium=web&amp;triedRedirect=true" target="_blank" rel="noopener">outlet</a> reported that Victoria Perrone left her role as treasurer on Tuesday, and Ben Martello is the individual currently listed in the position on Federal Election Commission records.</div>
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<div>Platner’s campaign has faced numerous controversies resulting from deleted Reddit posts and a Nazi-era tattoo, and in the days since those controversies spread across social media, both a campaign manager and a political director have also abruptly exited the campaign.</div>
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<div>His former national finance director, Ronald Holmes III, posted to LinkedIn on Friday that he was resigning.</div>
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<div>“Somewhere along the way, I began to feel that my professional standards as a campaign professional no longer fully aligned with those of the campaign,” Holmes posted.</div>
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<div>“I wish the campaign and the voters in Maine well as they continue forward with selecting a nominee who they believe is best suited to meet the moment and flip this critical must win seat for us to take back the U.S. Senate in 2026,” he continued.</div>
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<div><a href="https://x.com/hollyotterbein/status/1984284658612494537">Axios</a> reported the Platner campaign said that Holmes quit because his role had more to do with getting large donors on board to the campaign, but “the reality is our campaign’s fundraising success has come largely from small dollar donors. Nearly 90% of what we’ve raised has come from small dollar donations and online donors, which is run by our digital fundraising director.”</div>
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<div><a href="https://weartv.com/news/nation-world/platner-campaign-manager-steps-down-after-joining-campaign-last-week-social-media-maine-democrats-senate-race-republicans-susan-collins-janet-mills" target="_blank" rel="noopener">WGME News</a> reported that Kevin Brown took a job as the Democrat’s campaign manager, and claimed that his exit had to do with finding out that his wife is pregnant — but he left the job just days after beginning the new gig.</div>
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<div>Platner&#8217;s former political director Genevieve McDonald spoke out about quitting after his now-covered Totenkopf tattoo went viral.</div>
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<div>“Graham has an antisemitic tattoo on his chest,” McDonald posted to Facebook. “He’s not an idiot, he’s a military history buff. Maybe he didn’t know it when he got it, but he got it years ago and he should have had it covered up because he knows damn well what it means.”</div>
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<div>The Democrat is in a primary race against Gov. Janet Mills, and whoever wins the primary will face off against Republican Sen. Susan Collins in 2026.</div>
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<div>“Our movement is powered by the people of Maine,” Platner posted to X on Saturday. “The people of Maine will not be propagandized. And they will not be bought.”</div>
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<div>Platner’s campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.</div>
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Graham Platner Maine

Graham Platner’s Treasurer Switch Marks Yet Another Exit From Campaign

graham platner

janet mills

Maine

Senate

Susan Collins

Graham Platner’s campaign manager quit just days after starting the job, the latest in a seemingly unending series of upsets for the Maine Democrat&#8217;s struggling campaign.
Axios <a href="https://www.axios.com/2025/10/27/graham-platner-campaign-manager">reported</a> Monday that Kevin Brown, a friend of Platner&#8217;s, resigned his post shortly after taking it up. Brown follows Platner&#8217;s political director, Genevieve McDonald, who resigned earlier this month after Platner came under fire for a series of Reddit posts in which he called himself a communist. McDonald made waves following her departure for publicly commenting about Platner’s tattoo with Nazi-era connotations, which he has since gotten covered up.
“Graham has an antisemitic tattoo on his chest,&#8221; McDonald wrote on Facebook. &#8220;He’s not an idiot, he’s a military history buff. Maybe he didn’t know it when he got it, but he got it years ago and he should have had it covered up because he knows damn well what it means.&#8221;
“Years ago I got a skull and crossbones tattoo with my buddies in the Marine Corps,&#8221; Platner wrote on X last week. &#8220;I was appalled to learn it closely resembled a Nazi symbol. I altered it yesterday, into something that isn&#8217;t deeply offensive to my core beliefs.&#8221;
“I am very sorry to all of you who had to contemplate a symbol of hate over the past 48 hours,” he added.
Platner told “Pod Save America” that he’s “not a secret Nazi” when discussing the Totenkopf tattoo. 
“Actually, if you read through my Reddit comments I think you can pretty much figure out where I stand on Nazism and antisemitism and racism in general. I would say, lifelong opponent.”
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“At no point in this entire experience of my life not once did anybody say ‘Hey, you’re a Nazi.’ It never came up, until we got wind that in the opposition research somebody was shopping the idea that I was secret Nazi with a hidden Nazi tattoo. And I can honestly say that if I was trying to hide it, I have not been doing a very good job for the past 18 years,” Platner said. 
“We got those and then we all moved on with our lives,” he added. 
However, a report in<a href="https://jewishinsider.com/2025/10/graham-platner-ss-tattoo-maine-senate/"> Jewish Insider</a> indicated he knew about the meaning of the symbol as of at least 2012. 
Platner is facing Maine Governor Janet Mills in the state&#8217;s Democratic primary, the winner of which will likely take on Republican Senator Susan Collins in a highly competitive general election race.
A recent poll of likely voters from SoCal Strategies indicated that Mills is leading with 41% compared with 36% for Platner,<a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/5573485-maine-senate-poll-mills-platner/"> The Hill</a> reported on Saturday. Another poll from the<a href="https://scholars.unh.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1896&amp;context=survey_center_polls"> University of New Hampshire</a>, taken from Oct. 16-21, showed that 58% of “those who plan to vote” are backing Platner, compared with 24% for the governor.

The Bad News Keeps Rolling In For Graham Platner’s Senate Campaign

Democrat Senate candidate Graham Platner was a member of a radical Left group whose members have been linked to a slew of attacks, including an assault on an ICE facility that was designated a terrorist attack this month as part of a crackdown on Antifa.
Maine&#8217;s Democrat Senate primary was upended after <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2025/10/16/politics/kfile-graham-platner-maine-senate-candidate-deleted-reddit-posts" target="_blank" rel="noopener">CNN</a> reported that Platner had called himself a &#8220;communist&#8221; in posts on the Reddit forum r/SocialistRA, where he wrote that if people &#8220;expect to fight fascism without a good semi-automatic rifle, they ought to do some reading of history.&#8221;
The forum name refers to the Socialist Rifle Association, a group whose members have been repeatedly linked to violent political crimes.
On July 4, a group of militants allegedly swarmed law enforcement at an ICE facility in Alvarado, Texas and “opened fire at the unarmed DHS correctional officers.” One of them, Benjamin Hanil Song, is charged with shooting a police officer in the neck. Song was a member of the Socialist Rifle Association’s Dallas-Fort Worth chapter, a fellow group member told <a href="https://www.keranews.org/news/2025-07-22/shooting-at-alvarado-ice-facility-other-attacks-the-new-normal" target="_blank" rel="noopener">KERA</a>.
Last week, the Department of Justice charged two suspects in that attack, Cameron Arnold and Zachary Evetts, with providing <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-admin-hits-antifa-with-very-first-terrorism-charges-in-anti-ice-attack" target="_blank" rel="noopener">material support to terrorists</a>, calling their crew an &#8220;Antifa Cell.&#8221; It was the first use of the terrorism statute against domestic extremists since Trump ordered a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-ups-the-ante-orders-cabinet-to-label-antifa-a-foreign-terror-organization" target="_blank" rel="noopener">crackdown</a> on far-left political violence. Arnold, like the founders of the Socialist Rifle Association, is transgender and goes by the name Autumn Hill.
Membership in the Socialist Rifle Association isn&#8217;t required for users to post on the Reddit forum. But a New England publication, the <a href="https://robinsonreport.substack.com/p/ex-marine-graham-platner-taught-military" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Robinson Report</a>, revealed that Platner explicitly described his membership in the group.
&#8220;Check out the Maine SRA chapter, we&#8217;re quite active,&#8221; he wrote in April 2020. In August 2020, he said &#8220;my local SRA chapter&#8221; does &#8220;lots of range days, firearms education classes, and developing mutual aid networks in our community.&#8221;
Images of the Maine chapter training include a man in a pink tutu shooting a gun, and one who — though the group blurred the faces of its members — has facial hair matching Platner&#8217;s, Robinson reported.
Platner, who would face off against Republican Senator Susan Collins in the general election and has been endorsed by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), said he made the comments after a difficult time period serving in the military.
“When I got back from Afghanistan in 2011, I stayed in the Army for another year. I got out in 2012. Some of the worst comments I made, the things that I’m — I think are least defensible, that I wouldn’t even try to defend, come from that time,” he said.
The Daily Wire has <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/socialist-rifle-association-linked-to-numerous-violent-attacks">chronicled</a> Socialist Rifle Association members charged with crimes of political violence.
In October 2021, <a href="https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.flnd.353608/gov.uscourts.flnd.353608.2.0.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Daniel Alan Baker</a> of Florida was sentenced to 44 months in prison for threats. After the pro-Trump Capitol protest on January 6, 2021, Baker offered “cash rewards for information leading to the verified identification of an and every individual in this video. Don’t worry, I wont ne [sic] going to the cops. We have decided to handle this ourselves.” Baker told prosecutors that he was a <a href="https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/59305500/81/united-states-v-baker/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">member</a> of the Socialist Rifle Association, and said, “I believe that the philosophy of an anarchism leads to socialism. And I believe that the government should provide for everyone’s housing, healthcare, food. I even believe that the government should distribute weapons to people who are loyal citizens.”
On January 20, 2025, the day Donald Trump was sworn in as president, <a href="https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.ord.185254/gov.uscourts.ord.185254.1.1.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Adam Matthew Lansky</a> allegedly threw Molotov cocktails at a Tesla dealership in Salem, Oregon. He returned to the same dealership a month later and shot it up using a semi-automatic rifle with a suppressor, according to court documents. “Lansky is a competitive shooter and a former member of the Socialist Rifle Association. He is skilled and well-practiced in the use of firearms and combat scenarios. The [improvised incendiary devices] used by Lansky were all manufactured by him,” prosecutors <a href="https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/69768879/22/united-states-v-lansky/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>.
On March 18, 2025, in Las Vegas, Paul Hyon Kim set on fire and shot up five Teslas, leaving a Molotov cocktail inside one, <a href="https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/69803347/1/united-states-v-kim/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">charging documents</a> said. Tesla had, of course, been treated as a political symbol by the left because of Elon Musk’s support for Donald Trump. The court papers said, “Kim has an Instagram page where he follows the Socialist Rifle Association’s page. In a post from October 2018, on the Reno Socialist Rifle Association’s Instagram page, is a picture of a subject that appears to be Paul Kim training with firearms.”
A <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/SocialistRA/comments/cf9i4r/wait_is_the_sra_mostly_tankies/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">survey</a> of Socialist Rifle Association members found that it was 30% anarchist, 30% Marxist-Leninist or Maoist, 30% Democratic Socialist, and 10% other.
The Socialist Rifle Association was incorporated in Kansas in 2019 by Alexander Tackett, who later began identifying as a woman named Alex Norma Tackett. A website for a queer bookstore he owned <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20221207035629/https://sweetreadsict.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>, “Lilith [it/she] &amp; Alex Tackett [she/it] are a trans lesbian couple living in Wichita with their six-year-old son.”
The group&#8217;s co-founder was Faye Ecklar, who explained that “I believe firearms ownership is necessary because as a transgender socialist, half the country wants me dead, and the other half is happy to watch. Plus, the means of production won’t seize themselves.”
Platner has faced a wave of negative publicity since his old Reddit posts resurfaced, much of which centers around the Democrat&#8217;s <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/graham-platner-has-known-about-his-tattoos-nazi-connotations-since-2012">Nazi chest tattoo</a>.

Socialist Rifle Association card and one of its members

Maine Dem Graham Platner Belonged To Socialist Group Linked To ICE Attack, Tesla Bombings

Socialism

Terrorism

Maine Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner was reportedly aware of the Nazi-affiliation of his skull and crossbones chest tattoo, despite recent claims that he had never faced negative accusations regarding it until he ran for office, according to Jewish Insider.
“He said, ‘Oh, this is my Totenkopf,’” an acquaintance recalls Platner telling him at Tune Inn, a Capitol Hill Bar where Platner worked, in 2012.
“He said it in a cutesy little way,” the individual said. Platner said at the time that he was aware of what the symbol meant when he got the tattoo, though he has denied knowing the meaning at other times, <a href="https://jewishinsider.com/2025/10/graham-platner-ss-tattoo-maine-senate/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Jewish Insider</a> reported. Platner has since gotten a new tattoo to cover the symbol, the Associated Press reported Wednesday.
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Graham Platner shows off cover-up tattoo of Nazi symbol in interview with local Maine news outlet: <a href="https://t.co/MMPvw57zzz">https://t.co/MMPvw57zzz</a> <a href="https://t.co/JaUYLjuM41">pic.twitter.com/JaUYLjuM41</a>
— Politics &amp; Poll Tracker 📡 (@PollTracker2024) <a href="https://twitter.com/PollTracker2024/status/1981027114796134407?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 22, 2025</a></blockquote>
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The report came after Platner attempted to explain the tattoo on “Pod Save America” on Monday.
“I am not a secret Nazi,” Platner said on the podcast. “Actually, if you read through my Reddit comments I think you can pretty much figure out where I stand on Nazism and antisemitism and racism in general. I would say, lifelong opponent.”
Platner, who has been endorsed by Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT), further added that he was “very inebriated” on leave in Croatia while on a deployment for the Marines in 2007, and “we chose a terrifying-looking skull and crossbones off the wall” while at the tattoo shop.
“We got those and then we all moved on with our lives,” he said.
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“At no point in this entire experience of my life not once did anybody say ‘Hey, you’re a Nazi.’ It never came up, until we got wind that in the opposition research somebody was shopping the idea that I was secret Nazi with a hidden Nazi tattoo. And I can honestly say that if I was trying to hide it, I have not been doing a very good job for the past 18 years,” Platner continued.
Platner has been under fire since a number of his Reddit posts were revealed, including one where he referred to cops as “bastards” and described himself as a “communist.”
Axios reported that in a 2020 Reddit post Platner said he had the term “antifa super soldier” on “armor” he owned.
His former political director, Genevieve McDonald, who quit just days ago, called him out in a Facebook post in light of the tattoo scandal.
“Graham has an antisemitic tattoo on his chest. He’s not an idiot, he’s a military history buff. Maybe he didn’t know it when he got it, but he got it years ago and he should have had it covered up because he knows damn well what it means,” McDonald wrote, The Maine Wire reported.
Platner is currently facing Democrat Governor Janet Mills in a primary, the winner of which will face incumbent Sen. Susan Collins, a Republican, in a closely watched 2026 race.

Capitol Hill Prepares Ahead Of Full House Vote On Impeachment Articles This Week

Graham Platner Has Known About His Tattoo’s Nazi Connotations Since 2012

Democrats

Maine Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner addressed a tattoo on his chest that critics have slammed as being linked to Nazi imagery, as a flurry of controversial social media posts resurfaced.
In a Monday interview with “Pod Save America,” Platner encouraged the hosts to play a video of himself lip-syncing to Miley Cyrus’s “Wrecking Ball” while shirtless at his brother’s wedding a decade ago. The video revealed that Platner has a tattoo of a black skull and crossbones on his chest. The design is known as the Totenkopf or “Death’s Head,” which was used as a symbol for the SS during the Nazi regime, according to the Anti-Defamation League.
“I am not a secret Nazi,” Platner told Pod Save America. “Actually, if you read through my Reddit comments I think you can pretty much figure out where I stand on Nazism and antisemitism and racism in general. I would say, lifelong opponent.”
Platner explained that he got the tattoo while on deployment as a Marine while “very inebriated” on leave in Croatia, and “we chose a terrifying-looking skull and crossbones off the wall” at the tattoo parlor.
“We got those and then we all moved on with our lives,” he added, saying that he was screened without issues when he later joined the Army, obtained security clearance, and worked as a State Department contractor without issue.
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“And I’ve also just lived my entire life like a regular person with a skull and crossbones on their chest,” he said, joking about the “Wrecking Ball” clip.
“At no point in this entire experience of my life not once did anybody say ‘Hey, you’re a Nazi.’ It never came up, until we got wind that in the opposition research somebody was shopping the idea that I was secret Nazi with a hidden Nazi tattoo. And I can honestly say that if I was trying to hide it, I have not been doing a very good job for the past 18 years,” he added.
The tattoo received some negative responses from critics on social media, including on the Left.
“No skeletons in his closet, just an apparent Nazi logo on his chest,” MSNBC anchor Catherine Rampell posted to X.
“Gonna be hard to erase this one, literally and figuratively,” The Bulwark’s Sam Stein wrote.
Platner is currently in a primary against Maine’s Democratic Governor, Janet Mills. The winner of that race will face incumbent Senator Susan Collins (R) in one of the most competitive races in the country. Various old Reddit posts of his resurfaced last week, including “I got older and became a communist.”
“The fact that I have managed to go from Communist to Nazi in the space of four days, according to the people who are trying to, whatever, do this to me, I find to be quite a spectacular turn of events,” Platner added in the podcast interview.
Other posts included him saying that, “Bastards. Cops are bastards. All of them, in fact.” The candidate has attempted to turn the tables on the news cycle, sharing other past Reddit posts condemning “misogyny and homophobia in the Marines,” he wrote in a recent X post.
Last week, the National Republican Senatorial Committee torched the posts from Platner.
“Graham Platner is a communist who supports violence against Republicans to promote his radical agenda. These posts are not just him messing around on the internet as he is trying to claim, they paint a very dark picture of a candidate not fit for office,” Samantha Cantrell, NRSC Regional Press Secretary, told The Daily Wire at the time.
The Daily Wire reached out to Platner’s campaign for comment.

Maine Senate Candidate Downplays SS Skull Tattoo: ‘I Am Not A Secret Nazi.’

Congress

Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner is under scrutiny for a series of resurfaced social media posts in which he declares himself a “communist” and denigrates cops and white people.
CNN’s KFile uncovered the Reddit posts from Platner, who is facing off against Gov. Janet Mills in the Democratic primary, the winner of which will take on Republican Senator Susan Collins.
“I got older and became a communist,” Platner, a veteran and oyster farmer, wrote on a Reddit forum dubbed “antiwork” in 2021, according to <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2025/10/16/politics/kfile-graham-platner-maine-senate-candidate-deleted-reddit-posts" target="_blank" rel="noopener">CNN</a>. He also said he was a “vegetable growing, psychedelics taking social these days” in a United States Marine Corps subreddit that same year, saying that he “still got the guns though, I don’t trust the facsists [sic] these days,” citing his past military experience in the post.
“Living in white rural America, I’m afraid to tell you they actually are,” the Democrat said about white Americans.
“Bastards. Cops are bastards. All of them, in fact,” Platner said in another post.
<a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2025/10/16/maine-senate-candidate-promoted-violent-political-action-in-since-deleted-online-posts-00613037" target="_blank" rel="noopener">POLITICO</a> reported that Platner wrote other Reddit posts in 2018 suggesting that “an armed working class is a requirement for economic justice” and said that a “good semi-automatic rifle” would be expected in order to successfully “fight fascism.”
In addition, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/10/17/graham-platner-sexual-assault-comments-senate-midterms/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the Washington Post</a> reported multiple posts he made to Reddit in 2013 regarding sexual assault, including in the military.
“Rape is a real thing. If you’re so worried about it to buy Kevlar underwear you’d think you might not get blacked out f***ed up around people you aren’t comfortable with,” he wrote.
“In today’s current climate, when every whisper of a misplaced hand brings down a feature length film, anyone who actually thinks the military is purposefully covering up rape to save the career of some god damn [captain], is clearly both an idiot and junior enough in rank or life experience to think it matters,” Platner wrote.
<a href="https://www.bangordailynews.com/2025/10/17/politics/elections/graham-platner-black-people-tipping-rape-reference-reddit-posts/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Bangor Daily News</a> on Friday uncovered more of Platner’s Reddit posts, from 2013, in which he calls black people cheap.
“I work as a bartender and it always amazes me how solid this stereotype is,” Platner wrote. “Every now and again a black patron will leave a 15-20% tip, but usually it [is] between 0-5%. There’s got to be a reason behind it, what is it?”
The candidate said that the posts circulating do not reflect who he is today.
“As I told CNN, I was f***ing around on the internet at a time when I felt lost and very disillusioned with our government who sent me overseas to watch my friends die,” Platner told POLITICO. “I made dumb jokes and picked fights. But of course I’m not a socialist. I’m a small business owner, a Marine Corps veteran, and a retired s***poster.”
However, Republicans have raised concerns about the candidate’s past comments.
“Graham Platner is a communist who supports violence against Republicans to promote his radical agenda. These posts are not just him messing around on the internet as he is trying to claim, they paint a very dark picture of a candidate not fit for office,” Samantha Cantrell, NRSC Regional Press Secretary, told The Daily Wire in response to the reports on the Democrat.
The Daily Wire reached out to the Platner campaign for comment.

Reddit

Dem Senate Hopeful Called Himself A Communist, Made Racist Comments In Reddit Posts

2026 election

Senator Susan Collins has an unlikely new supporter: Maine Governor Janet Mills, who&#8217;s running against Collins in a contentious race.
The group One Nation on Thursday released an ad that features Mills, a Democrat, praising her Republican opponent just last month.
“I appreciate everything she is doing,&#8221; Mills says in the clip, which comes from a press availability Mills held on Sept. 8 in Waterville, Maine, according to a video posted to the YouTube channel<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-45V9I3AQzg"> Central Maine</a>.
“She’s in a tough position. I appreciate everything she is doing,” she says when asked by a reporter if she thinks Collins is doing enough to counter President Donald Trump on tariffs and other aspects of his agenda.
“Everyone agrees: Sen. Susan Collins is getting results,&#8221; the <a href="https://x.com/OneNationOrg/status/1978796064196210989">ad</a> says.
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The Daily Wire reached out to the Mills campaign for comment. The governor made national headlines over her public disagreement at the White House with Trump over women’s sports.
“I’ll comply with state and federal law,” Mills said in response to Trump asking, “Is Maine here? The governor of Maine? Are you not going to comply with it?”
“We are the federal law,’ Trump said,<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-spars-with-maines-dem-governor-over-men-in-womens-sports-at-white-house"> The Daily Wire</a> reported at the time. “You better do it. Because you’re not going to get any federal funding at all if you don’t. And by the way, your population, even though it is somewhat liberal although I did very well there. Your population doesn’t want men playing in women’s sports. You better comply because otherwise you’re not getting any federal funding.”
“We’ll see you in court,” the governor can be heard saying.
“Good, I’ll see you in court,” the president replied. “I look forward to that, that should be a real easy one. And enjoy your life after governor, because I don’t think you’ll be in elected politics.”
Mills touted in a recent X post that,”When Donald Trump tried to strong-arm me, I told him see you in court. So I did. And we won.”
The Cook Political Report currently ranks the race as a “toss-up” along with the Senate races in North Carolina, Georgia, and Michigan.
Collins won her fifth term during the 2020 election, in which she defeated Democrat Sara Gideon, who won just over 42% of the vote compared with Collins pulling roughly 51%.
Graham Platner is also in the Democratic primary alongside Mills, and is currently facing controversy for now-deleted social media posts where he said he was a “communist,” according to<a href="https://www.cnn.com/2025/10/16/politics/kfile-graham-platner-maine-senate-candidate-deleted-reddit-posts"> CNN</a>.

WHOOPS: New Ad Features Maine Democrat Governor Janet Mills Praising GOP Opponent Susan Collins

Maine Democratic Governor Janet Mills launched a Senate campaign on Tuesday to challenge incumbent moderate Republican Sen. Susan Collins. 
Mills enters a crowded Democratic primary that already features military veteran Graham Platner, who has been endorsed by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), and Jordan Wood, a onetime congressional aide for former Rep. Katie Porter (D-CA). Collins’ seat is on the ballot in November 2026, and Democrats are targeting it as one of their few opportunities to gain ground in a Senate map that tilts toward the GOP.
Mills&#8217; campaign announcement focused on her feuds with the Trump administration. 
“We stood up to Trump and stopped him from cutting the school lunch program from Maine kids,&#8221; Mills <a href="https://x.com/JanetMillsforME/status/1978053434885484711">said</a>. &#8220;But there are too many politicians in Washington, including Susan Collins, who&#8217;ve forgotten their principles and let bullies like Trump have their way, and it&#8217;s hurting many people. I&#8217;ve never backed down from a bully, and I never will.&#8221; 
“Honestly, if this president and this congress were doing things that were even remotely acceptable, I wouldn&#8217;t be running for the U.S. Senate,” she said. 
Trump’s Justice Department <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/bondi-unleashes-on-maine-announces-new-lawsuit-against-state-for-violating-title-ix?author=Amanda+Prestigiacomo+and+Mary+Margaret+Olohan&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Bondi+Unleashes+On+Maine%2C+Announces+New+Lawsuit+Against+State+For+Violating+Title+IX">sued</a> Maine earlier this year for allowing boys to compete in women’s sports, arguing that the state was violating Title IX protections for women’s spaces. The Trump administration has also <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-suspending-more-maine-funds-this-time-over-discriminatory-quotas?author=Amanda+Prestigiacomo&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Trump+Suspending+More+Maine+Funds+—+This+Time+Over+Discriminatory+Quotas">challenged</a> the state’s Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife over diversity, equity, and inclusion measures. 
While Mills&#8217; ad played up the ties between Collins and Trump, the Maine Republican <a href="https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_votes/vote1191/vote_119_1_00015.htm">voted</a> against the nomination of Pete Hegseth to be Secretary of Defense and opposed Trump&#8217;s cuts to foreign aid.
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Republican National Committee Regional Communications Director Delanie Bomar said that Mills&#8217; entrance into the race would only lead to an expensive primary. 
“Janet Mills, Graham Platner, or whatever other leftist emerges from this Democrat primary will be too extreme and socialist for Maine,” Bomar said. “One thing is for certain: Bernie Sanders is right that Democrats will waste millions trying to defeat Senator Susan Collins.&#8221;
The Maine Democratic primary could turn into a fight between different factions of the Senate. Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2025/10/14/janet-mills-enters-crowded-maine-senate-race-00597876">reportedly</a> wanted Mills to run, while Sanders, a leftist independent who caucuses with the Democrats, urged her to stay out of the race. 
“Graham Platner is a great working class candidate for Senate in Maine who will defeat Susan Collins,” Sanders wrote on X last week. “It’s disappointing that some Democratic leaders are urging Governor Mills to run. We need to focus on winning that seat &amp; not waste millions on an unnecessary &amp; divisive primary.”

MixCollage-14-Oct-2025-08-22-AM-5441

Blue-On-Blue Brawl: Democrat Governor Eyes GOP Senate Seat, Triggers Leftist Power Struggle

Bernie Sanders

Chuck Schumer

Donald Trump

Elections

Politics

The Senate on Tuesday narrowly voted to confirm a Justice Department official who previously defended President Donald Trump during his criminal trials to the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
Overcoming vigorous Democrat opposition, the Republican-led Senate confirmed acting deputy attorney general Emil Bove to the lifetime judicial position in a 50-49 vote. Republican Senators Lisa Murkowski (AK) and Susan Collins (ME) joined Democrats in voting against his appointment. 
“Congratulations to our dear friend Emil Bove on his confirmation to serve on the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals! This is a GREAT day for our country,” Attorney General Pam Bondi <a href="https://x.com/AGPamBondi/status/1950363578646544696">said</a> on X. “I cannot thank Emil enough for his tireless work and support at [the Justice Department]. He will be missed — and he will be an outstanding judge.”
Bove previously worked as Trump’s lawyer when the Biden administration prosecuted him over his alleged mishandling of classified documents and alleged election interference in the 2020 election. Bove also worked with Trump on the New York hush money case, where Trump was convicted of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records but given an unconditional discharge. Before working for Trump, Bove was a federal prosecutor for the Southern District of New York, working on drug and terrorism cases.
In the weeks after Trump nominated him to the judgeship, Democrats have pointed to numerous complaints against Bove from whistleblowers claiming that he instructed Justice Department officials to ignore judicial orders. Democrats were also critical of Bove’s role in the firing of some of the Justice Department lawyers who led the January 6 prosecutions and <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/doj-orders-charges-to-be-dismissed-against-nyc-mayor-eric-adams-on-certain-conditions">dismissal</a> of the federal case against New York City Mayor Eric Adams. 
Ahead of the confirmation vote, Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) <a href="https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/press/rep/releases/grassley-exhaustive-efforts-to-vet-emil-boves-nomination-prove-hes-fit-for-the-job">defended</a> Bove, accusing Democrats of trying to “weaponize” the whistleblower process. 
“He has a strong legal background and has served his country honorably. I believe he will be a diligent, capable, and fair jurist,&#8221; Grassley said. “It’s no surprise to anyone who’s followed this nomination that I have serious concerns with how my Democratic colleagues have conducted themselves. The vicious rhetoric, unfair accusations and abuse directed at Mr. Bove by some on this Committee has crossed the line.”
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) <a href="https://apnews.com/article/emil-bove-confirmation-whistleblowers-trump-republicans-democrats-71f92822cb2e8d57387748c2451fa724">claimed</a> that the confirmation was a “dark day” for the country. 
“It’s unfathomable that just over four years after the insurrection at the Capitol, when rioters smashed windows, ransacked offices, desecrated this chamber, Senate Republicans are willingly putting someone on the bench who shielded these rioters from facing justice, who said their prosecution was a grave national injustice,” he said.

Jury Continues Deliberations In Trump Hush Money Trial

Republicans Push Past Democrat Obstruction To Confirm Trump-Aligned Judge

Chuck Grassley

Department of Justice

Judges

Lisa Murkowski

President Donald Trump said Thursday that he would not support any Republican who voted against defunding the parent company of NPR and PBS in an upcoming bill that would enshrine DOGE cuts into law. 
Trump urged Republicans in the Senate to back a $9.4 billion rescission package already passed by the House, which would include more than $1 billion in reductions for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the nonprofit that was created by Congress and is funded by the federal government but is not a governmental agency. The House passed the White House&#8217;s proposed package 214-212 last month, and the Senate is expected to vote next week. 
“It is very important that all Republicans adhere to my Recissions Bill and, in particular, DEFUND THE CORPORATION FOR PUBLIC BROADCASTING (PBS and NPR), which is worse than CNN &amp; MSDNC put together,” Trump posted on Truth Social. “Any Republican that votes to allow this monstrosity to continue broadcasting will not have my support or Endorsement. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”
The legislation <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/house-passes-doge-cuts-targeting-foreign-aid-npr-and-pbs">would cut</a> $8.3 billion in foreign spending, including funding for “Net Zero Cities” in Mexico, Iraqi “Sesame Street,” and global LGBTQ+ initiatives, as well as $1.1 billion from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. In May, Trump signed an <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/05/ending-taxpayer-subsidization-of-biased-media/">executive order</a> directing the Corporation for Public Broadcasting to stop funding NPR and PBS, saying the entities were deeply infected with leftwing bias. 
“The [Corporation for Public Broadcasting]’s governing statute reflects principles of impartiality: the CPB may not ‘contribute to or otherwise support any political party,’” the order says. “The CPB fails to abide by these principles to the extent it subsidizes NPR and PBS.  Which viewpoints NPR and PBS promote does not matter. What does matter is that neither entity presents a fair, accurate, or unbiased portrayal of current events to taxpaying citizens.”
NPR and several smaller publicly funded networks have challenged the order in court, <a href="https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.dcd.280953/gov.uscourts.dcd.280953.1.0_1.pdf">arguing</a> that it contradicts previous funding allocations made by Congress and violates the First Amendment. The courts have yet to issue a ruling on the suit, but parts of the argument could become moot if the Senate votes to pull the previously authorized spending. 
Some Republicans, including Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, have already voiced opposition to the proposed cuts. The Wall Street Journal <a href="https://www.wsj.com/politics/policy/trump-threatens-gop-senators-over-vote-on-doge-cuts-f5a86c19?utm_source=chatgpt.com">reported</a> that Senator Mike Rounds of South Dakota also indicated he was seeking an exemption for the funding of American Indian public radio stations.

Trump departs for Texas, calls deadly flooding ‘a horrible thing’

Trump Warns Republican Senators: Defund NPR And PBS Or Lose My Endorsement

Corporation for Public Broadcasting

DOGE

Public Broadcasting Service (PBS)

spending

The GOP-led Senate rejected on Friday a measure that sought to stop President Donald Trump from launching further attacks on Iran without the consent of Congress.
Sen. Tim Kaine&#8217;s (D-VA) war powers <a href="https://www.kaine.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/iran_war_powers_resolution.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">resolution</a> was defeated in a <a href="https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_votes/vote1191/vote_119_1_00328.htm" target="_blank" rel="noopener">53-47 vote</a>, mostly along party lines. Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) was the sole Republican to vote &#8220;yea&#8221; while Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) joined the rest of the GOP in opposing it.
&#8220;The Framers of our Constitution gave Congress the power to declare war because they believed that the decision to send our nation’s men and women in uniform into harm’s way was too big for any one person. The Trump Administration’s chaotic strategy on Iran confused the American people and created significant risks for servicemembers and their families,&#8221; Kaine said in a <a href="https://x.com/SenTimKaine/status/1938740715607011514" target="_blank" rel="noopener">statement</a>.
&#8220;I am disappointed that many of my colleagues are not willing to stand up and say Congress needs to be part of a decision as important as whether or not the U.S. should send our nation’s sons and daughters to fight against Iran,&#8221; he added. &#8220;I will continue to do all I can to keep presidents of any party from starting wars without robust public debate by Congress.&#8221;
Trump ordered military strikes on three sites in Iran last weekend as part of an effort to prevent Tehran from achieving nuclear weapons. Although the president deemed the operation a success and called for peace following a counterattack on a U.S. military base in Qatar with no American casualties, he <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-says-he-will-absolutely-start-bombing-iran-again-if-they-enrich-uranium-to-high-levels?author=Kassy+Akiva&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=3&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Trump+Says+He+Will+%E2%80%98Absolutely%E2%80%99+Start+Bombing+Iran+Again+If+They+Enrich+Uranium+To+High+Levels" target="_blank" rel="noopener">warned</a> on Friday that the United States would bomb Iran again if it resumed enriching uranium to high levels.
In a <a href="https://x.com/SenatorCollins/status/1938715871255367960" target="_blank" rel="noopener">statement</a> released after the vote, Sen. Susan Collins (R-MA) argued that Congress did not need to give Trump authorization at this time.
&#8220;Since the despicable attacks on October 7, 2023, Iran has continued to use proxies and empowered terrorist groups to attack American servicemembers and our ally Israel. This week, Iran threatened to attack Americans on our own soil and around the world,&#8221; Collins said. &#8220;I supported the President’s targeted strike on Iran’s pursuit of nuclear capabilities because a nuclear-armed Iran would pose an unacceptable threat to America and our allies. I also applaud the current ceasefire. Given this backdrop, it is the wrong time to consider this resolution and to risk inadvertently sending a message to Iran that the President cannot swiftly defend Americans at home and abroad.&#8221;
&#8220;There has always been a Constitutional tension between Article I vesting in Congress the power to declare war and Article II designating the President as Commander-in-Chief,&#8221; she added. &#8220;I continue to believe that Congress has an important responsibility to authorize the sustained use of military force. That is not the situation we are facing now. The President has the authority to defend our nation and our troops around the world against the threat of attack.&#8221;
Some lawmakers in the Republican-controlled House are pushing for another war powers vote, but Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/speaker-johnson-exposes-dem-hypocrisy-on-iran-strikes" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told reporters</a> that he did not think it was necessary.
&#8220;I don’t think this is an appropriate time for a war powers resolution, and I don’t think it’s necessary. Listen, for 80 years, presidents of both parties have acted with the same commander in chief authority under Article 2&#8221; of the Constitution, Johnson said.
Johnson went on to mention how Democrats who are complaining now did not seem to mind when former Presidents Joe Biden and Barack Obama conducted military operations in the region without seeking explicit approval from Congress for those campaigns.
&#8220;You had President Biden use it three times in Middle East operations. President Obama went on an eight-month campaign bombing Libya to take down the regime there. I never heard a Democrat balk about any of that,&#8221; Johnson said. &#8220;And suddenly now they’re just up in arms. It’s all politics. This is not a time for politics.&#8221;

Sen. Tim Kaine

Senate Rebuffs Dem Bid To Limit Trump’s Iran War Powers

Iran

Mike Johnson

Nuclear Weapons

Tim Kaine

U.S. Senate

On Wednesday evening, a handful of Republicans in the Senate joined forces with Democrats and independents on Wednesday to pass a measure subverting the Trump administration&#8217;s 25% tariffs on Canadian goods.
The Senate voted 51-48 in favor of a <a href="https://www.kaine.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/ros25392.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">resolution</a> from Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) that, if enacted, would terminate the <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/fact-sheets/2025/02/fact-sheet-president-donald-j-trump-imposes-tariffs-on-imports-from-canada-mexico-and-china/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">national emergency declaration</a> employed by President Donald Trump to impose tariffs on Canada earlier this year.
Despite the Senate&#8217;s rebuke, Kaine&#8217;s resolution faces significant challenges, as it needs approval from the GOP-led House to take effect — an unlikely prospect. Additionally, Trump indicated he would veto the resolution if it reached his desk.
Senate Republicans who <a href="https://x.com/SenatePress/status/1907578012867940509" target="_blank" rel="noopener">broke ranks</a> to support Kaine&#8217;s resolution included Sens. Mitch McConnell (R-KY), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Susan Collins (R-ME), and Rand Paul (R-KY). Sen. Roger Marshall (R-KS) did not vote.
&#8220;The Maine economy is integrated with Canada, our most important trading partner,&#8221; Collins <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7KvDcrFi0PY" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> on the Senate floor, adding later, &#8220;The tariffs on Canada would be detrimental to many Maine families and our local economies.&#8221;
Collins acknowledged sharing Trump&#8217;s goal of &#8220;stemming the tide of dangerous fentanyl that flows into the United States,&#8221; but insisted that, &#8220;unlike Mexico and China&#8221; — two other countries targeted for tariffs — &#8220;Canada is not complicit in this crisis.&#8221;
In an <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/114266599439835683" target="_blank" rel="noopener">post</a> on Truth Social before the vote, Trump called out the GOP defectors by name, urging them to reject a &#8220;ploy of the Dems to show and expose the weakness of certain Republicans&#8221; and encouraging people in their states to contact their senators.
Trump contended that Canada was facilitating the flow of fentanyl into the United States and emphasized that Kaine&#8217;s resolution is &#8220;not going anywhere because the House will never approve it and I, as your President, will never sign it.&#8221;
Earlier this year, Trump imposed 25% tariffs on some imports from Canada, arguing that the U.S. neighbor was not doing enough to curb the trafficking of drugs such as fentanyl. Canada <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2025/03/12/canada-tariffs-steel-aluminum-trump-computers.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">responded</a> by announcing 25% retaliatory tariffs.
The penalties against Canada preceded Trump&#8217;s &#8220;Liberation Day&#8221; announcement of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-unleashes-liberation-day-tariffs" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reciprocal tariffs</a> on dozens of other countries around the world during an event in the White House Rose Garden on Wednesday afternoon.
When Kaine <a href="https://www.kaine.senate.gov/press-releases/kaine-klobuchar-and-warner-formally-file-legislation-to-undo-president-trumps-senseless-taxes-on-canadian-goods" target="_blank" rel="noopener">filed</a> the resolution on Canada tariffs with Sens. Amy Klobucher (D-MN) and Mark Warner (D-VA), he said the measure was privileged, meaning the Republican-controlled Senate was required to vote on it in the coming weeks.
They <a href="https://www.kaine.senate.gov/press-releases/kaine-klobuchar-and-warner-announce-expected-vote-timing-on-their-bill-to-undo-canada-tariffs-that-will-raise-costs" target="_blank" rel="noopener">argued</a> that tariffs against Canada have disrupted the United States economy in a way that raises costs for American consumers, harms workers and businesses, strains a key trade partnership, and ignites a destructive trade war.
On the GOP side, McConnell <a href="https://www.courier-journal.com/story/opinion/contributors/2025/02/12/trump-tariffs-damage-kentucky-economy-bourbon-mcconnell/78393549007/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">warned</a> of higher prices and harm to Kentucky industries, Paul <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yx2MD3iOAiY" target="_blank" rel="noopener">objected</a> to the use of emergency authority for tariffs, and Murkowski pondered why the U.S. was <a href="https://x.com/highbrow_nobrow/status/1902855339902390661" target="_blank" rel="noopener">&#8220;fighting&#8221;</a> Canada while &#8220;making nice&#8221; with Russia.
Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso (R-WY) said in a statement after the vote on Wednesday that Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) had already declared Kaine’s resolution dead on arrival in the House, and it will never reach Trump’s desk.
Kaine’s &#8220;goal&#8221; was &#8220;to undermine President Trump’s successful work to secure the Northern Border,&#8221; he said, adding, &#8220;This meaningless messaging resolution will not stop Senate Republicans from making America’s communities safer.&#8221;

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