Senator John Fetterman didn’t hold back on Thursday after Maine Governor Janet Mills abruptly exited the U.S. Senate race, leaving controversial progressive Graham Platner as the primary challenger to Republican Senator Susan Collins.
Mills suspended her campaign earlier in the day, admitting her bid no longer had the financial legs to compete. Her departure clears a path for Platner, a candidate whose baggage has become a lightning rod for national Democrats.
Platner has faced intense scrutiny over a series of Reddit posts where he referred to police officers as “b*stards” and labeled rural white Americans “racist.” Perhaps most damaging are the reports of a Nazi tattoo on his chest and his recent social media activity, which included sharing content from an avowed neo-Nazi.
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When asked about the shift in the race, Fetterman gave a blunt assessment to NOTUS reporter Igor Bobic.
“Democrats really, really like Platner in Maine, but the Republicans f**ing love him,” Fetterman said, suggesting the GOP views Platner as an easy target in a general election. The Pennsylvania Senator doubled down on the candidate’s personal controversies, adding, “If Maine wants an a**hole with a Nazi tattoo on his chest, they get him.”
Despite his clear disdain for Platner, Fetterman told Bobic he has no plans to cross party lines to support Collins. “No, I don’t have any, I’m not in it,” he noted.
Platner, however, appears undeterred by the friendly fire from within his own party. During a press conference following the Mills announcement, he framed his campaign as a populist uprising against the status quo.
“We are now taking back our power,” Platner told reporters. “We will defeat Susan Collins, we will go to Washington, and we will start tearing down the system that for too long has forgotten and written off the people who make Maine and this country what it is.”
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The firebrand candidate has previously attempted to deflect blame for his various scandals. Earlier this month, he sparked further backlash by suggesting that the “culture” of the U.S. military was responsible for the controversies surrounding his past behavior and associations.
With Mills out of the way, Maine voters are now looking at a stark choice between the long-serving Collins and a candidate that even some of the Senate’s most prominent Democrats are already writing off.
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