Democrats' Platner Problem

Summary

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Podcast Summary: "Democrats' Platner Problem"

Podcast: What A Day
Host: Jane Coaston
Guest: Jon Lovett (Pod Save America)
Date: June 8, 2026

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Episode Overview

In this episode, Jane Coaston explores the turbulent Democratic Senate primary in Maine, focusing on the controversy-laden candidacy of Graham Platner. With scandals mounting and the political establishment shaken, Coaston and guest Jon Lovett dissect why Platner continues to dominate the primary, what this says about Democratic voters’ priorities, and how the Trump era has shifted the boundaries of electability and scandal.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

National News Headlines & Political Climate

• Global Developments:
  • 100 days into the ongoing Iran conflict led by Trump’s administration; consequences include economic strain and casualties ([01:00]).
  • Israel and Iran’s security escalation, subsequent ceasefire, and warnings of future retaliation ([01:20]).
• Domestic Discourse:
  • Trump walks out of NBC’s Meet the Press interview after heated exchange over alleged California election rigging ([02:27]).
    • Quote: “Your elections are crooked and you're crooked and Meet the Press is crooked...” – Donald Trump ([02:37])
  • Legal controversy surrounding the planned UFC event at the White House, with a federal lawsuit challenging its legitimacy ([03:25]).
• International Stage:
  • Xi Jinping’s notable summit with Kim Jong Un demonstrates China’s effort to reassert regional influence ([03:10]).

The Maine Senate Race: The “Platner Problem”

• Candidate profiles:
  • Graham Platner: Marine veteran, oyster farmer, charismatic but scandal-riddled ([04:16]).
  • Janet Mills: Incumbent governor, establishment Democrat, and presumed frontrunner before scandals ([06:15]).
• Scandal Rundown:
  • Allegations range from a Nazi tattoo (“didn’t know it was a Nazi tattoo”), offensive Reddit remarks (including comments about rape victims), and New York Times exposure of physically aggressive behavior toward ex-partners ([04:45], [11:55]).
• Voter Psychology & Party Response:
  • Lovett speculates on Maine voters’ willingness to forgive past mistakes due to Platner’s narrative of personal growth:
    • Quote: “Each of these stories only proves how much I've grown and changed because it’s yet another thing I had to stop doing.” – Jon Lovett ([07:15])
  • Mills remained passive after suspending her campaign, creating a vacuum for Platner’s continued momentum ([05:25]).
  • Disconnect identified between national observers’ outrage and Maine voters’ practical considerations ([06:01]).

The Broader Democratic Struggle

• Establishment Fatigue:
  • Lovett critiques the perception that “safe” candidates are the only viable options despite widespread voter desire for something new and authentic:
    • Quote: “When an establishment says, sorry, we're your only choice, people have a way of telling you to fuck off.” – Jon Lovett ([09:35])
  • Platner’s authenticity and bluntness resonate with disillusioned voters who reject professional politicians ([08:20]).
• Impact of the Trump Era:
  • Coaston questions whether Trump has recalibrated what is politically survivable, referencing the now-antiquated destruction of Howard Dean’s campaign for far less ([12:00]).
  • Lovett draws a distinction between the left and right:
    • Republicans may desire an “unrepentant asshole” as a feature, not a bug; Democrats are debating if remorse and change make past misconduct forgivable ([12:32]):
      • Quote: “Can a person grow beyond the asshole that they had been? Right, that's what Democrats are asking.” – Jon Lovett ([13:18])
• Debate Over “Realness” Versus Competence:
  • Coaston notes an online left-wing narrative claiming Platner’s flaws make him more relatable than polished elites ([14:00]).
  • Lovett dismisses this as “cope” and “fan fiction,” arguing plenty of authentic candidates exist without baggage ([15:11]).
• General Election Stakes:
  • Platner may remain the best prospect to unseat Senator Susan Collins, the “lightly boring white whale” of Democratic ambitions ([16:00]).
  • Lovett offers a pragmatic dilemma:
    • Quote: “Would you rather have a Democratic majority with Graham Platner in the Senate or a Republican majority with Susan Collins in the Senate?” – Jon Lovett ([17:19])
  • He cautions the progressive community to focus less on intraparty grievances and more on broader strategic goals ([18:00]).

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Jon Lovett on establishment backlash:
  “When an establishment says, sorry, we're your only choice, people have a way of telling you to fuck off.” ([09:35])

• Lovett on recurring scandals:
  “Each of these stories only proves how much I've grown and changed because it’s yet another thing I had to stop doing.” ([07:15])

• Lovett on the post-Trump landscape:
  “Can a person grow beyond the asshole that they had been? Right, that's what Democrats are asking.” ([13:18])

• Lovett on 2026's central question for Democrats:
  "Would you rather have a Democratic majority with Graham Platner in the Senate or a Republican majority with Susan Collins in the Senate?" ([17:19])

• On the performative “authenticity” debate:
  “I find that all a bit like of a cope and of a kind of, I don't know, like a fan fiction about what people are like.” – Jon Lovett ([15:11])

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• Opening banter and political headlines: 00:00 – 04:10
• Overview of Maine’s Democratic Senate primary & candidate backgrounds: 04:10 – 06:40
• Discussion of Platner’s scandals & Democratic voter response: 06:40 – 12:00
• Effect of Trump administration on scandal tolerance: 12:00 – 13:45
• Analysis of “authenticity” and online populism: 14:00 – 15:45
• General election calculations & the stakes in Maine: 16:00 – 18:20
• Closing remarks: 18:20 – End

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Conclusion

The episode unpacks the complex interplay between scandal, political authenticity, and electoral pragmatism in the age of Trump and polarized mainstream politics. While Platner's personal history is checkered, many Maine voters seem willing to forgive, or at least tolerate, his past in pursuit of a Democratic Senate majority. Lovett and Coaston stress that political choices in 2026 may be less about perfect candidates and more about hard-nosed calculations—a message both sobering and urgent for the party faithful.

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Transcript

[Jon Lovett]

When an establishment says, sorry, we're your only choice, people have a way of telling you to off.

[Jane Coaston]

I'm Jane Costen and this is what a day. The show that was. Wondering how Republicans would find a way to blame the screwworm outbreak that's devastating the cattle industry on Democrats. But Kansas Republican Senator Roger Marshall figured it out Monday on Newsmax.

[Roger Marshall]

We've been through this before. We erad the screwworm in 1966 and we'll talk about this. But this is another thing. We can thank Joe Biden for that. When millions of people came out of Central America, they brought this screw worm with them.

[Jane Coaston]

Not only is that not true, actually we stopped investing in the proven methods to stop screw worms of the last two decades. But also, it's June of 2026. Time to find a new skate president. On today's show, I talked to John Lovett about Tuesday's main Democratic Senate primary and the Graham Platner of it all. Before we get into all that, here's what we're following today. Monday, June 8th, what changed because you insisted no new wars. Federalized didn't guarantee no war. President Donald Trump was on NBC's Meet the Press Sunday where he dismissed the idea that starting the war with Iran this year betrayed his no new wars campaign promise. Well, we've officially hit the 100 day mark since the start of the conflict and it has shaken the global economy, driven energy prices up around the world, made many basics more expensive and killed thousands of people. And Sunday, Israel and Iran traded fire for the first time since the US Agreed to a ceasefire with Tehran two months ago. As of Monday afternoon, the strikes appear to have stopped. But both countries warn they are ready to launch retaliatory attacks if provoked. Things got pretty heated during that Meet the Press interview and apparently Trump couldn't handle the heat. So he got out of the kitchen or in this case, a Barn. In Wisconsin, NBC's Kristen Welker pressed an increasingly agitated Trump for evidence to support his claim that California's recent primary elections were rigged. California's notoriously prolonged vote count has been a magnet for election conspiracy theories. And Trump has claimed without evidence that Democrats are rigging the election because as more votes are counted, Republican vote totals are, quote, dropping fast. And no surprise, that brought Trump to his own complaints about 2020.

[Roger Marshall]

You have more evidence. There's more evidence than ever presented. Let's talk about your elections. In this country. We're like a third world country. Your elections are crooked and you're crooked and Meet the Press is crooked and so is ABC and CBS and CNN your one sided crooked network? Sorry. Let's call it quits because I've had enough. Thank you darling. Have a good time Mr. President.

[Jane Coaston]

Have a good time. 2 no one's surprised the Trump appointed top federal prosecutor in Los Angeles said Friday that his office had opened multiple election fraud investigations. Chinese President Xi Jinping and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un held a closely watched summit in North Korea today. Xi's first visit to North Korea in seven years is likely an attempt to reassert Beijing's unique influence over its socialist neighbor, according to an online report by China's state broadcaster. Xi expressed China's willingness to expand cooperation in a wide range of areas, including trade, agriculture, construction and technology. Remember that upcoming Ultimate Fighting Championship fight card that's set for the White House South Lawn on President Trump's 80th birthday? Because I know you've been so looking forward to it. Yeah, well, a federal lawsuit filed Saturday is trying to stop that atrocity from happening. The suit contends that the Trump administration's authorization of the UFC event is unlawful and violates National Park Service regulations. The White House, however, said in a statement that the legal challenge doesn't have any legs and that the event is no different than the various other White House hosted events on the South Lawn and properly permitted events on the Ellipse and National Mall throughout the year. No different. And that's the news. Let's talk about Graham Platner. Tomorrow, Maine voters will head to the polls to decide who will take on five term Republican Senator Susan Collins in his race against Governor Janet Mills. Platner still has a sizable lead in the Democratic primary. You probably know a few things about the presumptive Democratic nominee for Maine's Senate seat. He runs an oyster farm. He served at the Marine Corps doing three tours of duty in Iraq. But you've probably heard a lot of other things about Platner over the last few weeks, like his Nazi tattoo or about shitty things he said on Reddit about rape victims, for example. And last week, the New York Times detailed allegations that Platner was intimidating and even physically aggressive with past romantic partners. None of the new information is good, but will it matter to Maine voters, voters who want to take back the Senate? And should it? To find out, I spoke to Jon Lovett. He's co host of Crooked Media's Pod Save America. Jon, welcome back to what a day.

[Jon Lovett]

Great to be back.

[Jane Coaston]

Tomorrow, Maine Democrats will decide if they want to vote for Graham Platner, who has been through a bunch of scandals since announcing his Senate primary, but he's still doing very well in polls, and a lot of party Democrats are standing by him. Why do you think that is?

[Jon Lovett]

I think a couple things. One, and probably most importantly, the most recent, and I would argue, worst story for Graham Platner broke a week before main Democrats had their primary and after Janet Mills suspended her campaign. And all Janet Mills has said in the days since the story broke is, well, I'm technically still on a ballot, which is. I'm not sure the purpose of saying that. To get a few extra votes while losing and signaling that Graham Platner is weak without doing anything to change the situation. I think there's the conversation main voters are having, and there's the conversation watchers are having, and they're sort of disconnected.

[Jane Coaston]

Right. Okay, so walk me through the conversation you think Maine voters are having, because I think outside of Maine, people did not know who he was when he announced his run for the Senate. Like, his political experience was serving as the planning board chair and harbor master for his hometown of Sullivan, which. Which seems lovely. Maine's Governor Janet Mills, as you mentioned, was kind of supposed to be the Democratic front runner. Why are Maine voters, it seems like, sticking with him?

[Jon Lovett]

Well, first of all, we don't know that. Right, right.

[Jane Coaston]

We just.

[Jon Lovett]

We just don't know because right now, Democrats who are gonna vote in the primary, he's. He's really running on a post. And maybe we'll see in the results that come through tomorrow how much frustration there is. Right. If a lot of people show up and vote for Janet Mills, even though she's not really in the race, I think that would tell us something about how Maine voters feel about this. I think we don't really have that much good polling or any good polling since this story broke. I think we don't have any, actually. And so what we have is people that clearly have metabolized the Reddit story, the tattoo story, and are willing to give a person a chance who says they've grown and they've changed? What happens if they keep saying they've grown and they've changed, and then you keep seeing bad stories and they're like, oh, that's yet another thing. I've grown and changed. I've grown and changed so much. Actually, each of these stories only proves how much I've grown and changed because it's yet another other thing I had to stop doing.

[Jane Coaston]

But why do you think he got so much support in the first place?

[Jon Lovett]

I think two things are happening. One, is what people are looking for and the other is what the Democratic Party is offering. So let's talk about what the Democratic Party is offering first, which was, I think in the classic of, of of the current mainstream Democratic Party, a tolerable and very old classic Democrat. Who is the safe choice and who represents an establishment that people are really frustrated by.

[Jane Coaston]

Janet Mills.

[Jon Lovett]

Janet Mills, the governor. And who would, how old would she have been at the end of her term?

[Jane Coaston]

Old.

[Jon Lovett]

Old.

[Jane Coaston]

She's 78 right now.

[Jon Lovett]

She's 78. So she was, she's would be in her mid-80s at the end of her term. She promised to run one term. Fine. And so then you're said, okay, well, this election is so important because we have to defeat Susan Collins. But then the next election, which presumably will also be important, we're going to have to get somebody new anyway. But this time we're going to. We're going to. Because we don't trust ourselves to find a new candidate. We have to use the kind of the old guard to try to defeat Susan Collins at a time when people are clamoring for a different direction, who want, you know, fresh ideas and new voices and someone that acknowledges that politics has not been delivering for people in a way that leaves them pretty cynical and turned off. And so that's what the establishment offered. And then you have this younger guy who's been in the military, had traumatic experiences in the military, built himself back up, and who just was an eloquent and charismatic speaker about why normal people are turned off by the political system and want something different. And that was really captivating. And when people feel as though, and I think this applies in all kinds of democratic elections, when an establishment says, sorry, we're your only choice, people have a way of telling you to fuck off.

[Jane Coaston]

We'll get back to my conversation with John in a moment, but we will never tell you to f off. If you like the show, make sure to subscribe.

[Jon Lovett]

Subscribe.

[Jane Coaston]

Leave a five star review on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Watch us on YouTube and share with your friends. More to come after some ads. What a day is brought to you by Aura Frames. Celebrate Father's Day by sharing some of your favorite photos with your dad on an aura frame. My dad is not a big photo guy, but he loves to take photos. From the hawk who lives in his front yard to his latest renovation project, he loves sharing the world around him with his friends and family. So an Oreframe is the perfect gift. With auraframes, you get free unlimited storage. Add as many photos and videos as you want and you can preload photos before it ships. Keep adding from anywhere, anytime. Aura makes it easy to shop for dad named number one by Wirecutter. You can save now by visiting auraframes.com for a limited time. Listeners can get $35 off select frames with code WAD. That's a U R a frames.com promo code WAD. Support the show by mentioning us at checkout. Terms and conditions apply. What a day is brought to you by Upwork Hiring help shouldn't be a headache or a drain on your budget. Upwork makes it easy to hire specialized freelancers quickly so you can get the expertise you need now without weeks of recruiting or a full time hire. The fastest growing businesses aren't doing more, they're delegating smarter. Upwork helps you bring in expert freelance help fast so you can delegate keep moving. Upwork is a one stop platform to find, hire and pay expert freelancers across web and software development, data and analytics, marketing, business operations and more. Upwork helps grow your business by giving you fast access to specialized talents across 125 plus categories so you can fill skill gaps, launch projects faster and scale support up or down without committing to full time headcount. You can browse profiles, review past work and get help scoping the role so you can hire with confidence and get started quickly. It's free to sign up and posting a job is easy. Visit Upwork.com right now and post your job for free. That is Upwork.com to connect with top talent ready to help your business grow. That's up. W O-R-K.com Upwork.com let's get back to my conversation with John Lovett. Flattener's issues to a national audience first started in October when these old problematic I hate using that term, but let's say problematic Reddit posts came to light. And of course there have been more issues that have kept coming. And you know you've got the New York Times reporting you just mentioned you've got the Nazi tattoo. He said he didn't know it was a Nazi tattoo. You've got allegations of a bunch of other stuff, but the context he's running in is that Donald Trump is president. Has Trump totally scrambled our political priors? Like we went from an era in which like Howard Deaton screaming was like, well we can't have that to now. It's like is there a line? What is the line and how do we try to figure that out?

[Jon Lovett]

So I think there's a Big difference. And to me, the big difference is on the Republican side, people like Donald Trump in part because he's an unrepentant asshole. That. That's a perk. Yeah, that's a selling. That's a selling feature. Thomas Massie had a quote about his loss that I thought was really smart and interesting. He said, I thought that I was winning because people wanted someone with my libertarian views. It turns out they were just voting for the craziest person. And, and now he's getting out competed by Trump with Platner. I actually think what's happening is people are like, what is the debate among Democrats, broadly right? Yes, it's caustic and often unproductive. But at root it is about whether or not he's an asshole, whether or not a person, whether or not his being sorry is enough to justify giving someone the responsibility of being a sender. Can a person grow beyond the asshole that they had been? Right, that's what Democrats are asking. So nobody wants Graham Platner because of the Reddit post, because of the tattoo. I mean, maybe there's people out there, but that's not what Democratic voters are saying. Right. And certainly it wouldn't be because he was a bad boyfriend and possibly a boyfriend who grabbed an ex girl girlfriend by the wrist and shoved her into a room. Like, that's not a selling point. It's more, a, are these things disqualifying for him as a candidate? And B, are they going to cost him the race?

[Jane Coaston]

Something else that's been interesting about Platner is that a lot of times if you watch his campaign events, like, obviously he's going after Republicans, but he's going after Democrats too. And I've seen some arguments on the left that Platner and everything that he's had to kind of come to terms with actually makes him more real and that his controversies make him more appealing than so called, quote, upper class ninnies. This idea of like, well, you know, this is better than some McKinsey Deloitte Democratic establishment candidate. Is this kind of some sort of like left wing populism at work? Because you're saying like, oh, people don't like him because of these issues, but there is a sense in people generally online that it's like, oh, you know, we all have tattoos we regret and we've all done bad things. Like, there's this idea of like, the fact that he's not practiced makes him better.

[Jon Lovett]

This is where I feel like the online hyper engaged debate is very silly. And one I'm not super interested in participating in. It's a lot of people fighting their factional battles, making claims about what people want even though they're not there, combining,

[Jane Coaston]

especially talking about the working class while definitely not being a part of it.

[Jon Lovett]

Right. And it's just like, yes, I am annoyed by the kind of running for president since they were seven, smartest kid in class, no hair out of place, no mistakes, perfect resume. I have been annoyed by those people my entire life. There is a lot of people who aren't that and also who don't have these toxic and terrible stories in their lives. And by the way, there are also people who can speak eloquently about what people are facing in a way that doesn't sound like a politician or who managed to get from childhood to adulthood without these kinds of allegations. So I find that all a bit like of a cope and of a kind of, I don't know, like a fan fiction about what people are like.

[Jane Coaston]

So with all of this, the bigger context to me is that Democrats want to win the Senate. Democrats want to win the Senate, like real bad. And I think still Platner might be Democrats best chance to oust means longtime Republican Senator Susan Collins, who has been the lightly boring white whale of Democrats for pretty much the entire time I've been writing about politics. What do you think Platner needs to do if he wins tomorrow to win over Maine voters in the general with all of this still swirling?

[Jon Lovett]

I think he has to first of all deal with the fact that he has lost a lot of trust because we've had so many cycles of him explaining how he's changed and he's grown from the tattoo to the Reddit post to now this terrible story about his past relationships. And I think a big question mark is if there are more stories and what he does if there are more stories. But Maine is a place where you can probably talk to most of the people whose votes you need, which. And he's a very capable and charismatic speaker who has really resonated for that reason. And then outside of Maine, I think there's a lot of online discourse about whether he should have been the candidate, whether he shouldn't have been. If he is, then what is our responsibility here? And we can all spend our days online kind of arguing about whether it should have been Janet Mills or not, or whether people were right about Graham Platner all along. I think the threshold question is would you rather have a Democratic majority with Graham Platner in the Senate or would you rather have a Republican majority with Susan Collins in the Senate. Now, if you have come to the conclusion that Graham Platner, his conduct is so deplorable that you don't believe he should be elected to the point that you would rather have Susan Collins in a Republican majority, I understand that. I don't agree. Given the stakes for the country and once you get beyond your own personal feelings about it, your own either disgust or frustration or whatever it may be, the question is, do we want a Democratic majority? And if we do, I think it behooves us to spend less time lamenting and fighting our little factional beefs and claiming you were right all along than figuring out the best way to help. Maybe you don't want to help in the main race, but I would say posting about how annoyed you are by the whole thing probably is unproductive in the long run.

[Jane Coaston]

John, as always, thanks for joining me.

[Jon Lovett]

Thanks for having me.

[Jane Coaston]

That was my conversation with Jon Levitt, co host of podsave America. Before we go, Stacey Abrams wants to look towards the future with hope and solutions because corruption works best when we forget that we, the people are in charge. In her latest episode of Assembly Required, she's talking with experts about states rights and the power we have at the state level to lead the forefront of civil rights and representative democracy. Check out Assembly Required Every Tuesday on YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts. That's all for today. If you like the show, make sure you subscribe. Leave a review. Good luck to New Yorkers in their efforts to walk through Midtown Manhattan tonight and tell your friends to listen. And if you're into reading and not just about how Donald Trump has decided to grace Game 3 of the NBA Finals with his presence. And now multiple blocks around Madison Square Garden will be closed off and the watch party outside the arena has been canceled. Like me, what a Day is also a nightly newsletter. Check it out and [e-mail] subscribe I'm Jane Coston and here's hoping that the collective powers of Jalen Brunson and Karl Anthony talents would be enough to ward off the bad vibes of Donald Trump. What a Day is a production of Crooked Media. Our show is produced by Caitlin Plummer, Emily Foer, Erica Morrison and Adrienne Hill. Our team includes Haley Jones, Greg Walters, Matt Berg, Joseph Dutra, Johanna Case and Desmond Taylor. Our music is by Kyle Murdoch and Jordan Cantor. We had help today from the Associated Press. Our production staff is proudly unionized with the Writers Guild of America East.