The New York Times published a damning piece on Graham Platner, alleging that multiple women have said he was emotionally abusive, with one ex-girlfriend claiming he knew the tattoo on his chest had Nazi ties. For many liberal influencers, this didn’t move the needle. In some respects, I understand, not because of the content or the story, but because the language was watered down, with some of the most damning excerpts buried 15-20 paragraphs deep.
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) clearly doesn’t care about stories of women being abused if it jeopardizes Democratic hopes of flipping the Senate. He didn’t see the piece as damaging at all, which you’d expect from someone representing a heavily Democratic-leaning state. However, one point being emphasized about the NYT’s Platner story is that the accounts are corroborated, unlike the Brett Kavanaugh hit job in 2018, which Shelly was involved with. Remember, he was the ‘boof’ man. Also, regarding his 'I know nothing' take on his tattoos, that's being viewed as absurd as well.
Same guy who grilled Brett Kavanaugh about fart jokes in his high school yearbook https://t.co/ulD1PnWGRk pic.twitter.com/MJ1iG9sc7Z
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) June 4, 2026
What happened to this energy, Sen? https://t.co/ljPsuDwVI1 pic.twitter.com/6hJzqKfo7G
— Amber Duke (@ambermarieduke) June 4, 2026
The allegations against Platner are better corroborated than the allegations against Brett Kavanaugh were and it will be interesting to see who manages to be consistent in their beliefs about such things.
— Megan McArdle (@asymmetricinfo) June 4, 2026
There is no corroborating evidence Brett Kavanaugh and Christine Blasey Ford ever met. All four people who Ford said were at a party where the alleged assault occurred, including her close female friend, said there was no such party. The close friend also said she didn’t believe… https://t.co/9na0TAzoox
— Jan Crawford (@JanCBS) June 5, 2026
Idk what he knew about the tattoo when he got it, seems plausible he didn’t know much. But it's highly implausible he didn't learn about it at some point before he ran for office, and there are a lot of accounts that contradict his narrative. https://t.co/t7JSsA7MIW
— Nate Silver (@NateSilver538) June 5, 2026
Platner to @chrislhayes: “Anything involving physicality, anything alleging I knew what my tattoo was, those are statements that are politiallly motivated.”
— Josh Rogin (@joshrogin) June 5, 2026
Platner maintains he looked at the tattoo on his chest for 17 years every day and never checked out what it was.
“It’s a…
Josh Barro on Platner:
— Richard Hanania (@RichardHanania) June 4, 2026
“Graham Platner doesn’t work for a living. As The New York Times reports, the bulk of his income comes from a military disability pension of approximately $60,000 a year. The pension doesn’t mean he’s too disabled to work — he is, after all, currently…
Oh, and while not the core of the story, Platner has some weird obsession with rape:
.@ewarren do you believe this woman who said Graham Platner told her he would rape someone to show dominance? https://t.co/kL1ST2o7X5 pic.twitter.com/15J8SiZ6Nx
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) June 4, 2026
Keep in mind that if you're defending Platner at this point you're signing up for 5 more months of defending an obvious pathological liar.
— Nate Silver (@NateSilver538) June 5, 2026