(Ben Sellers, Headline USA) With Maine voters heading to the polls on Tuesday to decide whether Democrat frontrunner Graham Platner will make the cut for November’s senatorial election, the party has faced an uncomfortable reckoning over its moral compass — or lack thereof.
Platner — a self-described communist from an elite, privileged upbringing — remains the best hope of unseating moderate Susan Collins, the closest thing to a Democrat within the GOP caucus, in the ranked-choice election.
And yet, in their thirst for power, many Democrats have been forced to rethink their positions on issues like their supposed opposition to Nazism and misogyny.
With his totenkopf tattoo and unsettling social-media footprint already drawing unflattering comparisons to disgraced former Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., allegations from three of Platner’s former girlfriends in a recent New York Times article dug the hole even deeper.
The article contradicted Platner’s claims that he was unaware of his tattoo’s Nazi origins, suggesting he actually boasted about it, and further elaborated on his past toxic conduct, particularly among women.
According to Lyndsey Fifield, who dated Platner for roughly two years, he would frequently say that if intruders broke into his house, “I would rape them to show them that I’m dominant.”
While some Democrats sought to quietly downplay their support for the flawed candidate, a shocking number came out swinging, including those who attacked Fifield as a GOP activist.
Among them was Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., a major Platner donor who declared that he was “unimpressed” with the damning allegations.
As constitutional law expert Jonathan Turley observed, that marked a stunning about-face for Whitehouse, who availed himself of every opportunity to grandstand over the baseless allegations from Christine Blasey Ford and other accusers ahead of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s 2018 confirmation hearing.
At the time, Whitehouse adhered closely to Democrat talking points that it was necessary to “believe all women,” regardless of the verifiability of their rape claims.
“Today I stand with women who are brave enough to come forward with their stories of abuse and mistreatment,” Whitehouse said at the time. “They deserve to be heard and credible allegations must be investigated. We must believe survivors, not bully them.”
Back in 2018, Sen. Shelton Whitehouse (D-R.I.), expressed disgust that some would not take Ford’s word for it, declaring, “Today I stand with women who are brave enough to come forward with their stories of abuse and mistreatment. They deserve to be heard and credible allegations…
— Jonathan Turley (@JonathanTurley) June 6, 2026
Although Fifield’s account has been corroborated — unlike Blasey Ford’s — by acquaintances who heard her speak out against Platner before his entry into politics, Whitehouse maintained that it was nothing more than a GOP smear campaign.
“I mean, the only one who had anything to say that seemed ‘unsettling’ was a woman who works for right-wing political operations,” Whitehouse said, also dismissing the corroborating accounts of two other ex-girlfriends of Platner’s.
Meanwhile, a New York Post article pointed to another hypocritical Democrat accused of putting power over principles: Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y.
Gillibrand was one of the most outspoken champions of the #MeToo cancel-culture movement, even forcing out fellow Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., after an account surfaced about him nonconsensually touching the breast of a sleeping woman.
Yet, in the decade since, Gillibrand evidently has softened her position on rape. The Post noted that as head of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, she was standing by her man.
“We are still going to win Maine,” she told CNN.
Gillibrand spox said her comments were: “We are still going to win Maine.”
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) June 4, 2026
Despite the moral certitude they once telegraphed on the matter of toxic masculinity and abusive power dynamics, this is not the first time Democrats have sought to double back on the “believe all women” mantra and to qualify it as only those whose allegations aligned with the Democrat agenda.
During the 2020 presidential election, the longstanding allegations of Tara Reade, a one-time senatorial staffer for Joe Biden, resurfaced briefly, only to be “vetted” dismissively by the mainstream media and its Democrat co-conspirators.
While many tried to hide behind the fig leaf of attacks on Reade’s credibility, others said the quiet part aloud.
“I do believe Reade,” Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., told the Sunday Times. But she went on to say that she still planned on voting for Biden, who was accused of digitally penetrating the vagina of his much younger subordinate during a late night in the office.
Believing survivors is consistent with my values. Yes, I endorsed against Biden and I didn’t pick him as our nominee. With that said, in this interview I did on May 6th, we talked about that and quotes aren’t always in context. I will vote for him and help him defeat Trump.
— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) May 25, 2020
To Democrats’ credit, the one thing they have always been consistent about is flip-flopping in times of political expedience.
View co-host Sunny Hostin, also an outspoken left-winger, admitted last week that even though she believed the alarming allegations against Platner, she would still vote for the Nazi sympathizer over the Senate’s top moderate.
“So he’s a liar, a racist, an antisemite. He’s a homophobe. So he has all the things — and character does matter,” Hostin said.
“But we have someone that has almost unbridled power in the White House at this point,” she added. “There are no checks and balances, and the only way that we can maybe bring a bit of our democracy back is by having a Congress that functions and that has these checks and balances. And I do think one of the only ways is to win that seat in Maine.”
Collins previously kept Trump in check by voting to impeach him in 2021. Nonetheless, he was acquitted by the Senate.
Ben Sellers is a freelance writer and former editor of Headline USA. Follow him at x.com/realbensellers.
