Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) has made it clear that he is not happy about Graham Plattner (D-Calif.) being the Democratic Senate candidate in Maine, declaring that “Republicans love him” because of his liberal policy positions and controversial rhetoric.
Asked about Democratic Gov. Janet Mills’ withdrawal from Maine’s primary, Fetterman said: “Democrats in Maine really, really like Platner, but Republicans fucking love him.”
“It’s a great day,” he added sarcastically. “If Maine wanted a jerk with a Nazi tattoo on his chest, they’d get him.”
But Fetterman said that despite his misgivings about Plattner, he has no plans to support current Sen. Susan Collins.
“No, I’m not — I’m not involved in that,” he said.
Fetterman recently criticized Plattner, a Marine Corps and Army National Guard veteran who made comments on Reddit years ago about attacks by Hamas militants on Israeli soldiers.
“From a strictly professional standpoint, this was a very nice-looking and successful raid against a superior opponent, and I loved it,” Plattner wrote in online comments first reported by The Jewish Insider.
“You know, like Plattner in Maine,” Fetterman told video journalist Nicholas Barassi. “You know, he said, ‘I love it,’ you know, in a video of Hamas beating and torturing Israeli soldiers to death. ‘I love it.'”
“This is what our party is becoming. We are very disappointed,” Fetterman said.
Mills announced Thursday that she was suspending her Senate campaign because the Senate lacks the funding needed to be competitive. Polls show her trailing Platner by double digits among likely Democratic primary voters.
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