Posted on 06/23/2026 6:33:41 AM PDT by Libloather
Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, addressed her closely-watched race against scandal-plagued Democratic candidate Graham Platner, calling him the "antithesis" of the steady leadership she has provided Maine.
"I never expected to have an opponent like Graham Platner," Collins said in her first national interview since Platner’s nomination. "He is very different from me. He's the antithesis of the steady leadership that I provide and Washington that has delivered real results for the state of Maine and for our nation."
Platner, a military veteran and oyster farmer, has spent much of his campaign on the defensive as multiple scandals have rocked his candidacy, including a chest tattoo resembling a Nazi symbol and abuse allegations from former girlfriends.
Collins’ race against Platner has become one of the most watched in the midterm cycle as top Democrats, including progressive champions Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., have thrown their support behind the controversial candidate.
Platner is pushing an economically populist agenda, taking aim at corporate interests and advocating for the working class during his campaign.
Collins, who is running for a sixth six-year term in the U.S. Senate, remains in a tight race with Platner in left-leaning Maine, despite his resurfaced controversies.
"There have been numerous controversies. He often denies them only to be contradicted by others who say what he told them," Collins told Fox News anchor Martha MacCallum on "The Story."
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
Dear FRiends,
We need your continuing support to keep FR funded. Your donations are our sole source of funding. No sugar daddies, no advertisers, no paid memberships, no commercial sales, no gimmicks, no tax subsidies. No spam, no pop-ups, no ad trackers.
If you enjoy using FR and agree it's a worthwhile endeavor, please consider making a contribution today:
Click here: to donate by Credit Card
Or here: to donate by PayPal
Or by mail to: Free Republic, LLC - PO Box 9771 - Fresno, CA 93794
Thank you very much and God bless you,
Jim
“...scandal plagued...”? HUH? The perv factor fits them like a glove. Right p hustle?
“Platner is the nazi guy. The commies love him.”
Ironic because Nazis hated commies. Collins is past her expiration date, and not a great candidate, but still superior to the Nazi.
*We* say “Nazi” as if it’s a bad thing. Platner’s fellow far-leftists have no problem with it at all. Radical, brutal socialism is their nirvana.
Rumors of Platner’s CERTAIN (or even probable) defeat by Collins in November are greatly exaggerated.
The couple of tiny twigs we have to hang our hats on in Maine are:
1. Logic: “People aren’t really going to vote for a NAZI, are they?” Since when do Democrat voters vote logically?
2. Collins has a track record of trailing in polls and then coming back to win, and what happened in the past is surely going to happen again so we’re OK.
It’s just barely possible that her luck runs out someday, perhaps in a little over 4 months. She’s ancient, all she’s got going for her is being anti-conservative and the fact that her opponent is reprehensible. And still she trails, at least for now.
Democrats likely feel that they’ve weathered the worst of the tempest-in-a-teapot around Platner, and they’re probably right.
The odds of the Democrats flipping the Senate are not high. The end of the Iran war will allow the American economy to revert to its prewar condition gradually. Texas, Iowa, Alaska, and Ohio will probably be retained by the GOP. The Democrats’ best shot at a pickup is North Carolina; they also have to hold the Georgia seat. Big Democratic money will go to these two states. There is a mild chance for a Republican pickup in Michigan with incumbent Senator Gary Peters not running for re-election, but that state is controlled by the Democratic machines in the Detroit area and Ann Arbor, so they will find the needed votes at 3 AM from the graveyards, nursing homes, and homeless camps to ensure a victory for their candidate.
We live in bizarre times. Susan Collins is actually the safe Republican seat in this election cycle.
Platner will lose the female vote, that's disastrous for a Dem.
“Ancient”? She’s 73!
Apart from the tattoo, what evidence is there that he is a Nazi? I don’t see much in that tattoo. Struck me as about the same level as the tattoo attacks on SECWAR Hegseth
I think the much deeper reason that Platner must be defeated is that he is against the Neocon Forever Wars. (Of course, he is wrong about virtually everything else. But so too are most Democrats. But oppose the Forever Wars and you must be cast out.)
Whatever our problems are, there is no way that Susan Collins is the answer.
Al Capone hated Bugs Moran too. It didn’t matter because they were both criminals. Same with the Nazis and Commies. No good guys there. Both socialists both violent thugs who would kill anyone to get their way.
I don’t understand why the GOP cannot replace this woman. She sounds like a record playing while driving a car. I can’t figure out why New England voters like women (Collin’s, Warren) who sound as if they are about to break down in tears. It’s maddening.
She could have the best voting record in the world, but if you cannot listen to what she is saying she is worthless. (And she is the lightest of GOP-Lite candidates.)
The guy made like $5,000 last year from his vanity “oyster farm” mostly selling oysters to his mom’s restaurant.
Because she brings home the bacon.
This sentence was written by a Fox writer.
Could anyone sugar coat what this communist says any better than that ass kissing description.
Fox should fire that writer.
Totenkopf tattoo was the sign of the SS nazi's at the death camps that killed at least six million people, yet apart from that, what evidence is there that nazis were involved?
Susan Collins is a piece of shit, but at least she is one more vote on our side {sometimes}.
Yeah except that was not exactly Platner’s tattoo, was it? It was more something that “resembled” it. This smacks of wokeism
The nazi is on a roll -
Abortion Rights Group Endorses Platner Over Collins in Maine
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/22/us/politics/platner-collins-maine-senate-abortion.html
Here here, so that being said I bet collins votes for him!
Unlike Collins, Platner at least ADMITS to being a Democrat.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.