Since the NYT physical abuse report landed Thursday and polls showed Platner tied with Republican Sen. Susan Collins at 46%, the Maine Democratic Senate race has entered its most chaotic 72-hour stretch yet.

Tonight's Rally: Khanna Shows, Senate Dems Don't

Platner holds his first major campaign rally in Portland on Friday night. The headliner is Rep. Ro Khanna of California. According to PBS NewsHour, Khanna is willing to show up.

Notably absent: the Senate Democrats who Platner reportedly reassured this week that no more scandals were coming. Two days after that reassurance, the NYT physical abuse report dropped. Fox News reported that those same senators are now skipping tonight's event.

The Allegations on the Table

To recap what's now established public record, not speculation: Platner's ex-girlfriend Lyndsey Fifield told the New York Times that during their 2013–2015 relationship, Platner regularly grabbed her by the shoulders — sometimes hard enough to leave marks — twisted her arm behind her back during one argument, shoved her into a bedroom, and held the door closed. CBS News confirmed the Times reporting.

Fifield also told the Times that Platner knew his chest tattoo was a Nazi symbol and joked about it — contradicting Platner's public claim that he got it drunk in 2007 as a Marine and had no idea what it meant.

Platner's response to CBS News: he acknowledged being a "far from perfect boyfriend" during "a very dark period" involving undiagnosed PTSD and alcohol. But he called the physical abuse allegations and the tattoo knowledge claim "simply not true" and dismissed them as "politically motivated."

He also separately admitted to sending sexually explicit texts to women shortly after marrying his wife Amy Gertner in 2023. Gertner knew before the campaign launched.

The NYT Coverage Problem

The Daily Signal's Katrina Trinko reported Thursday that the Times ran over 1,000 words before revealing Fifield's detailed physical abuse allegation — and over 1,300 words before reporting that Platner allegedly said he would rape an intruder "to show them that I'm dominant."

The headline the Times chose: "Several Women Who Dated Graham Platner Recall 'Unsettling' Behavior."

"Unsettling" buried the most serious allegations by roughly 1,200 words. The physical abuse claim and rape comment appeared after paragraphs describing women who said Platner was "fun and caring." Any first-year journalism student knows the most newsworthy facts go at the top.

Now the NYT reporter covering Platner is facing a second layer of scrutiny. According to Fox News, a Biden accuser has come forward saying she had a similar experience with the same reporter — meaning two women with allegations against high-profile Democrats are now comparing notes on how the same journalist handled their accounts. The Times has not publicly responded to those claims.

The Party's Civil War in Plain English

On one side: Pennsylvania Democratic Rep. Madeleine Dean, who said publicly that Platner has "disqualified himself."

On the other side: Democratic strategist James Carville, who told Democrats to back Platner anyway — comparing it to the U.S. allying with Stalin to defeat Hitler in World War II. Carville acknowledged the situation is, in his words, "f---ed up."

At least Carville is being honest about what the calculation actually is. The party needs the Maine Senate seat. Collins is beatable. Platner is their guy, warts and a potentially Nazi tattoo and physical abuse allegations and sexting scandal included.

Deb Dagnan, chair of Maine's Piscataquis County Democrats, told PBS NewsHour what a lot of party members are actually thinking: "They're waiting for the other shoe to drop after he gets the nomination. Then what do we do?"

Good question. No one has a good answer.

The Daily Wire's Underreported Angle

The Daily Wire flagged something most outlets have glossed over: Platner was apparently the left's second choice for this race. Their first pick reportedly had a significant "skeleton" of their own that kept them out. The Democratic establishment didn't stumble into Platner by accident — they went looking for an insurgent candidate and this is what they found after their top option fell through.

What Happens Tuesday

Maine's primary is Tuesday, June 9. Platner remains the frontrunner. There is no credible primary challenger positioned to beat him at this stage.

If he wins the primary — and the polling says he will — Democrats will spend the next five months deciding whether to fully commit to a candidate whose past includes a Nazi tattoo, a sexting scandal, and physical abuse allegations, or quietly pull resources and hand Susan Collins a sixth term.

Carville already told them which way he's leaning. Dean told them the other.

Regular Maine voters get to decide Tuesday which of those two arguments they agree with. The rest of the party just has to live with it.