Maine Republican says Dems selling their soul to defeat Susan Collins

Maine’s Republican state Sen. Trey Stewart warns that Democrats are “selling their soul” defending controversial Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner and that the Democratic Party is headed for a “dangerous place” if he wins the Senate seat in November.

“Voters care a lot,” Stewart told Fox News Digital about the mounting criticism of Platner, including the deletion of social posts in which he described himself as a “communist” and “socialist,” used homophobic slurs and disparaged the military.

“I think for now he seems like a flash in the pan among ultra-liberal Democrats who can’t see beyond beating Susan Collins at all costs, and what they’re really doing is selling their soul to someone who’s successful at that. He has a tattoo on his chest associated with the Nazis He made slanderous statements, he made truly ugly and horrifying statements. “He’s actually guilty of everything you hear about veterans injured in combat, about bigoted statements that are racist and misogynistic, about the left trying to make the right look bad, and there’s a record of that.”

Stewart said he was confident that five-term incumbent Republican Sen. Susan Collins would remain “victorious” in Maine, despite Platner’s lead in the polls being “middle of the road,” and said the Platner campaign “won’t work” because “the people of Maine do not agree with the way of thinking that Mr. Platner has espoused.”

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“Susan Collins, who, while not one of the most influential votes in the United States Senate, has an absolutely incredible impact fiscally and otherwise for the state of Maine, will prevail,” he said. “Because Maine is ultimately a middle-of-the-road state.”

This isn’t the first time Collins has seen her rivals increasingly outnumbered in the polls. In 2020, Collins consistently trailed former Maine House Speaker Sara Gideon in the polls, sometimes by double digits, before winning re-election in one of the most expensive races in state history.

Maine voters generally reject both far-right and far-left candidates, Stewart says, and Platner’s “extreme position is not going to be something voters will reward here in November.”

Overall, Stewart said Democrats’ “shameful” decision to stand behind Platner reflects where the party stands as a whole today and reveals a “soul-searching” issue within the party.

THE BEST REDDIT POSTS THAT REMEMBER GRAHAM PLATNER’S MAINE SENATE BID

Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, holds a blanket as she leaves the Senate chamber after the chamber remained in session overnight at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., on July 1, 2025 (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

“I find it extremely shameful that the Democratic party has the most extreme tail-wagging influence at this point, not just in the state of Maine but across the entire country,” he said. “Maybe that’s the direction the Democratic party in Maine and our country is heading,” he said. “If so, then ultimately this is going to be a very dangerous place for them, and it’s going to be a very dangerous place for our country.”

Platner, a U.S. Marine Corps veteran who served four combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, faced a wave of scrutiny over deleted Reddit posts and was heavily criticized by Republicans who said he did not adequately explain or apologize for them.

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Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner campaigned on progressive economic policies focused on taxing billionaires and lowering costs for working class Americans. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

In a June 2019 post, Platner mocked video of Purple Heart veteran Teddy Daniels being shot four times during a 2012 firefight with Taliban fighters, saying Daniels “doesn’t deserve to live.”

“Platner refused to apologize or acknowledge his regret for the comment In a video shot by Fox News Digital throughout the weekend.

“This is not the right course of action for him to take,” Stewart said. “If anything, he owes a number of apologies to people to whom he said deeply offensive things. But beyond that, the United States Senate is certainly something completely out of reach for such an individual.”

He really just needs help,” Stewart said. “He doesn’t need a seat in the United States Senate.”

Fox News Digital has reached out to the Platner campaign for comment.

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After Democratic Gov. Janet Mills announced last month that she would end her Senate campaign, Platner emerged as the presumptive Democratic nominee in the June 9 primary to decide who will face Collins in November.