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Loathing of Trump drives liberals to back a very flawed Maine Democrat

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15.05.2026

Loathing of Trump drives liberals to back a very flawed Maine Democrat

If you want to know how far some liberals are willing to go to register their fear and loathing of President Trump, just read the recent opinion piece by Frank Bruni in the New York Times.

Here’s how his column begins: “Graham Platner isn’t my ideal Senate candidate. Not even close. I’m deeply troubled by the thinness of his political experience, by the primacy of raw anger in his appeal to voters and by the oddities and ugliness from a Nazi tattoo to a fondness for ‘gay’ and ‘gayest’ as put-downs, in his not-so-distant past. It’s a lot to overlook. But if I lived in Maine, I’d vote for him in November.”

Bruni is a thoughtful man of the left, prepared to overlook Platner’s many, let’s call them … uh, shortcomings. Before we get to why he is prepared to overlook so much, let’s lay out just what Bruni is willing to accept, reluctantly or otherwise.

Platner has said he is a communist. He said cops are bastards. He called people who post online “retarded.” He said war was “the most enjoyable experience of my life.” Working as a bartender, he wondered “Why don’t black people tip?” And speaking about women who are concerned about sexual assault, he wrote that “Rape is a real thing. If you’re so worried about it … you might not get blacked out f—–d up around people you aren’t comfortable with.”

Yes, Frank Bruni, that really is, as you put it, “a lot to overlook” — even........

© The Hill