As the Gateway Pundit reported earlier today, Graham Platner – the Democrat who was running for U.S. Senate in Maine until he was credibly accused of rape and had to drop out of the race, is now set to headline a Labor Day event in Maine.
Democrat activist and former DNC vice chair David Hogg, is not happy about this news, which is ironic considering he was a big Platner supporter until about 15 minutes ago.
The Hill reported in October of 2025:
A coalition of Democratic youth-focused groups endorsed oyster farmer and military veteran Graham Platner on Tuesday in the Maine Senate race to take on Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) next year.
The groups include former DNC vice chair David Hogg’s Leaders We Deserve, Voters of Tomorrow, College Democrats of America, Gen-Z for Change and Youth Save Democracy. Platner, whose campaign has focused on the working class and makes an economic populist pitch, is among a crowded field of Democrats looking to oust the five-term GOP incumbent.
“After our historic loss in the 2024 election, conversations within the Democratic Party have rightly centered on age, the loss of young men, the working class, and the growing disillusionment of young voters,” Hogg said in a statement. “As our party charts a path forward, Graham Platner represents not the entire solution, but a vital step in the right direction.”
Here they are in happier times.
Hogg helped recruit Platner last year. pic.twitter.com/46lUgacjU5
— richard_thunderbay (@thunderbay63) August 14, 2026
Everything is different now.
In the video below, Hogg says:
“Graham should not be going on any form of comeback tour, if that’s what he’s trying to make this. He needs to go on an apology tour. If anything. He needs to apologize to the victims of his behavior and he needs to apologize to those people that he’s clearly lied to.”
Watch:
David Hogg says Platner shouldn’t be speaking at an upcoming labor event in Maine.
They went all in to make this guy a model for the new type of candidate they want to run, and are now upset that he doesn’t want to go away and be quiet. pic.twitter.com/3weT58IpwV
— Western Lensman (@WesternLensman) August 13, 2026
Hogg is not the only Democrat who feels this way, according to the Bangor Daily News:
Democrats expressed confusion and frustration after activists in Hancock County announced a Labor Day rally featuring former U.S. Senate nominee Graham Platner with many in the party looking to leave him behind after a rape allegation ended his campaign.
Sources said the announcement caught the campaign of the new nominee, former Maine Senate President Troy Jackson, by surprise. The mix-up lands at a pivotal moment for him as he races to build a national operation against five-term Republican Sen. Susan Collins in one of the most closely watched Senate races in the country.
Republicans have spent weeks trying to tie Jackson to Platner even as Jackson has opened a slim lead over Collins in early polling. Any fresh attention on the former nominee threatens to undercut that effort just as national Democrats rally behind him.
“I don’t know what they were thinking,” former Maine Democratic Party Vice Chair Peggy Schaffer said. “He’s not an elected official, not a union member, and he’s an accused rapist.”
Did Democrats really think Platner was just going to fade off into the night?
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