CBS News anchor tells viewers Democrats dropped Platner because he was looking 'like a loser'
"CBS Evening News" anchor Tony Dokoupil offered what appeared to be tough words for the Democratic Party on Thursday over its longtime support for former Maine Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner.
Dokoupil reported on Maine Democrats' attempt to replace Platner on the ballot after he suspended his campaign over a recent rape allegation from a former girlfriend. During his report, Dokoupil pointed out that many Democrats continued to endorse Platner after several scandals before that.
"The big question tonight is why did so many in the Democratic Party, the party of Black Lives Matter and Believe Women, continue to see Graham Platner as a future star?" Dokoupil said. "Despite scandal after scandal that seemed to undermine those principles and more? Despite his old Reddit comments about, among other things, why Platner thinks Black people don't tip? Despite his chest tattoo with a Nazi history? And despite the accusations of abuse against women? Through all of that and more, Platner downplayed or denied the claims and was defended by the party in some of its biggest voices."
BERNIE-BACKED MAINE DEMOCRATIC SENATE HOPEFUL SQUIRMS OVER PAST GRAHAM PLATNER SUPPORT
He asked, "So what's behind all that support for him until now? Could it simply be that he was winning? That he had blown out the sitting governor in the Democratic primary? It sure seemed like the Democrats’ best chance to beat Maine's Republican Sen. Susan Collins. In political circles, the answer, it appears, was yes."
Dokoupil pointed to comments made by progressive strategist Daniel Moraff, who was among the liberal activists initially behind Platner's campaign.
"I think we want people who didn't run for student council, right? We want people who have not been spending their entire lives planning their ascent to political power," Moraff said in a Wall Street Journal interview released last month.
After the latest allegation against Platner, nearly every Democratic politician pulled their support for the candidate. Dokoupil concluded that the major change was not the scandal itself but the fear that Platner could no longer defeat Collins.
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"But after Platner was accused of rape this week, it turned out that theory had its limits. Character does matter. Platner denied the accusation, but for some Democrats, he’d committed the one offense no political party can tolerate. He started to look like a loser," Dokoupil said.
Platner announced that he would be suspending his Senate campaign on Wednesday after several key Democratic figures, including Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., called for him to step down. However, some reports have indicated that he does not intend to file the formal paperwork to have his name removed from the ballot until Monday, the final day to withdraw if Democrats hope to replace him.
If Platner steps aside before the deadline, the state Democratic Party will have until July 27 to choose a replacement.