Trump Calls Maine Senate Nominee Platner a 'Thug' Nearly 12 Times
Updated
Updated · The New York Times · Jun 10
Trump Calls Maine Senate Nominee Platner a 'Thug' Nearly 12 Times
3 articles · Updated · The New York Times · Jun 10
Summary
Hours after Graham Platner secured the Democratic Senate nomination in Maine, Trump used an Oval Office appearance to brand him a “thug” nearly a dozen times and call him “worse than any human being that’s ever run for office.”
The attack signaled how quickly the Maine race is hardening into a national midterm battleground, with both parties treating the contest as central to their broader Senate strategy.
Platner struck a sharply different tone, posting a video of himself riding with a Bar Harbor community group and urging a message of national unity.
Susan Collins, the moderate Republican Platner is trying to unseat, drew only restrained backing from Trump, who said she was “not my best friend at all” but “a sane person.”