WATCH: Kennedy Says Schumer Is Taking Orders From the ‘Platner Wing’
Sen. John Kennedy is leaning hard into the fight over Maine Democrat Graham Platner, and he is doing it with the kind of blunt talk that gets attention fast. In speeches and interviews this week, the Louisiana Republican said Senate Democrats are being pulled along by what he called the “Platner wing” of the party.
On the Senate floor, Kennedy said Sen. Chuck Schumer was “taking his orders from the Graham Platner wing of the Democratic Party” because that faction “is in control.” He also said, “Many members of Democratic leadership are scared to death, and they’re gonna do what the Graham Platner wing of the party wants,” adding that they want to “burn it down, they want chaos, because they think it will help them win the midterm elections.”
That was just the opening act. Kennedy turned up the heat again on Fox News and went after Platner’s public image, his history, and the way supporters have tried to explain him away. He said, “Mr. Platner seems to be one of the new faces of the loon wing of the Democratic Party. Clearly, he’s angry. When I see him on TV, he always looks like he’s straining to have a stool.”
He kept going. “His supporters say no, you don’t understand him. He’s just idiosyncratic. I guess he goose steps to the beat of his own drummer. But his history shows there’s more than that,” Kennedy said.
Then came one of the lines that got the biggest reaction. Kennedy said Platner “makes Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez look like Aunt Bea in Mayberry.” He also referenced what he called Platner’s “cavalier attitude towards rape,” his “contempt for America,” and questions swirling around recent private messages. Kennedy added, “Now, I’m not saying Mr. Platner is doing that. I don’t know. But he needs to release those text messages. I want to know if he’s a sexual predator! I mean, the people of Maine deserve to know. This guy is…he’s like a Saturday Night Live skit!”
The comments land at a rough moment for Platner. He has drawn intense scrutiny over his past statements and other allegations that have followed him into the Senate race, and Democrats have not exactly rushed to lean into the spotlight. Some have kept their distance. Others have stayed quiet. Kennedy’s message is that voters should not be left guessing about who Platner is or what he brings to the table.
For Republicans, the whole episode is easy to frame. Kennedy is painting Platner as the face of a noisy, extreme faction that Democrats are increasingly afraid to challenge. That puts Schumer and the rest of the party in a bad spot. If they defend Platner, they own him. If they dodge, they look weak.
In Kennedy’s telling, that is the real story here. The party’s loudest radicals are setting the tone, and the leadership is following along.
Watch:
https://x.com/SenJohnKennedy/status/2065454219759399287?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
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https://x.com/overton_news/status/2064889839074287858?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Watch:
https://x.com/SenJohnKennedy/status/2065131980086235141?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw