I’ve been a fan of Dana Perino since she served as White House press secretary for George W. Bush, and boy, did she nail it on The Five Tuesday while talking about the Graham Platner situation.
Platner’s campaign is imploding after Politico reported a sexual assault allegation against him on Monday. Even though Platner calls the allegation “categorically untrue,” establishment Democrats are finally ready to cut him loose, because, you know, everything else that had come out about him apparently wasn’t enough.
Perino zeroed in on how The New York Times handled the story before it exploded. She explained that the accuser handed the paper five sources to corroborate her account. The Times contacted only two of them, who vouched for her character, and left it there.
“They didn’t call the other three, the other three who had the contemporaneous notes from when she had detailed it,” Perino said. “So the New York Times, they call it like a catch and kill thing, right? There’s like, oh, let’s try to bury this.”
Then Perino raised the question Democrats would prefer nobody ask. “So when did the Democrats actually start to care?” she said. The answer had nothing to do with conscience. I’ve said before that this had nothing to do with the allegations and everything to do with the polls. Perino agrees.
“It’s because the recent polling shows that Graham Platner was going to lose to Susan Collins,” Perino said. “And they thought, wow, we only have two weeks to figure this out.”
ICYMI: Graham Platner Holds His Party Hostage as Democrats Beg Him to Quit
Now, as if there wasn’t enough drama for the Democrats to deal with, Platner is holding his party hostage, refusing to drop out of the race unless his conditions are met, including the right to handpick his successor. Perino dispatched that idea in one line. “Sir, you are not in a position to have conditions,” she said.
So what happens if Democrats yank him off the ballot at the last minute, the same way they swapped out Joe Biden in 2024? Perino thinks the damage would outlast the race.
“If they pull a Biden switcheroo, the Democratic brand is just so damaged in the state,” Perino said. “And Susan Collins, what is the knock against her? She’s so steady. There’s no drama. Okay, well, maybe the state will be looking for that.”
She’s onto something there. After months of chaos, allegations, and backroom maneuvering on the Democrat side, steady and boring starts to look like a selling point. Perino also pointed out that Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) had gushed that Platner was her “kind of man.” Ironically, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) looks smartest of all for never touching the race in the first place.
The bigger picture is even uglier for Democrats. The base wanted Platner or somebody like him. The establishment wanted a safe pick like Gov. Janet Mills. That civil war didn’t end this week, and Perino identified exactly who keeps losing it.
“The problem for the base is that they have consultants who are idiots and they are reckless and they are careless, and they don’t care about women,” Perino said. “They don’t care about anything. But what they want is the power. And the only reason this is all coming at this moment is because they knew they were going to lose.”
And yes, that’s the same thing they did with Biden.
“The Democrat brand is so damaged in the state.”@danaperino SOUNDS OFF on the state of play in Maine after NEW ACCUSATIONS against Graham Platner. pic.twitter.com/fqLnKQqq4b
— The Five (@TheFive) July 7, 2026
We all know that if the polls had shown Platner still beating Collins, he’d still be the toast of the party, allegations and all. Why? Because literally none of the other scandals swayed his party one bit. Democrats spent months looking the other way because they believed he could win. The moment he became a liability, they ran for the exits.
Editor’s Note: The 2026 Midterms will determine the fate of President Trump’s America First agenda. Republicans must maintain control of both chambers of Congress.
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