Schumer Backs Platner Despite Nazi Tattoo and Sexting Scandals. “We’re Going to Beat Susan Collins.”
- 5× Schumer repeated the phrase 'We're going to beat Susan Collins' in the June 2 DSCC crisis huddle, per attendees — Daily Wire, June 3, 2026
- June 9 Maine Democratic primary date — voters choose the Senate nominee to face Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) in November — Maine Secretary of State
- ~dozen women reportedly messaged on Kik by Platner, according to reporting by The Maine Wire and Daily Caller — The Maine Wire, Daily Caller
- 29 years Susan Collins has served in the U.S. Senate — first sworn in January 7, 1997 — making her one of only four Republicans to win statewide in Maine this century — U.S. Senate records
On June 2, 2026 — one week before the Maine Democratic primary — Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) convened an emergency DSCC crisis huddle to rally behind his party’s Maine Senate candidate, Graham Platner. According to multiple attendees who spoke with the Daily Wire, Schumer repeated the same canned line at least five times in the room: “We’re going to beat Susan Collins.”
The meeting was called “crisis” because Platner’s campaign had been rocked by a cascade of documented personal controversies — a photograph circulating widely on social media purportedly showing a Nazi symbol tattooed on his forearm, reporting from The Maine Wire and Daily Caller about explicit messages allegedly sent to multiple women via the Kik messaging app, and separate reporting about past drug use. The DSCC chose to hold the line rather than cut him loose.
Schumer’s calculation is straightforward: Maine is a must-win for any realistic path to a Senate majority, and no stronger candidate emerged in time to replace Platner. What the calculation does not resolve is the question of what it says about the DSCC that its chairman stood in a room and repeated the same sentence five times rather than address what his own candidate had done.
The June 2 meeting, described to the Daily Wire by multiple attendees on background, was convened at Schumer’s request after internal DSCC polling showed Platner’s numbers deteriorating rapidly in the week following the tattoo photograph’s circulation on X and conservative news sites. The DSCC’s internal data — and the public deterioration in his earned media — had created a genuine question about whether the committee should continue investing in his race.
Schumer made the call to stay. His argument, according to attendees: Collins is vulnerable for the first time in a cycle, there is no viable alternative candidate with time to qualify, and the scandals — while damaging — are unlikely to define a November general-election race fought primarily on healthcare and the economy.
The canned line — “We’re going to beat Susan Collins” — was repeated five times because Schumer had nothing more specific to offer than conviction. There was no rebuttal strategy for the tattoo. There was no counter-narrative for the Kik messages. There was only the assertion, delivered five times, that they would win anyway.
Platner’s controversies are documented, not alleged by anonymous sources. The tattoo photograph — purporting to show a runic symbol associated with neo-Nazi imagery on his forearm — was circulated by The Maine Wire and subsequently reported by the Daily Caller in late May 2026. Platner has not addressed its authenticity with specificity; his campaign issued a statement calling the coverage “politically motivated.”
The Kik messaging allegations — first reported by The Maine Wire in April 2026 and followed by the Daily Caller — describe a pattern of explicit and unsolicited messages sent to approximately a dozen women over a period of years. Screenshots published with the initial Maine Wire report have not been publicly disputed by Platner, who declined to comment to both outlets on the substance of the messages.
Reporting in Maine political press has also raised allegations of past cocaine use. Platner’s campaign has declined to address these allegations directly, issuing a general statement about “right-wing smears.”
Schumer’s obsession with Maine — and with Collins specifically — is neither new nor irrational. She has survived cycles that should have ended her politically. She won re-election in 2020 by 9 points despite a national Democratic wave and the most expensive Senate race in Maine history at that point. She has voted with Democratic priorities on abortion rights, same-sex marriage, and gun background checks while remaining a registered Republican. That profile makes her almost uniquely difficult to defeat.
The 2026 cycle, however, has offered Democrats their best window in years. Collins’s approval ratings in Maine have softened after her votes on several Trump-backed fiscal measures. National generic ballot polling has tilted toward Democrats on economic anxiety issues. And Maine’s ranked-choice voting system, which Democrats have used to their advantage in the past, remains in place for the general election.
DSCC sources: Schumer repeated 'We're going to beat Susan Collins' five times at the crisis meeting. No plan for the tattoo photos. No plan for the Kik screenshots. Just five repetitions of the same line.
Democratic strategists outside the DSCC have been candid in private that Platner was a weak recruit before the scandals broke. He had limited name recognition in a state that rewards personal relationships over ideological purity; Collins has spent three decades building precisely those relationships. His early fundraising was adequate but not exceptional.
The scandals have compounded a pre-existing problem. Maine voters — who crossed over to elect Democratic Gov. Janet Mills (D-ME) and who have sent Collins back to Washington five times — are not easily swayed by national DSCC messaging. They evaluate candidates personally. A candidate with an unanswered tattoo photograph and unanswered sexting allegations is not a strong bet in that electorate, regardless of how many times his national party chair says the right words.
Schumer’s bet may still pay off. Collins is beatable in a good enough cycle. But the fact that the DSCC’s June 2 crisis-management strategy consisted primarily of repetition tells you something about the hand they are holding.
Chuck Schumer (D-NY) — Senate Minority Leader, DSCC chairman. Architect of multiple failed bids to flip Maine. Has now committed DSCC resources to Platner despite documented personal controversies.
Graham Platner — Maine Democratic Senate candidate. Surgeon. Has declined to directly address the tattoo photograph, Kik allegations, or drug-use reporting. Primary: June 9, 2026.
Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) — 29-year incumbent. Has survived multiple well-funded Democratic challenges. Approval rating has softened in 2025–26 but remains above 50% in Maine. The most durable Republican in a blue-leaning New England state.
Schumer is backing a candidate with a NAZI TATTOO and SEXTING SCANDALS because he has nobody else. That's how WEAK the Democrat Party has become in Maine. Susan Collins will WIN by a lot. MAGA!
Paraphrased commentary · not a verbatim post
- Daily Wire: Schumer repeated 'We're going to beat Collins' five times at crisis huddle, June 3, 2026
- The Maine Wire: Platner Kik messaging allegations, April 2026
- Daily Caller: Platner Nazi tattoo photograph reporting, May 2026
- Maine Secretary of State: 2026 primary election schedule
- U.S. Senate: Susan Collins biography and service record
- Fox News: DSCC crisis meeting coverage