As a mother of sons and someone who loves the men in her life very much, I have always bristled at the concept of 'toxic masculinity.' That phrase is Leftist code-speak for shaming men who behave like men, making them feel ashamed for protecting women, providing for their families, and serving their nation and communities selflessly.

The Graham Platner disaster in Maine has made me realize there's more to the Left's toxic masculinity smears than just misandry. 

And Platner is not the exception; he's the rule. 

Look at who else the Democrats have elevated as leaders over the years.

Platner: "I embody healthy masculinity"
> broke into his ex's home, r*ped her

Emhoff: "Toxic masculinity is a crisis"
> impregnated his chiId's nanny

Swalwell: "Believe all women"
> assaulted 6+ women pic.twitter.com/TnRUKuZzCa

— End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) July 7, 2026

Former Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff not only impregnated his children's nanny, but there were allegations he urged her to have an abortion and was accused of striking a former girlfriend.

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Eric Swalwell, whom Democrats wanted to elevate to Governor of California, had multiple allegations of assault levied against him by several women. He ended up resigning his seat and dropping out of the California governor's race.

Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, who was added to Kamala Harris' presidential campaign to appeal to men, quickly proved he didn't know how to load, carry, or fire a gun, that he had no idea how football worked, and didn't know how to play video games. He did have a wicked set of jazz hands, though, and a penchant for issuing pardons for pedophiles and other criminals.

In Virginia, former Lt. Governor Justin Fairfax murdered his estranged wife before turning the gun on himself. That murder-suicide came after Fairfax's behavior became increasingly erratic after his marriage fell apart. The red flag laws Fairfax and other Virginia Democrats pushed did nothing to stop the act of violence that left Fairfax's teenage children without parents.

James Talarico, the Democratic U.S. Senate candidate in Texas, supports abortion on demand and the radical trans agenda, including the mutilation of children. He hates Christianity, fossil fuels, eating meat, and everything that makes Texas, well, Texas.

Speaking of the trans agenda, it's Democrats who believe the most toxic, mentally ill men are deserving of access to women's safe spaces, sports, bathrooms, and locker rooms. When women say no, those men get violent and dangerous. This includes Teha Delaruelle, the 'trans woman' in Wisconsin who called on followers to commit ''trans jihad' and 'kill your local Republican'. Delaruelle was fired from the Democratic congressional campaign he was working on and played the victim card. In Virginia, convicted sex offender Richard Cox hid behind his 'trans identity' to expose himself to women and girls in locker rooms. In California's prison system, Tremaine Carroll said he was a man and went on to rape three female inmates, one of whom was punished for reporting the assault. In Minneapolis, Robert (Robin) Westman, another 'trans identifying man,' opened fire at Annunciation Catholic Church, killing two children. When she was in high school, volleyball player Payton McNabb was hit in the face by a ball spiked by a boy on the opposing team; McNabb suffered a traumatic brain injury, partial paralysis, and other injuries that will last for the rest of her life. Whenever women speak up, they're labeled — often by men — as 'TERFs' and threatened with assault, rape, and death.

The reason Democrats elevated Platner is that they believed Platner, replete with a Nazi tattoo on his chest, disturbing and disgusting social media history, and a growing list of credible allegations of domestic abuse and rape, was a good representative of the working-class man.

That's the sort of conclusion that can only come from the brains of overly educated, privileged, rich Leftists. I guarantee you that no one working on the Graham Platner campaign or in the Maine Democrats has spent any significant time with actual working-class Mainers. Sure, they pay the cashier at the corner store or take the delivery from their DoorDash drivers, but they haven't actually talked to, let alone lived with, anyone outside their socioeconomic and political bubbles.

After all, Platner was losing those working-class voters to Susan Collins by 21 points.

So it would make sense that the Left thinks masculinity and men are toxic. They either are, or they are surrounded by, some of the most vile, abusive, and misogynistic men on the planet. But outside of their carefully guarded bubbles, men and masculinity are the exact opposite of toxic.