Graham Platner is adopting elements of President Trump’s populist approach in the Maine Senate race, tapping into voter frustration with a system they believe is stacked against them and casting the criticism he faces as evidence that powerful interests are trying to block him and his supporters from reclaiming power.

It’s a strategy that was tested almost immediately after he secured the Democratic nomination.

President Trump, speaking in the Oval Office the day after Mr. Platner clinched the nomination, spent more than three minutes attacking him — calling him a “thug,” “fake,” “phony” and “a pig.”

Mr. Platner responded by leaning in.

“Wow, gotta say, being called a thug and the worst person to ever run for office by Donald Trump might be the highest compliment I’ve ever received,” he said. “For Donald Trump to come after me personally — that might be the nicest thing anybody’s ever said about me.”

The exchange echoed a dynamic central to Mr. Trump’s own rise. During the 2024 campaign, he repeatedly framed attacks from political leaders, prosecutors and the media as evidence that he threatened entrenched interests.

“They’re not coming after me, they’re coming after you,” he told crowds. “I just happen to be standing in the way.”

Mr. Platner, who, like Mr. Trump in 2016, is a political newcomer, is now running the same play from the other side of the aisle, insisting everyone from Mr. Trump to Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer and the media is out to get him.

More here

Tagged: Politics BACK TO HOMEPAGE