Fetterman on Platner campaign suspension: ‘The trash took itself out’

Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) on Wednesday praised the suspension of Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner’s (D) campaign, saying that the “trash took itself out.”

Platner announced his decision to suspend his campaign in a video online, two days after a former girlfriend in interviews with Politico and CNN alleged that he sexually assaulted her during an incident in 2021.

“The trash took itself out tonight. And now, finally, people in Maine have a chance to really vote on someone that’s not a total piece of trash,” Fetterman told Fox News’s Charles Hurt on “Jesse Watters Primetime.”

The Pennsylvania Democrat said Platner “gets to go away” and “go back online,” an apparent reference to controversial Reddit posts written by the oyster farmer that drew backlash during his campaign. He added that the progressive candidate is going “straight back into oblivion.”

“Like, he’s been a dead man walking, so it’s a good day,” Fetterman added later.

“I would say to him, ‘P Hustle, P Hustle, bro. You will only be remembered as the accused rapist, the guy pushed out of your election. That’s your legacy, bro, and you are a guy that cheats on your wife,'” he continued. “You’re the guy that roughs up your ex-girlfriends. You know, that’s your legacy, bro. Go back to that rock that you came from.'”

The senator reiterated his call for Democrats, including Sen. Bernie Sanders (Vt.), an independent who caucuses with Democrats, to apologize for boosting Platner’s candidacy.

“More than anyone, he pushed P Hustle into the election, and now, you know, he keeps pushing these communists and these kind of awful anti-American people,” Fetterman said. “So, there’s plenty of those people that have to humble themselves, you know, humble yourself and stop –– and stop pushing, you know, this kind of people on people in my party.”

Platner announced his decision to drop out of the race after he said earlier this week that he would be “taking the time to reflect on the best path forward” in the high-stakes race, following the accusations.

“We believe that for the movement to continue it can’t be me, and for that reason, we are suspending campaign operations,” he told supporters. “This is incredibly difficult, because I know that some will think it’s an admission of guilt, and it most certainly is not.”

He called on Maine’s Democratic Party to hold an “open, transparent, and democratic” process to replace him. The party will make a replacement nomination for the general election and has until 5 p.m. on July 27 to complete the process and announce a new candidate, in accordance with state law.

Former Maine state Sen. Troy Jackson (D), former acting Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Nirav Shah and former Maine congressional candidate Jordan Wood (D) have all announced their intention to run against incumbent Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) in Platner’s place.