Axelrod: Platner followed Trump’s ‘tawdry playbook’ with exit video

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David Axelrod on Wednesday bashed Graham Platner’s campaign suspension announcement, comparing his remarks to President Trump’s “tawdry playbook.”

“In the end, Platner chose as his closing act a page right out of @realDonaldTrump’s tawdry playbook. Deny. Deflect.  Refuse responsibility,” Axelrod wrote on the social platform X. “Play the martyr; slime your accusers. Platner built an admirable movement. But there was nothing admirable about the way he said goodbye.”

The Maine Senate candidate’s 11-minute video announcing the end to his campaign operations largely blamed the Democratic establishment for a string of allegations unearthed during his time on the trail.

Platner was recently accused of rape by two of his ex-girlfriends and previously made headline news for past Reddit posts described as racist and homophobic. A separate scandal arose over one of his chest tattoos that resembled a Nazi Totenkopf.

“There is a reason this is happening now. I only have until July 13 until I am officially the nominee. This was the last week to try to get me off of the ballot, and that’s why this is occurring,” Platner said in the clip.

He later added that the Democratic establishment would rather see Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) “win than have me be the next senator from Maine.”

Some of his campaign staffers have publicly aired grievances with the Maine Democratic Party, alleging they’ve been excluded from selecting a replacement for Platner, which the party denies.

“I’m not trying to dictate who it should be or how we get there, but I will say this, it needs to be open, transparent and democratic,” Platner said.

Devon Murphy-Anderson, executive director of the Maine Democratic Party, confirmed that would take place.

“While the Platner campaign remains focused on distracting from the job of defeating Susan Collins in November with false accusations against us, the Maine Democratic Party remains hyper focused on developing a representative, transparent and inclusive process to select a new nominee when he chooses to withdraw from the race,” Murphy-Anderson said in a statement posted on X.

“While we may be frustrated with Graham Platner’s continued efforts to manipulate this process, we are so thankful for his supporters and all of their efforts to defeat Susan Collins – they are a vital part of our Party and deserve to participate in an open process to select Platner’s replacement,” Murphy-Anderson added.

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David Axelrod

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