Despite leading in the polls against his better-known primary opponent, Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner is considered a controversial candidate by the Democratic Party establishment.
Now, in this must-watch interview, Mehdi speaks to Platner not just about his vision for a progressive “political revolution” in Washington DC but also about some of his controversies, including his past social media posts, his recent use of the R-word, and his tattoo that resembled a Nazi symbol – which he says he only learned about days before he had it covered up.
“I took my shirt off in front of my extended Jewish family the entire time,” Platner tells Mehdi. “I would not have done that if I thought I had some obviously recognizable white supremacist or Nazi symbol.”
The two also discuss Israel’s “genocide” in Gaza and the US’s relationship with the Jewish state, which Platner plainly calls “shameful.”
“Down the road, if it is a relationship that is going to be repaired, we need to be looking at an entirely different government and an entirely different structure than what exists now,” Platner says.
In this wide-ranging interview, Platner talks to Mehdi about:
The importance of turning the Democratic Party into an antiwar party.
Why he supports universal background checks and red flag laws, but not a ban on assault weapons.
The comparisons to John Fetterman (“That man is the bane of my existence”) and Zohran Mamdani (“I assume my gun safe looks a bit different than his”).
Whether he would support Chuck Schumer to lead the Senate in 2027.
Whether or not he is a socialist.
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