just listen to his voice.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5880411&forum_id=2.#49983650)

I can’t remember their names

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5880411&forum_id=2.#49983677)

By Chadwick Moore

Published June 5, 2026, 6:50 a.m. ET

See more of our coverage in your search results.

Add The New York Post on Google

Graham Platner has done a better job of hiding his privileged roots than the Nazi tattoo on his chest — a move which is by design.

The embattled Maine candidate for US Senate is vocal about his disabled-war-veteran, rugged-oyster-farmer, “working-class” persona — and less so about his attendance at an $80,000-a-year boarding school, his lawyer father, or his major architect grandfather.

That’s because he’s been coached on how to present himself, molded to present a specific image — and, in a sense, manufactured.

Graham Platner, a U.S. Senate candidate, waving to the crowd at a campaign rally in Portland, Maine. 10

Graham Platner plays up his working-class image — all in accordance with the playbook his handlers have developed. REUTERS

The truth is he was discovered and coached by a pair of Ivy League-educated radical Democratic socialists, replicating a playbook they’ve used in Nebraska and Iowa. That revelation could be more damaging than the tattoo, sexting women other than his wife, blasting fellow veterans and admitting to masturbating in a port-a-potty, as it strikes at the heart of Platner’s alleged authenticity.

And for his champagne socialist handlers, the more scandals that engulf Platner and the more centrist outrage he can stoke, the better, since it gets more stories written and drowns out his opponent in November, incumbent Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine).

Explore More

Stephen King and Graham Platner

Rabid lefty Stephen King sticks by alleged rapist Graham Platner

Lyndsey Fifield and Graham Platner

Graham Platner accuser Lyndsey Fifield blasts NY Times after rape claim against Dem Senate candidate

An image collage containing 3 images, Image 1 shows Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Graham Platner speaks into a microphone at a town hall, Image 2 shows Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., talks with reporters, Image 3 shows Senator Kirsten Gillibrand in a red blazer announces funding for FDNY mental health and wellness

Schumer and Gillibrand call on Graham Platner to ‘immediately withdraw’ from Maine Senate race after rape allegation

“For all we know, they’re leaking this stuff because they want to get more attention,” a former candidate who hired the same team behind Platner a few years ago told The Post.

That under-the-radar team are a couple, Yale Law School grad Daniel Moraff and his fiancée, Leanne Fan, an academic with stints at Harvard and the proudly radical University of California-Berkeley.

The pair had originally met while working for Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) in 2020 and are hardcore members of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA). They have previously been behind candidates Dan Osborn, running for Senate in Nebraska, and Rep. Summer Lee (D-Pa.), a member of the Keystone State congressional delegation since 2023 and part of the DSA “Squad,” alongside Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.).

Daniel Moraff and Leanne Fan pose together, smiling at a party. 10

Daniel Moraff and Leanne Fan are Democratic Socialists of America, who aim to radically overhaul the Democratic Party. @danielezramoraff/Instagram

In summer 2025, Moraff and Fan were in Maine scouting for a new candidate. They had settled on union boss Chris Williams in Bath, but dropped him at the last minute due to “a skeleton in the closet that wasn’t true that we would’ve had to explain,” according to an interview they gave to Politico.

It remains to be seen if those skeletons were worse than Platner’s. Williams did not respond to The Post’s request for comment.

Moraff — who has his own Dark Forest consulting firm — and Fan had first gotten wind of Platner through the local DSA network, where he had been active in the local offshoot group Acadia Action and had been featured in a recent New York Times travel story about oysters in Maine.

They entered Ironbound, Platner’s mother’s restaurant, just a few miles from where he lives in Sullivan and made contact. After talking with him, they felt they had their candidate.

“Daniel looks to work for candidates who are non-conventional, willing to go against the status quo. That’s what he aligns with, the type of folks that don’t live their life with the idea they’re going to run for office one day,” said the pair’s ex-candidate, who lost their election and asked not to be named.

Congresswoman Summer Lee at a press conference with Senator Bernie Sanders. 10

Rep. Summer Lee (D-Pa.) (foreground, with Sen. Bernie Sanders) was helped to victory by Moraff, who served as her campaign manager. Anadolu via Getty Images

Moraff cut his political chops in Pittsburgh, Pa., where he had moved after an undergraduate degree in engineering at Brown University. He became a prominent leader in the local DSA chapter, which underwent rapid growth after Donald Trump’s first presidential victory in 2016 and advocates for aggressive action.

His efforts fundamentally remade the Democratic Party in Pittsburgh, local politico Erin Koper told The Post.

“The DSA now is in every corner of local politics. They have been putting up candidates, getting them elected to county council, city council, state rep seats,” said Koper, who ran for city council as a Republican last year.

She claimed city council meetings suddenly got flooded with “90 percent” DSA members hounding officials, a process which continues to this day.

Erin Koper speaking at the Republican National Convention. 10

Erin Koper speaking on stage at the Republican National Convention in 2024. Getty Images

Moraff’s ideas were hatched as early as 2017, when he penned a now-deleted essay in the progressive magazine In These Times titled “Want to Elect Socialists? Run Them in Democratic Primaries,” where he argued that socialists should run as Democrats rather than as independents or third-party candidates.

“We can adopt a strategy that takes advantage of the low barrier to entry of the Democratic primary, and use those victories to build our own forces — forces that, once strong enough, could plausibly break from the party. Let’s choose that strategy, and start electing socialists,” he wrote.

Moraff’s first big win happened when he helped get the fervently anti-Israel Lee elected to the Pennsylvania State House in 2018, serving as her campaign manager. Lee went on to be elected to Congress four years later.

“The local Democratic committee, which typically leaned pretty traditional Democrat, has been taken over by progressive politics. You can’t even be a moderate now, [the DSA] will completely ruin your political career if you’re a traditional Democrat,” Koper added.

Moraff next foresaw that his movement needed white, working-class men, who were rapidly being lost to Trump and the Republican Party.

Daniel Osborn, a union boss, stands against a brick wall. 10

Union boss Daniel Osborn was scouted by Moraff and Lee to run for Senate in Nebraska in 2024 and 2026. @osbornforne/Instagram

He and Lee traveled to Nebraska, where they claim to have “stumbled” across Navy veteran and former labor union boss Osborn in his garage.

The Boston-based pair put their socialist theories to the test by putting up Osborn — also a Nebraska National Guardsman and industrial mechanic — as an independent candidate in the deep red state in 2024, accompanied by a political action committee literally called the “Working Class Heroes Fund.”

He narrowly lost to incumbent Sen. Deb Fischer (R-Neb.) but, still backed by Moraff and Lee, he is running again this November against Sen. Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.), with the latest polls showing a neck-and-neck race.

Reps. Rashida Tlaib, Ilhan Omar, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and Ayanna Pressley at a news conference. 10

The original Democratic Congress members of the DSA “Squad”: Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, Ilhan Omar of Minnesotta, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, and Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts. CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images

Osborn’s campaign has been under scrutiny for paying family members, including his wife.

His wife, Megan Osborn, and her consulting companies have more than $278,000. His campaign did not respond to a request for comment from The Post.

Moraff and Lee also teamed up with Nathan Sage in Iowa, mounting a longshot bid to become the first Democrat since 2008 to win a Senate race in the Hawkeye State.

In a campaign video about himself, he told viewers he grew up in a trailer, worked as a mechanic and was deployed twice to serve with the Marines in the Iraq War.

Nathan Sage campaigning in Sioux City, Iowa, at Marto Brewery, speaking to voters. 10

Nathan Sage withdrew his Iowa candidacy for the Senate in February. ZUMAPRESS.com

“The economy is rigged, and those in power don’t give a damn,” Sage, who is now executive director of the Knoxville Chamber of Commerce, said in the video, adding: “They’re the ones doing it.” Sage dropped out of the race in February. Attempts to reach him by The Post for this article were not answered.

When placed in the context of Platner’s rise, this playbook sounds familiar. However, unlike the other candidates, the Maine hopeful has dominated national headlines in recent weeks, after scandals started to compound, including revelations that he made Reddit posts that downplayed sexual assault, defended US soldiers desecrating Taliban corpses, and alluded to familiarity with prostitutes.

“Everyday people don’t want the perfect candidate these days, right? They want someone who makes mistakes and owns up to them,” said the ex-candidate.

Morris Katz, adviser to New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani. 10

Morris Katz, 27, another rising figure in left-wing politics, has been a top adviser to Zohran Mamdani and now Platner. Bloomberg via Getty Images

The revelations seem to be more than Moraff and Lee can handle alone, and the DSA network kicked into gear, with another figure, Morris Katz, stepping up as Platner’s adviser.

Katz is often cited as one of the main figures behind the rise of New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani — one of the DSA’ s biggest recent wins, propelled to office by a stream of videos relatable to Gen Z, for which Katz took much of the credit.

At just 27, Katz appears hardwired for the attention economy and to thrive on the controversies around Platner. He is also linked to the Pennsylvania DSA scene through the Fight agency he works for, which is based in the state and boasts in his bio how he “has never backed away from a fight.”

In a report published in Maine’s Bangor Daily News, messages show Katz threatening to accuse a former staffer, who left Platner’s campaign over his growing scandals, of spreading “explicit falsehoods to sabotage the campaign.”

Zohran Mamdani, mayor of New York, speaks at a press conference. 10

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who won election playing up his DSA credentials. Michael Nagle for NY Post

Last week, Platner’s people went into overdrive after his extramarital messages were exposed, resulting in an awkward video made by his wife, Amy Gertner, bizarrely claiming that the messages were a distraction from Platner’s policies. It later emerged that, like Osborn’s wife, she is also on the payroll, receiving $30,000 since September last year as a salaried staffer.

Katz was also explosive in his response, posting to social media: “It’s no one’s f—ing business what happened in Graham & Amy’s marriage before he was ever a candidate for office.”

It’s anyone’s guess whether Platner will go down as a product of chutzpah or gobsmacking incompetence as chatter swirls in Washington circles of even bigger scandals to be exposed before November. On Thursday, he had a closed-door meeting with senior Democrats, where he pleaded his case to stay in the race.

Graham Platner speaks at a "Fighting Oligarchy" campaign rally. 10

Platner is facing several revelations about his personal life and conduct, which threaten to derail his candidacy. REUTERS

Were it not for his implosion, comparisons could likely be drawn between Platner and the rise of another unconventional Democratic senator, John Fetterman (D-Pa.).

Famed hoodie wearer Fetterman was one of the most talked-about success stories of the 2022 election cycle, narrowly beating celebrity Republican candidate Dr. Mehmet Oz (now administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services).

Curiously, Fetterman’s campaign was helped by political consultant Rebecca Katz, who is no relation to Morris, but does work alongside him, running the Fight agency.

What do you think? Post a comment.

However, Fetterman — who became the senior senator from Pennsylvania in 2025 — has since parted ways with both the agency and a large swath of the seemingly ever-radicalizing Democratic Party.

While prominent politicians like Sanders and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) have made excuses for Platner, the Pennsylvanian pulled no punches.

“When I was growing up, if someone had a clear Nazi tattoo on them, you probably could conclude that they’re a Nazi sympathizer,” Fetterman told CNN Thursday, adding, “What kind of a creeper has been on … a platform like Kik, and send a dozen explicit kinds of messages and who knows what else?”

https://nypost.com/2026/06/05/us-news/meet-the-champagne-socialist-duo-who-groomed-rich-kid-graham-platner-into-working-class-candidate/

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5880411&forum_id=2.#49983692)

Moraff, who travels the country trying to recruit left-wing, working-class candidates, reportedly learned about some of Platner’s troubling Reddit posts but decided to charge forward anyway. “Part of our thesis here is that people do not want their candidates grown in vats,” he told The Journal.

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/06/opinion/graham-platner-rape-accusation.html

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5880411&forum_id=2.#49984165)

Date: July 7th, 2026 4:35 PM

Author: ,.,,.,.,,,,,,....................

well this will be a fun thread to bump in four months

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5880411&forum_id=2#49984406)

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5880411&forum_id=2.#49984419)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nirav_D._Shah#/media/File:Dr_Nirav_D_Shah_portrait.webp

https://archive.ph/1UNIB

Democratic factions vie to pick Platner replacement before he leaves Maine race

Potential candidates and their backers moved quickly to gain an edge in the contest over who would replace Graham Platner if he exits the key Senate race.

July 7, 2026 at 3:10 p.m. EDT14 minutes ago

8 min

Summary

Make us preferred on Google

U.S. Senate candidate Graham Platner speaks at a primary election night watch party after winning the Democratic nomination on June 9 in in Blue Hill, Maine. (Robert F. Bukaty/AP)

By Dan Merica and Alexei Koseff

State and national Democrats were engaged in an intense ideological battle Tuesday as they sought a replacement for Graham Platner in the pivotal U.S. Senate race in Maine, even as the oyster farmer has yet to withdraw from the contest.

The Platner campaign, as it deliberates when and whether to withdraw, is expressing a desire to influence who replaces him on the ballot, according to a person close to Platner who would only reveal strategy on the condition of anonymity. That posture has annoyed many Democrats, who blame Platner and his team for endangering the party’s chances of winning a race against Sen. Susan Collins (R) that could determine control of the Senate.

In the meantime, notable Maine Democrats began privately jockeying for position, calling state party leaders to better understand the process for picking a new nominee if Platner drops out, multiple top Maine Democrats told The Washington Post.

Amid all the maneuvering, state and national Democrats were scrambling to devise a process for selecting a replacement, given the rarity of the circumstances and the vagueness of state law.

The positioning among Democratic factions, candidates and interest groups began almost immediately after Platner said in a video on Monday that he was “taking the time to reflect on the best path forward” in the face of a new sexual assault allegation, which he denied.

Platner, who lost a string of top endorsers on Monday, is facing pressure to withdraw from the race by Monday, the state deadline to finalize the November ballot. If he drops out, the state party would have two weeks to name a replacement.

The latest and perhaps most consequential nudge to leave the race came Tuesday from Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont), one of Platner’s most vocal, loyal and influential supporters. He released a statement saying that he urged Platner to step aside “in light of these very serious allegations.”

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) and Platner on May 24 in Orono, Maine. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

The person close to Platner said his campaign wants a say in his replacement if and when he exits the race. Platner won the primary by positioning himself as a liberal fighter who pushed back against the Democratic Party establishment.

“There is a widespread recognition within the campaign that this is likely to end in the near future,” the person said. “And there is a desire to ensure the organization built around this campaign does not dissolve.”

The person said campaign leadership hoped to “have input on the decision” about how a replacement would be selected.

Platner’s initial response to the allegation set off a frenetic scramble at the state and national levels. National progressive organizations, following the Platner campaign’s wishes, swiftly attempted to leverage his onetime standing with Maine voters to ensure that, if he ends his campaign, his replacement is ideologically aligned with Platner’s progressive policies.

“To the Democratic establishment: This is not your opening,” Joseph Geevarghese, executive director of Our Revolution, the political group born out of Bernie Sanders’s 2016 presidential campaign, said in a statement.

But state and national Democrats roundly mocked Platner’s allies for attempting to make demands after they chose to elevate the scandal-prone candidate. Platner, before the latest allegation, faced scrutiny for old social media posts dismissive of sexual assault, a tattoo resembling a Nazi symbol that he has since covered up, sexually explicit text messages he sent to other women after he married in 2023, and allegations of physical violence by ex-girlfriends.

“People who got us into this mess — who vouched for this candidate after 3 different scandals and kept telling us there were going to be no more — may want to take a break from Maine strategizing,” Neera Tanden, the head of the Center for American Progress, a more establishment liberal think tank, said in a social media post.

“The Democratic nominee, if there is a new one, has to be someone who is independent minded from Platner, otherwise they will be viewed by voters as a protege,” state Sen. Joe Baldacci, who lost his congressional bid this year, wrote on X. “Any connections to Platner will doom that person’s campaign from the very beginning.”

A yard sign in support of Platner's candidacy in June near Dedham, Maine. (Aleksandra Michalska/Reuters)

Maine Democrats spent the hours after Platner’s announcement determining what a process to replace him would look like. It would most likely resemble the procedure the state party uses to select delegates for state party conventions, according to multiple Democratic officials. That process allots delegates to each county party, who then vote on the nominee.

But considerable questions about how that process would play out remain unanswered, in part because Platner has not dropped out.

“I am definitely concerned we could have a process where it looks like party leaders are determining who the nominee is. That would be the wrong way to go,” said Maine House Speaker Ryan Fecteau, who added he was not putting his name forward, in an interview. “I don’t think the Platner campaign or me as a party leader as speaker or leaders at the party itself should be the ones making the decision.”

“It needs to be driven by the people who are the heart and soul of our party,” he added.

That uncertainty around the process has exposed a lack of trust between the party’s insurgent wing, represented by Platner, and the more establishment figures who had long viewed the political newcomer skeptically. Those close to Platner worry that party insiders will pick someone at odds with his political base.

“This is a s--- show,” said a top Maine Democrat familiar with the party’s planning.

The potential candidates gaining the most attention ran in last month’s crowded gubernatorial primary, in which former Maine House Speaker Hannah Pingree prevailed.

Nirav Shah, the former top Maine health official who finished second in the gubernatorial contest, is interested in running, a person close to Shah said. Shah laid out the process he would like to see to possibly replace Platner, including a televised debate and multiple town halls, in an X post on Tuesday.

But Shah is viewed skeptically by some Platner supporters. Many have gravitated to former state Senate president Troy Jackson, who also mounted a failed bid for governor and called on Platner to end his campaign.

BJ McCollister, a longtime adviser to Jackson, posted a promotional video of Jackson on Monday and launched a campaign to draft him for Senate.

Jackson did not respond to The Post’s request for comment, but he told the Bangor Daily News that he viewed himself as the “best person” to replace Platner, should he end his campaign.

Rep. Ro Khanna (D-California), a former Sanders surrogate weighing a presidential bid in 2028, said in a text message that Democrats should rally around Jackson because he shares Platner’s opposition to foreign wars, support for Medicare-for-all and focus on removing money from politics.

Maine Gov. Janet Mills, who challenged Platner for the Senate nomination but withdrew this year after polls showed her far behind in the race, has not commented on her interest in running. A Mills spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.

Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, who also ran for governor, is considering a run should Platner drop out, a person close to Bellows said.

David Costello, who finished third in the Democratic Senate primary in June, said in a statement Tuesday that he’s “back in, if Graham Platner withdraws.”

And Dan Kleban, who ran for Senate but withdrew last year, is also considering vying for the job, said a person close to the Maine Brewing Company owner, who argued that his lack of a relationship with Platner was a positive in his possible bid.

“He never endorsed him,” the person said of Kleban’s relationship with Platner. “He never even liked the guy.”

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5880411&forum_id=2.#49984410)

"I know! let's replace him with an Indian instead!"

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5880411&forum_id=2.#49984431)

https://youtu.be/F_ZZ1Ylslig?is=ZZbhV2EVkT-wfx-2

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5880411&forum_id=2.#49984414)