The Trump effect: Why Dems embraced a Platner time bomb

Graham Platner was a walking time bomb long before the on-the-record rape allegation he denied this week.A Nazi tattoo, social media rants, rampant rumors about women: Many Democratic leaders privately feared the Maine Democrat, now their U.S. Senate nominee, could be trouble. But they rationalized their delusions and denialism until it was too late. Now the party has few, if any, good options in one of the nation's most important Senate races.Why it matters: Platner's rise and fall shows a key way President Trump has changed Democratic politics. If it means diminishing his power, Democrats are willing to surrender or temporarily ignore their own stated values.There are parallels to 2024, when Democrats sleepwalked into disaster by publicly attesting to Joe Biden's fitness as president despite private doubts.Zoom in: Many Democrats blame Platner's team — particularly his political advisers at the media consulting firm Fight Agency — for not revealing or pushing to find out the extent of his baggage while continuing to rake in money over the past year.Around Platner's campaign launch in late August 2025, senior Democrats in D.C. questioned people at Fight Agency — which had helped democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani win the Democratic primary for New York mayor — about rumors of skeletons that could become liabilities, including issues in Platner's former relationships with women.Fight Agency representatives assured them all was well, and that part of Platner's appeal was that he had overcome his past problems, according to a person familiar with the conversation.A couple of months later, as some of Platner's controversial past social media posts were becoming public, a person familiar with the campaign's internal dynamics said that Fight Agency knew about rumors that Platner had cheated on an ex-girlfriend and had been "creepy" with women.Platner denied the claims to his team at the time, that source said.It's unclear how much money Fight Agency or other groups have made from Platner's campaign. As of May 20, Platner's campaign had spent over $14 million. Much of it went to LLCs with little public information.A spokesperson for Fight Agency told Axios: "Fight Agency is a media firm. We make ads. For the Platner campaign, we made one launch video and over 40 ads."The spokesperson added: "A vast variety of rumors swirled throughout the entirety of the campaign. We took those rumors seriously. The first time we heard any allegation that extended beyond problematic posting and infidelity was when the New York Times reached out.""The first time we heard a specific allegation of non-consensual behavior was in the days prior to the Politico story breaking."The big picture: The cracks in Platner's well-crafted image were evident from the beginning if Democrats were willing to see them — especially progressives who believed they had a potential heir to Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, and wanted a champion to fight the Democratic establishment.Starting with t