As the 2026 primaries ramp up, Democrats may be forced to embrace a scandal-ridden candidate most infamously known for an apparent Nazi tattoo.

Maine's Democratic Senate primary flew into a tailspin after Gov. Janet Mills dropped out of the race this week, leaving Graham Platner as the presumptive nominee.

'He's a blind date for the Democratic Party.'

Platner pitched himself to voters as a blue-collar veteran, but his talking points were quickly overshadowed by a myriad of scandals, including some politically incorrect comments about black people and, of course, the alleged Nazi tattoo. Notably, Platner has since gotten the tattoo covered up.

"I think this is a democratic rebellion against Chuck Schumer and the Democratic Senate establishment," Democratic strategist Len Foxwell told Blaze News. "We know that Chuck Schumer's name is mud among rank-and-file Democrats who feel that neither he nor his leadership have been nearly effective enough in counteracting the policies and the rhetoric of this president."

The frustration with Democratic leadership may be the driver behind the embrace of Platner, who, despite the Nazi controversy, is speaking to an audience that feels disenfranchised by the establishment. These same scandals would be disqualifying for most political candidates, but several Democrats have already begun making excuses for Platner's political missteps.

Photo by Sophie Park/Getty Images

"He's been very clear about the fact that he went into combat on behalf of the United States," Democratic Sen. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland said in an interview with Punchbowl. "He went through a really rough period, PTSD-type period, and he has himself said that there are lots of things he's done and said that he completely regrets. And I do believe people should have second chances and that people can learn from their mistakes."

Even though Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer recruited Mills himself, he is now hesitantly backing Platner as the presumptive nominee to face off with Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine.

"After years of allowing Trump's abuses of power, Senator Collins has never been more vulnerable and we will work with the presumptive Democratic nominee Graham Platner to defeat her," Schumer said in a joint statement with Democratic Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York.

Prominent progressive commentator Adam Mockler was pressed about Platner's controversial past. CNN's Abby Phillip listed out some of Platner's offenses and asked Mockler if it would be acceptable if a Republican candidate were caught in the same scandals.

"I think we're entering a new era," Mockler said. "And we'll see what the base wants. We'll see who wins when the actual election happens. But for the past decade, Democrats have been unified by our opposition to Donald Trump, and now, Graham Platner has a forward-looking message."

Sophie Park/Getty Images

Although it's hard to imagine a political landscape where Democrats willingly overlook Platner's baggage, Foxwell argues that Platner's appeal is not just pragmatic but also genuine.

"They are more inclined to lash out at the establishment and to take a risk on a blind date, which I believe Graham Platner is," Foxwell said. "I believe he's a blind date for the Democratic Party, and he has enormous political upside. He is a strong, natural political athlete, but he is by no means the safest candidate to send against Susan Collins in November. He has a lot of baggage, and Susan Collins is going to have a massive amount of money at her disposal to reinforce those negatives to the electorate."

"Susan Collins is obligated to make this race against Graham Platner, and Graham Platner's path to victory is all about making the race about Susan Collins and Donald Trump," Foxwell added. "Victory is going to go to the one who is ultimately successful."

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Schumer rushes to defend the SPLC after it was EXPOSED for apparently funding racist extremism

The Justice Department announced on Tuesday that a grand jury in Alabama returned an indictment charging the Southern Poverty Law Center with 11 counts of wire fraud, false statements to a federally insured bank, and conspiracy to commit concealment money laundering.

Democrats are by now no doubt accustomed to hearing that many of the activists driving their agenda on the left are crooked; however, the SPLC is not merely accused of corruption.

'It should send a chill down the spine of every American.'

Rather, it has been credibly accused of bankrolling leaders and organizers in the very extremist groups it claimed to be fighting — including the Ku Klux Klan, the Aryan Nation, the American Front, United Klans of America, the National Socialist Party of America, and the National Alliance — as well as having a hand in the deadly 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia.

"The SPLC is manufacturing racism to justify its existence," stated acting Attorney General Todd Blanche.

Despite this alleged betrayal of donors and fellow travelers alike, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Democrat operatives have rallied to the hate racket's defense.

Schumer said Wednesday on the floor of the U.S. Senate that the "deeply disturbing charges" brought against the SPLC "should send a chill down the spine of every American who cares about free expression and the rule of law in the Justice Department. It should send a chill down the spine of every American who cares about civil liberties and the fight against violent extremism."

L-R: Evelyn Hockstein/The Washington Post/Getty Images; Nathan Posner/Anadolu/Getty Images

Contrary to Schumer's suggestion, Americans keen on fighting violent extremism might be delighted to learn that the Justice Department has targeted an alleged financial crutch holding up violent bigots across the country.

The indictment against the SPLC alleges that between 2014 and 2023, the organization — which raked in over $106.47 million in contributions in fiscal year 2024 alone — "secretly funneled more than $3 million in SPLC funds to [field sources] who were associated with various violent extremist groups."

"Let's be clear what this case is ... really about," said Schumer. "It has nothing to do with alleged wire fraud or with the Southern Poverty Law Center somehow working in coordination with the KKK. That's ridiculous on its face. It doesn't pass the laugh test."

'This is core to counter-extremism work.'

Schumer claimed that the case against the SPLC is ultimately about President Donald Trump turning the DOJ into the "Department of Vengeance — his own attack dog."

The deeply unpopular Democrat suggested further that this case demonstrates that the administration is targeting opponents of "white supremacy" and "turning what America is all about inside out."

Schumer was hardly the only Democrat associate to dismiss the possibility that the SPLC was keeping the illusion of formidable hatred alive in order to continue bilking deep-pocketed donors.

Acting AG Todd Blanche. Mandel NGAN/AFP/Getty Images

Norman Eisen, a Democrat operative who served as special counsel to former President Barack Obama, suggested in a joint statement with Richard Painter — former associate counsel to former President George W. Bush — and Virginia Canter — former associate counsel to former Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama — that the SPLC wasn't bankrolling its purported foes but rather "paying informants to expose and prevent violence by the KKK, neo-Nazis, and other hate groups."

"This is core to counter-extremism work, and it’s exactly what the DOJ and FBI should be doing — not attacking legendary civil rights organizations," wrote the trio.

"SPLC is ideologically opposed to hate groups and hate crimes. We stand with SPLC and will support them in every way."

Maya Wiley, CEO of the D.C.-based liberal organization Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, characterized the effort to hold the SPLC to account as retaliation over the liberal hate racket's alleged work protecting people from hatred.

"What is happening to civil rights organizations right now is the most coordinated assault on our sector since COINTELPRO," said Wiley.

"In order to have absolute power, [the Trump administration] must dismantle our rights. And that’s why they’re coming after us."

'They have made no secret of who they want to protect.'

"The Southern Poverty Law Center has spent decades doing that work, and we stand with them," added Wiley, who previously served as counsel to Democrat New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio.

The American Constitution Society, a liberal activist group that has received funding from the Tides Nexus and George Soros' Open Society Foundations, joined the gaslighting campaign, framing the indictment as an attack by the administration motivated by a difference of opinion on policy and politics.

"This is a clear abuse of power," stated the ACS. "The American Constitution Society stands in solidarity with SPLC and all of our partners working to uphold the rule of law, strengthen our democratic legitimacy, and realize the promise of equality for all."

SPLC CEO Bryan Fair said in a video statement this week, "For 55 years, the Southern Poverty Law Center has stood as a beacon of hope, fighting white supremacy and various forms of injustice to create a multiracial democracy where we can all live and thrive."

"We are therefore unsurprised to be the latest organization targeted by this administration," continued Fair. "They have made no secret of who they want to protect and who they want to destroy."

Fair suggested that the field sources referred to in the indictment were "paid confidential informants" tasked with gathering "credible intelligence on extremely violent groups." He said the SPLC no longer works with such informants.

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2 GOP senators side with Democrats to block ICE, CBP funding

The Senate worked overnight to advance the GOP's budget resolution to fund immigration enforcement to the tune of $70 billion in an effort to end the Democrat-induced shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security.

From Wednesday afternoon to the early hours of Thursday morning, senators voted on a slew of amendments to advance Republicans' legislation to fund Immigration and Customs Enforcement as well as Customs and Border Protection.

'Democrats will once again demonstrate to the American people their support for open borders.'

This legislative marathon comes amid the ongoing DHS shutdown that began in mid-February. In March, the Senate approved a funding package to fund all of DHS except ICE and CBP in a 2:00 a.m. voice vote, but it was rejected by the House. The House passed its own 60-day continuing resolution to fund the department in its entirety, but it was not advanced in the Senate.

The Senate budget ultimately advanced mostly along party lines in a 50-48 vote just before 3:30 a.m., with Republican Sens. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Rand Paul of Kentucky voting with Democrats against the immigration funding.

Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) lashed out at Republicans for funding "rogue agencies," claiming they are out of touch with everyday Americans.

“What kind of bubble are they living in?" Schumer asked. "How apart are they with people’s real needs?”

Despite the Democrats' predictable disapproval of the funding bill, Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) remains optimistic that the House will cooperate with the Senate to fund these key agencies. Earlier this month, both Thune and Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) agreed on a "two-track approach" that would partially reopen DHS while funding immigration enforcement separately.

"In following this two-track approach, the Republican Congress will fully reopen the Department, make sure all federal workers are paid, and specifically fund immigration enforcement and border security for the next three years so that those law-enforcement activities can continue uninhibited," a joint statement between Thune and Johnson reads. "In return, Democrats will once again demonstrate to the American people their support for open borders and keeping criminal illegal immigrants in America."

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Republicans receive another grim midterm forecast

Democrats and Republicans alike are eyeing the home stretch before the 2026 primaries, but the latest forecast suggests the GOP is facing a major disadvantage.

Republicans have enjoyed a supermajority following the 2024 election after Americans elected President Donald Trump back to the White House and the GOP took back the Senate and maintained its narrow House majority. The electoral forecast is now indicating that the pendulum will swing back in favor of Democrats, with four key races shifting away from Republicans.

None of the Democrat-held seats seem to be leaning Republican.

The Cook Political Report was initially tracking Senate races for Georgia, which is held by incumbent Democrat Jon Ossoff, and North Carolina, which is held by retiring Republican Thom Tillis, as toss-ups that could go either way. The same report also had the Ohio Senate race leaning Republican and the Nebraska Senate race as a solid Republican rating.

As of Monday, all of these races have shifted in favor of Democrats.

Kent Nishimura/Getty Images

The toss-up races in North Carolina and Georgia have both shifted to leaning Democrat, and Ohio, which is held by Republican incumbent Sen. Jon Husted, has changed to a toss-up race. The seat of Republican Sen. Pete Ricketts of Nebraska is still rated likely GOP, but nonetheless there is an evident electoral shift away from Republicans.

None of the Democrat-held seats seem to be leaning Republican. Michigan's Senate seat, which is held by retiring Democrat Gary Peters, is rated as a toss-up. Maine's Senate seat, held by Republican Susan Collins, is also notably rated a toss-up.

Republicans currently hold 53 seats and can afford to lose a maximum of just two Senate seats in order to maintain their majority, though Vice President JD Vance could always break any tie votes.

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Top Schumer aide joins Big Tech team whose CEO once called for Trump to deploy National Guard in San Francisco

A longtime communications director for Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) is leaving Capitol Hill for the tech world.

Interestingly, the move comes six months after the CEO of the company he's joining apologized for suggesting President Trump should send troops into California.

'My earlier comment came from an abundance of caution.'

Alex Nguyen, Schumer's communications director for the past seven years, is headed for civilian life after nearly two decades working in the nation's capital.

According to Capitol Hill outlet Punchbowl News, Nguyen will become director of corporate communications for Salesforce, a customer service and automation-software company. Ally Biasotti, a previous national press secretary for Schumer, will take over Nguyen's old role.

In October 2025, Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff apologized for saying he would welcome the deployment of National Guard troops to San Francisco — where the company is headquartered — stating, "We don't have enough cops, so if they can be cops, I'm all for it."

According to CNBC, Benioff faced blowback, and his remarks even sparked a resignation from board member Ron Conway, who reportedly told Benioff in an email that their "values were no longer aligned."

Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

This prompted Benioff to walk back his comments in a post to his X page, stating that he no longer believed "the National Guard is needed to address safety in San Francisco."

"My earlier comment came from an abundance of caution," Benioff wrote, adding that he sincerely apologized for "the concern" his remarks caused.

In a subsequent post, Benioff shared a graph purporting to show that San Francisco Police numbers had plummeted since 2019, while noting that Salesforce had pledged $1 million in sign-on bonuses to SFPD recruits.

Benjamin Fanjoy/Getty Images

Nguyen's transition to the Salesforce C-suite comes amid a data breach and rumors of increased layoffs at the company.

Salesforce has confirmed that thousands of customer records were breached, allegedly through a connected third-party app. The app provides a live-chat function that connects to Salesforce to convert customer leads.

At the same time, Salesforce has disputed rumors that the breach also revealed the company was planning to cut approximately 4,000 customer support roles.

According to Storyboard 18, Salesforce said the reported figure does not refer to new layoffs but rather a planned redeployment that was initiated in September 2025.

Schumer's team did not respond to a request for comment from Blaze News.

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CNN analyst delivers Democrats devastating news about base support

CNN analyst Harry Enten delivered Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and other members of his party some bad news on Thursday, revealing that President Donald Trump's approval rating is under water but that Democrats' approval rating is nearly scraping bottom.

Talking head John Berman noted that the new CNN poll conducted by SSRS found that while Trump had an approval rating of 35%, "bad news for Republicans hasn't really been good news for Democrats."

'They don't like their own party.'

"No, no, not at all," said Enten.

"These numbers are just atrociously awful. A double A for the Democrats here."

Seventy-four percent of respondents said that congressional Democrats did not have the right priorities. Even more damning was the response from Democrat respondents, 55% of whom said as much of their party's representatives in Congress.

"This, to me, just jumps out of the screen because it screams 'primary challenges' all over the map, and it says that even if Democrats don't like Donald Trump, they don't like their own party either when it comes to Congress," said Enten.

Whereas 32% of Americans hold a favorable view of the GOP, the poll found that only 28% of Americans hold a favorable view of the Democratic Party.

Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

Berman characterized the damning responses as "Democrat-on-Democrat crime," then asked about American support for the Democrat leadership.

"The bottom has fallen out," said Enten.

"Even Democrats don't like their own leaders when it comes to Congress. And overall, of course, the numbers are just absolutely awful."

Enten cast doubt on whether Schumer will be able to remain the Senate leader for the Democrats, suggesting that it's a "coin toss when it comes to Schumer actually winning the next Dem Senate leader selection."

An Economist/YouGov poll published this week found that a plurality of Democratic voters — 41% — disapprove of the job Schumer is doing as minority leader of the U.S. Senate, and 37% signaled approval. Schumer's overall approval rating was 20%.

David Axelrod, who served as a political strategist for former President Barack Obama, recently told PBS that Schumer "has been under fire for some time, particularly from progressives in the party," and that his political fate may be linked to the midterm elections.

"There's questions as to whether he'll run in 2028. There's even questions as to whether he might be challenged as leader," said Axelrod. "I think the results of this election may impact that."

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), whose overall approval rating was 24%, fared slightly better with Democrats than Schumer, with 43% signaling approval and 32% signaling disapproval of his job performance.

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Trump announces plan to pay DHS workers amid ongoing Democrat shutdown

President Donald Trump has announced plans to issue paychecks to Department of Homeland Security employees amid the ongoing partial shutdown, which has left Transportation Security Administration officers working without pay for weeks and jammed up airport security lines nationwide.

TSA agents’ last full paycheck was on Feb. 14. Nearly 500 workers have quit since the shutdown started, and the callout rate reached 11.83% as of March 26, CNN reported.

'Defund-the-police Democrats have kept @DHSgov closed in an attempt to slow down ICE’s efforts to remove murderers, rapists.'

Trump previously directed the DHS to work with the Office of Management and Budget “to use funds that have a reasonable and logical nexus to TSA operations to provide TSA employees with the compensation and benefits that would have accrued to them if not for the Democrat-led DHS shutdown, consistent with applicable law.”

As a result of Trump’s directive, on March 30, many TSA workers received at least part of their overdue pay after missing two full paychecks.

On Thursday, Trump announced additional steps to ensure all DHS employees receive their wages.

“Republicans are UNIFIED, and moving forward on a plan that will reload funding for our FANTASTIC Border Patrol and Immigration Enforcement Officers,” Trump wrote in a post on social media.

CHARLY TRIBALLEAU/AFP/Getty Images

Trump criticized Democrats for being “fully and 100% committed to the Radical Left Policy of Open Borders and Zero Immigration Enforcement” that has allowed unvetted “Murderers and Criminals of all types” into the United States. He added that he hopes their actions will “cost them dearly in the Midterms!”

The president stated that he would take executive action to address the ongoing issue.

“I will soon sign an order to pay ALL of the incredible employees at the Department of Homeland Security,” Trump wrote. “Their families have suffered far too long at the hands of the Extreme Liberal ‘Leaders,’ Cryin’ Chuck Schumer and Hakeem ‘High Tax’ Jeffries.”

Trump declared that “help is on the way for our Brave and Patriotic Public Servants who have continued to work hard, and do their part to protect and defend our Country.”

Shelby Tauber/Bloomberg/Getty Images

DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin thanked the president for his latest announcement.

“For over a month, the defund-the-police Democrats have kept @DHSgov closed in an attempt to slow down ICE’s efforts to remove murderers, rapists, pedophiles, gang members, and terrorists from our country and open our borders. Time and time again the Democrats have prioritized violent illegal aliens over American citizens,” Mullin wrote.

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Why Democrats are willing to overlook Graham Platner's Nazi-tattoo scandal

Schumer rushes to defend the SPLC after it was EXPOSED for apparently funding racist extremism

2 GOP senators side with Democrats to block ICE, CBP funding

Republicans receive another grim midterm forecast

Top Schumer aide joins Big Tech team whose CEO once called for Trump to deploy National Guard in San Francisco

CNN analyst delivers Democrats devastating news about base support

Trump announces plan to pay DHS workers amid ongoing Democrat shutdown

Americans Shouldn’t Need The House To Save Mass Deportations From Weak Senate Republicans

Cincinnati councilwoman suggests mob attack on white victims was justified: ‘They begged for that beatdown!’

Democrat melts down after Secretary Doug Burgum drops bombshell about NGOs during committee hearing

We’ll keep you informed with top stories for conservatives who want to become informed decision makers.