Corporate Democrat Auchincloss Slammed for 'Endorsing' Susan Collins Over Platner in Crucial Maine Race

With Graham Platner set to become the official Democratic US Senate candidate in Maine following Gov. Janet Mills' suspension of her primary campaign, progressives on Tuesday were incensed by a Massachusetts congressman’s public opposition to the populist oyster farmer, which arrived with a tacit endorsement of five-term Republican Sen. Susan Collins instead.

Rep. Jake Auchincloss (D-Mass.), a former GOP organizer and the scion of an influential political family with Wall Street and Kennedy ties, told CNN Monday that he views a tattoo Platner got while serving in the US Marines as "disqualifying."

"I hope Maine voters agree with me," he said. "I think it would be a mistake for the Democratic Party to think that Graham Platner's brand of the Democratic Party is what wins us durable majorities throughout this country."

The tattoo, which Platner says he got after a night of drinking with fellow soldiers while on shore leave during a tour of duty, resembled a skull-and-crossbones symbol worn by some Nazi soldiers. A controversy broke out last October over the tattoo as well as old posts Platner wrote in online forums in the years after his military service. He has maintained he did not know the tattoo's origins and that the old posts don't represent his current views.

The controversy did not stop Platner from polling well ahead of Mills before her decision to drop out late last month, and ahead of his presumed Republican opponent in at least one recent poll. Several US senators have endorsed him and he has outpaced both Mills and Collins in fundraising as he's held standing-room-only town halls and rallies across the state, railing against oligarchy and President Donald Trump's attacks on immigrant communities and demanding a Medicare for All system and a tax on billionaires' wealth.

Auchincloss' comments suggested he hasn't noticed, or been moved by, the mounting evidence that Platner's campaign is resonating with Democratic voters—who numerous polls have shown are in agreement with the candidate on his demand for a government-funded universal healthcare system and his condemnation of the US government's unconditional support for Israel, as well as the pro-Israel lobby's massive influence on US politics in recent decades.

The Massachusetts lawmaker, meanwhile, appears increasingly out of step with the voters he hoped to sway with his comments.

In addition to opposing Medicare for All, in his state's delegation in the US House, Auchincloss is behind only one member—Rep. Katherine Clark (D)—in taking donations from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), an organization that has long poured money into efforts to elect pro-Israel candidates on both sides of the aisle, but which is increasingly toxic among voters amid Israel's US-backed assault on Gaza and Palestinian communities across the West Bank.

Some critics noted that Auchincloss' position as chairman of a group called Majority Democrats—which promises to "win and sustain Democratic majorities"—was decidedly out of line with encouraging voters to oppose the presumptive winner of the Democratic primary—set for June 9—in a state that's crucial for the party to win in November if it is to wrest control of the Senate from the GOP.

Helen Brosnan, national political director of United Auto Workers, accused Auchincloss of "hating a pro-labor, anti-establishment candidate so much that you root for a Republican to win and ensure we lose the Senate."

Adam Carlson of Zenith Polls wondered whether Auchincloss "still supports his organization’s stated mission," "why he wants Trump to have a Republican Senate majority for his final two years in office," and "why he wants Trump to be able to appoint more MAGA justices to the Supreme Court and federal bench."

And Ryan Grim of Drop Site News noted that Democratic Party leaders would be unlikely to tolerate such behavior if the shoe were on the other ideological foot.

"If a Democrat endorses from the left against another Democrat in a primary, all hell comes down on them," said Grim. "Here’s Rep. Auchincloss coming out against the presumptive Democratic nominee in a crucial swing state. Probably actually helps Platner to have Dems like Auchincloss against him, but I still wonder if he’ll hear from Dem leadership or if they’re quietly ok with Collins.

Auchincloss on Tuesday denied the accusation that his remarks served as an endorsement of Platner's presumed opponent in the general election, pointing to his "track record supporting Democrats to take back both chambers."

But he repeated that "if it were me I'd vote for someone else in the Maine Democratic primary."

The latest poll conducted before Mills suspended her campaign found her 35 points behind Platner. A survey taken in March also asked Mainers about two other lesser-known candidates: organizer Andrea LaFlamme, who is running a write-in campaign and was polling at 2%, and former government worker David Costello, who was polling at 1%.

Grim and others drew attention to a "highly qualified" candidate who is challenging Auchincloss in Massachusetts' Fourth District in the September 1 primary: artificial intelligence and policy researcher Jason Poulos, who supports Medicare for All, protecting workers from AI displacement, strengthening unions, regulating AI data centers, and canceling student debt.

On his campaign website, Poulos, who supports ending military support for Israel, has condemned Auchincloss for counting the pro-Israel lobby as his "top campaign funder."

"When a congressman’s single largest source of campaign funds comes from a lobbying network whose top financiers have poured $230 million into electing Donald Trump," the website states, "voters deserve to ask: Whose interests does he represent?"