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Maine Democratic Senate nominee Graham Platner repeatedly criticized a lawmaker on Reddit for cheating on his wife years before his campaign confirmed he sent sexually explicit messages to women early in his marriage. 

On four occasions between 2018 and 2019, Platner claimed that, while he was working as a bartender in D.C., former GOP Rep. Duncan Hunter had confided in him that he was sleeping with women who were not his wife. Platner called Hunter a “real piece of sh-t” and a “garbage person” because of that.

Platner himself, however, sent sexually explicit messages to women who were not his wife early in his marriage, his campaign confirmed. The Senate candidate also maintained an account on the messenger app Kik, where his profile image was a picture of him topless wearing nothing but a towel.

HOW GRAHAM PLATNER’S CAMPAIGN UNRAVELED: FROM REDDIT POSTS TO RAPE ALLEGATION

The sexually explicit messages were first revealed by Genevieve McDonald, Platner’s former political director, who said that Platner’s wife had told her that he had exchanged sexual messages with up to 12 women. The Platner campaign, however, countered that he had only been communicating with as many as six women, and that their conversations were not ongoing.

“I confided deeply personal details about my marriage to someone I considered a friend. In the months since, I have had to watch as she spread malicious gossip to anyone who would take her call,” Platner’s wife said in the statement. “I trusted this person with the most private chapter of our lives — the early days of our marriage before any campaign was on our mind — and I am deeply hurt by her betrayal and the invasion of our privacy.”

PLATNER IN THE HOT SEAT AS MAINE VOTERS RIP HIS ‘HORRIBLE’ COMMENTS AMID REDDIT SCANDAL

Back in 2019, Platner, who married his wife in 2023, had harsh language to describe Hunter’s alleged extramarital conduct.

“Real piece of sh-t,” Platner wrote of Hunter in a December 2019 post. “Used to come into a DC bar I worked at, get wasted and brag about all the chicks he was slaying who weren’t his wife. I’ve got a pretty flexible moral compass when it comes to those things, but he was just the epitome of the frat bro officer douchebag.”

PLATNER CAMPAIGN PUTTING ‘THUMB ON SCALE’ TO INFLUENCE POSSIBLE REPLACEMENT, MAINE DEM ALLEGES

In another post, Platner called Hunter a “garbage person” who “loved to brag about all the women he was f-cking who weren’t his wife.”

He also criticized Hunter for heavy drinking, a problem one of Platner’s ex-girlfriends alleges that he faced as well.

Hunter was indicted in 2018 on charges that he converted more than $250,000 in campaign funds for personal expenses and falsified campaign finance records. Prosecutors later alleged that some of Hunter’s campaign spending was tied to extramarital affairs. He pleaded guilty in 2020 and was sentenced to 11 months in prison, but avoided serving his sentence after President Donald Trump pardoned him later that year.

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Platner, who has since been accused of rape by a different ex-girlfriend –  an allegation he denies –  is facing calls to drop out of the Maine Senate race as major Democrats rescind their endorsement of him. Democrats have until July 13 to replace him with another candidate, a fact Platner is reportedly using as leverage to name a successor.

The Platner campaign did not respond to a request for comment when reached by Fox News Digital on Wednesday.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said Wednesday that President Donald Trump has “won the argument” on NATO defense spending, crediting years of U.S. pressure with prompting Canada and European allies to take on a greater share of the alliance’s security burden.

Speaking at the NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey, Carney said he spoke with Trump before the gathering and told him that NATO members increasingly recognize the need to boost military spending amid continued security threats from Russia.

“It’s not just that he’s winning the argument — he’s won the argument,” Carney told reporters. “Countries realize they need to take more responsibility. They see the direct threats.”

Carney said Trump’s long-standing push for allies to spend more on defense is producing results.

“The president is looking for a shift of the burden within NATO. That’s appropriate,” Carney said. “That is happening. It is gaining momentum.”

The remarks mark a notable shift in tone from Carney, who has frequently criticized Trump over trade, tariffs and U.S.-Canada relations.

Since taking office, the Canadian prime minister has repeatedly criticized Trump over his tariffs on Canadian goods and his repeated suggestions that Canada should become the 51st U.S. state. 

During his victory speech in March 2025, Carney accused Trump of putting “unjustified tariffs” on Canada and declared, “He’s attacking Canadian families, workers and businesses, and we cannot let him succeed, and we won’t.” 

He also vowed to maintain retaliatory tariffs until “the Americans show us respect.”

Despite those differences, Carney acknowledged that Trump’s yearslong campaign to pressure NATO allies into increasing defense spending has succeeded.

Carney said he relayed that message directly to Trump during a phone call Sunday before both leaders arrived at the summit.

“The president is here, and he’s in a good mood,” Carney said.

At the 2025 NATO summit in The Hague, Netherlands, alliance leaders agreed to a new goal of spending 5% of GDP on defense and security by 2035 — more than doubling the alliance’s longstanding 2% benchmark. The pledge followed years of Trump criticizing NATO members for relying too heavily on the U.S., warning that allies were not paying their fair share and at times threatening to pull the U.S. out of the alliance if European nations failed to significantly increase defense spending. 

But the alliance has no formal mechanism to force countries to comply. Instead, Trump has increasingly sought to use U.S. economic leverage to pressure allies that fall short.

On Wednesday, Trump singled out Spain after Madrid refused to commit to the alliance’s 5% target, calling it “a terrible partner in NATO” and urging the U.S. to cut off trade and tourism with the country. Spain has argued it can meet NATO’s military capability requirements while spending roughly 2.1% of GDP on defense.

Larger nations like Britain and France also have pledged to move toward the 5% target, but both currently spend well below that level, raising questions about how aggressively the Trump administration will pressure other major allies to accelerate their defense spending.

NATO Ambassador Matthew Whitaker told reporters July 1 that the Trump administration was considering countermeasures for countries that fail to meet their 5% target. 

NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte echoed Carney’s assessment, saying Trump had accomplished what multiple U.S. presidents had sought for decades.

“President Trump has been able to finally get done what, since Eisenhower, American presidents tried to do, which was to equalize defense spending between Europe and the United States,” Rutte said during opening remarks.

Canada has announced a series of new defense investments this week, including a submarine procurement program, an agreement to use Telesat’s Lightspeed satellite constellation for secure Arctic military communications, and an approximately $800 million contract for Joint Strike Missiles for Canada’s future fighter aircraft.

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Carney said Canada was spending about 1.4% of its gross domestic product on defense when his government took office and is on track to reach 4% before the end of the decade under NATO’s accounting standards.

The comments come after years of Trump arguing that NATO members were relying too heavily on the United States for their defense and should contribute a larger share toward the alliance’s collective security.

Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for comment. 

Justices Amy Coney Barrett and Elena Kagan are set to make a rare appearance on Capitol Hill next week, where they will testify on the Supreme Court’s proposed fiscal year 2027 budget.

Their appearance before the House Appropriations subcommittee comes just weeks after the Supreme Court concluded a highly consequential term, delivering major wins for President Donald Trump, including expanding his executive authority, while also ruling against key parts of his agenda, including his executive order restricting birthright citizenship and his Liberation Day tariffs. Barrett, who is part of the conservative supermajority, voted against Trump’s use of the executive order.

The last time Supreme Court justices testified before Congress was in 2019, when Kagan, a member of the Court’s liberal wing, and Justice Samuel Alito, a member of its conservative majority, appeared to discuss the Supreme Court’s fiscal year 2020 budget request.

MORNING GLORY: THE SUPREME COURT OFFICIALLY CLOSES THE BOOKS ON ANOTHER TERM

In next year’s budget, the Supreme Court is requesting a $20.5 million increase, with $14.6 million earmarked to strengthen security protections for justices and an additional $2 million to cover security costs at the justices’ homes. The funding increase would cover the cost of staffing an additional 25 full-time Supreme Court Police officers.

In total, the Supreme Court is requesting a budget of $228 million for the 2027 fiscal year.

The request for additional security funding comes after Congress approved a $30 million increase for the Supreme Court’s security budget in January, which is expected to last through September 2028.

At the time of the additional funding approval, the U.S. Marshals Service, which is tasked with protecting the Supreme Court, had tracked 166 threats against federal judges since Oct. 1. The year before, more than 560 threats were made against judges.

“We just want to make sure nothing happens to any of our justices,” House Appropriations Chair Tom Cole, R-Okla., said at the time.

SUPREME COURT FINANCIAL DISCLOSURES REVEAL CONCERT TICKETS FROM BAD BUNNY’S LABEL, MILLIONS IN BOOK PAYMENTS

The U.S. Marshals Service began providing 24/7 security at the justices’ private residences in May 2022 after the leak of the draft Dobbs opinion, which foreshadowed the Supreme Court’s decision ending the constitutional right to abortion. The protection remained in place after the attempted assassination attempt against Justice Brett Kavanaugh outside his Maryland home the following month.

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And in May, Barrett was the target of an apparent swatting incident after a false report of gunshots at her Virginia home prompted a police response. Authorities quickly determined the call was a hoax after coordinating with the Supreme Court Police officers assigned to protect the residence.

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Last year, authorities also investigated a bomb threat targeting Barrett’s sister at her South Carolina home. The reported pipe bomb in her mailbox was also determined to be a hoax.

While justices have long been subjected to death threats, Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in his 2024 year-end report that threats against federal judges have more than tripled over the past decade. The U.S. Marshals Service investigated more than 1,000 serious threats during the previous five years.

Former Los Angeles mayoral candidate Spencer Pratt met with President Donald Trump Monday in the Oval Office while in Washington, D.C., a senior administration official confirmed to Fox News Digital.

“I will never stop fighting for my community,” Pratt captioned the photo of the meeting on X.

Pratt posted a photo of the meeting on X showing himself and his son seated with an unidentified man and who appeared to be White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles at the Resolute Desk across from Trump. The meeting took place before Trump departed to Turkey to attend the NATO summit.

SPENCER PRATT’S UNEXPECTED POLITICAL RISE FROM MTV VILLAIN TO KAREN BASS CHALLENGER

The former reality TV star drew national attention with a surprise bid for Los Angeles mayor, challenging incumbent Karen Bass but ultimately falling short.

Pratt met with “lots of people” while at the White House, the official added.

Fox News Digital reached out to the White House and Pratt’s team for additional comment.

Pratt announced Tuesday he is launching The WAR Foundation, an organization focused on fighting political corruption through media campaigns, investigative research and public education.

The foundation says it aims to promote transparency, accountability and what it describes as restoring “common sense” while opposing socialism in government and cultural institutions.

TRUMP SAYS HE HOPES SPENCER PRATT DOES WELL IN LA MAYORAL RACE, BLASTS CALIFORNIA’S ‘RIGGED’ ELECTIONS

Trump endorsed Pratt in May, urging California voters to support his campaign.

Pratt’s Oval Office meeting came right after Independence Day, when he went viral for slamming New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s Fourth of July comments.

Mamdani took the opportunity to criticize U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, Elon Musk and what he described as the “arena of supremacy” in the United States.

“As we mark 250 years, what do we see?” Mamdani said in part. “We see a city of contradictions within a nation of contradictions.”

“Notice how the communists always attack your history,” Pratt said of Mamdani in the viral response video.

He filmed his response beside his RV on the site where his home burned down in the Los Angeles Palisades fire – a key reason for his bid for mayor. He sported a T-shirt reading, “the anti-socialists social club” in the video.

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“The communist destroys your history so he can take your home and rebuild it in his image. That’s why it is your patriotic duty to celebrate today unashamed. It’s OK to love America, not only is it OK to love America, it’s necessary to love America. We are the only bulwark against tyranny on this earth,” said Pratt in part.

President Donald Trump claimed that NATO failed two key tests as he lambasted the international cooperative on the national stage during a high-stakes summit in Ankara, Turkey on Wednesday.

“I’m not happy with NATO because of what they did with Greenland, and I’m not happy with NATO because of the fact they didn’t want to help us with the No. 1 state sponsor of terror — that’s Iran,” the 47th president told reporters. “They were unwilling to help us.”

“But I was really testing,” Trump revealed. “I wanted to see if they would be there.”

DENMARK VOWS TO DEFEND GREENLAND AFTER TRUMP REITERATES US SHOULD CONTROL TERRITORY

Trump has been eyeing an acquisition of Greenland, the autonomous island territory that is backed in defense, foreign affairs and monetary policy by Denmark. Greenlanders are officially citizens of Denmark.

The president has proposed purchasing Greenland from Denmark multiple times, and insisted Tuesday at the summit in Turkey that the territory is critical to global security and that it “should be controlled by the United States, not by Denmark.”

As China and Russia expand their presence in the region, Trump has continuously said that acquiring the territory, which plays a critical role in U.S. missile warning systems and Arctic defense, is a necessity.

“We need it for protection of the world, not just the United States,” Trump said.

Now, Trump claims that his idea to acquire the territory was actually a test of NATO to see if world leaders would support the U.S. in that effort.

TRUMP MAKES FRESH GREENLAND PLAY AFTER XI TALKS AS CHINA’S ARCTIC AMBITIONS LOOM

Trump claimed that Danish leadership has not been helpful to Greenland and its people.

“Denmark doesn’t spend money to really help Greenland, but it’s an important part for the United States. And it’s surrounded by China ships and Russian ships,” he said.

TRUMP SAYS IRAN CEASEFIRE IS ‘OVER’ AFTER IRANIAN ATTACKS TRIGGER MASSIVE US RESPONSE

Danish leaders have repeatedly insisted that Greenland is not for sale, and took a more forceful stance against Trump on Tuesday.

Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said, once again, that the territory is “not for sale.” She also insisted that Denmark is “ready to defend every inch of NATO including our own territory.”

“We hope that all, including all allies, will respect the Greenland people’s right for self-determination,” she continued. “And we are sovereign states and we need everybody to respect our territorial integrity and our sovereignty.”

Trump has long been critical of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), specifically accusing member nations of mooching of the United States, which spends nearly $1 trillion per year on defense.

Germany spends the second-most on defense out of all the allied nations, but the total is only one-tenth of what the U.S. spends.

Most recently, Trump demanded each NATO member nation spend 5% of their respective GDPs on defense.

The president has also previously threatened to leave the alliance, claiming it is not beneficial to the U.S.

Meanwhile, the war with Iran lingers on after Trump declared Tuesday that the tentative ceasefire with the Middle Eastern nation is “over.” He called Iran “scum” and “evil” after the U.S. launched new strikes.

Previously, a much-maligned memorandum of understanding was put in place to de-escalate the war, which critics said conceded too much to the Iranians.

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Trump lost his patience with Tehran after they launched attacks on trade vessels in the Strait of Hormuz earlier in the week, and called negotiations with the country a “waste of time.”

Fox News Digital’s Eric Mack, Morgan Phillips and Anders Hagstrom contributed to this report.

FIRST ON FOX: A coalition of state financial officers said it uncovered roughly $225 million in alleged fraud across America’s schools over the past six years, identifying nearly 90 cases involving embezzlement, fake invoices, inflated enrollment, bid-rigging and kickbacks.

In a new report obtained exclusively by Fox News Digital, the State Financial Officers Foundation (SFOF) and Open the Books analyzed every Education Department Office of Inspector General (OIG) Semiannual Report to Congress issued between Oct. 1, 2019, and March 31, 2026, revealing alleged fraud across 24 states and Puerto Rico.

“All fraud is harmful, but defrauding education dollars meant to help kids learn and succeed is especially hideous,” SFOF CEO OJ Oleka said in a statement to Fox News Digital.

“The findings in this report should alarm every family, teacher, and civic leader, especially since they only scratch the surface of the problem. The state financial officers courageously tracking every school dollar abused historically have had a bloated federal education bureaucracy only make their job harder.”

THE WAR ON FRAUD IS HERE, AND VICE PRESIDENT VANCE IS LEADING IT FROM THE FRONT

The findings come as the Trump administration prioritizes cracking down on government fraud, with Vice President JD Vance leading a nationwide “War on Fraud,” raising fresh questions about oversight of federal education spending. About $67 million was ordered to be repaid through court rulings or settlements, though it’s unclear how much has actually been recovered.

Oleka said the report is a reminder that state oversight has “never mattered more.”

Only three of the nation’s 20 largest federally funded school districts appeared in OIG records, according to the report. The remaining 17 were absent, while federal investigations targeted dozens of smaller districts, charter schools, online schools and education programs, highlighting potential gaps in federal oversight.

“With that in mind, stronger oversight of federal education dollars is more than some bureaucratic exercise — it is an economic and moral imperative,” the report said. “Families deserve assurance that the public institutions meant to serve their children are not being looted by the very officials entrusted to lead them.”

Open the Books CEO John Hart said the alleged fraud “hits us where it hurts most,” because it shortchanges “America’s future leaders,” adding that in one case, the per-student fraud loss was enough to fund a semester at a charter school.

“These schemes within public schools arguably hit us where it hurts most: America’s future leaders,” Hart said. “Every dollar wasted on fraud never makes it to the classroom where it’s urgently needed. Student outcomes will continue to suffer until we clean up both fraud and administrative overhead.”

The report’s largest cases included allegations that two now-closed Indiana online charter schools received $44 million in excess funding by inflating enrollment and that a Puerto Rico tutoring company obtained $24 million by billing for services never provided. In Florida, a Broward County Public Schools information officer allegedly steered $17 million in contracts to a friend’s business, bypassing competitive bidding while personally profiting from the deals.

RED-STATE AUDITOR REPORTS ‘EXPLOSION’ OF FRAUD TIPS AS HE TARGETS STATE EMPLOYEES ‘RACKING UP’ TAXPAYER WASTE

In Texas, former Houston Independent School District Chief Operating Officer Brian Busby and contractor Anthony Hutchison allegedly orchestrated a fraud scheme of more than $6 million, involving school construction and grounds maintenance contracts in exchange for cash bribes and hundreds of thousands of dollars in home renovations.

A federal jury found Busby and Hutchison guilty of conspiracy, bribery, filing false tax returns, and witness tampering, with Hutchison also convicted on seven wire fraud counts, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas.

“Bureaucratic bloat, insider dealing, and poor oversight prompted Governor Abbott and the Texas Education Agency to intervene in HISD and appoint new leadership,” HISD Superintendent Mike Miles told Fox News Digital. “School funding was being squandered, the quality of schools had deteriorated, and the majority of students’ education was being neglected. That is no longer the case. Since June 2023, we have made it a priority to eliminate waste and most importantly, now every decision we make is focused on closing student achievement gaps, preparing students for the future, and supporting teachers.”

The report makes the case the alleged fraud carried a direct cost for students in smaller school districts and that the true cost is likely even higher because not all fraud is detected, investigated or prosecuted.

California accounted for two of the report’s most costly cases.

Students at the now-closed Community Preparatory Academy charter school lost about $9,090 per student after the school’s head used $3 million in taxpayer funds for personal travel, restaurants, online shopping and private school tuition for her children, according to the report. In Magnolia School District, students lost about $3,553 per student after a former fiscal services director allegedly embezzled nearly $16.7 million to buy a luxury home, car and designer goods.

LOS ANGELES SCHOOLS SUPERINTENDENT ALBERTO CARVALHO RESIGNS AMID FBI PROBE

Additionally, students in West Virginia’s Boone County Schools lost about $1,096 per student after a former maintenance director stole $3.4 million through fraudulent invoices for janitorial and custodial supplies that were never delivered, using the proceeds to buy vehicles, equipment and make improvements to his home.

The report also cited Chicago Public Schools, which agreed to return about $1 million in federal grant funding after an OIG review found the district could not adequately verify student eligibility for an Indian Education grant program.

Fox News Digital reached out to Broward County Public Schools, Chicago Public Schools, Magnolia School District and Boone County Schools for comment.

Alleigh Marré, executive director of the American Parents Coalition, said the report “highlights parents’ worst fears.”

“This is why parents need to have a seat at the table to ensure their children are receiving the best education possible and schools are not wasting taxpayer dollars on noneducation-based materials,” Marré said.

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The report concluded that “every step must be taken to unwind the enormous bureaucracy and spending” by returning education to the state and local level.

“Not only is that in keeping with the founders’ vision for a limited Executive Branch, but state and local officials are much better equipped to understand the needs of their communities, find efficiencies, innovate for better student outcomes and keep foxes out of the proverbial henhouse,” the report said.

Department Spokesperson Ellen Keast told Fox News Digital that “rooting out waste, fraud, and abuse across the government is a priority for the Trump-Vance Administration.”

“Secretary McMahon is proud to serve on the Vice President’s Task Force to Eliminate Fraud and remains committed to delivering lasting results for American students and taxpayers – including nearly $2 billion in taxpayer savings to date.,” Keast said. “Misuse of taxpayer funds became widespread under the previous Administration, which is why addressing it is a top priority.”

FIRST ON FOX: A scandal-plagued Democratic congressional candidate who previously claimed the U.S. has “an abusive cop problem” suggested in a resurfaced tweet that half of the police officers he has interacted with are “abusive a–holes.”

In a since-deleted 2017 post on what was then Twitter, Bobby Pulido, a Latin music star running for Congress as a Democrat in a critical South Texas swing district, wrote, “I’ve had many incidents with cops.”

He said he was pulled over in Mississippi for swerving out of his lane and that one of the officers pulled a gun on him after asking for his identification. In a follow-up tweet, still viewable on X, Pulido suggested that the officers “really wanted to search my jag for money.”

“Bull f—— s—,” he wrote. “Half of the ones [police officers] have been courteous (even when ticketing me) the others, abusive a–holes.”

DEM SENATE HOPEFUL UNDER FIRE FOR RESURFACED COMMENTS CALLING COPS ‘OPPORTUNISTIC COWARDS’

That same day, Pulido also tweeted that “Not all cops abuse power, but many do.”

In reference to an Arizona police officer being acquitted of second-degree murder after a fatal shooting in 2017, Pulido wrote, “The fact that he was found not guilty makes me question the validity of our justice system.”

Pulido is running to unseat Republican Rep. Monica De La Cruz in Texas’ Congressional District 15. As a former Tejano music star running in a heavily Hispanic district, Pulido poses a serious threat to De La Cruz’s seat because of his strong name recognition. However, his campaign thus far has been marred by controversy, including facing scrutiny over his relationship with longtime bandmate and convicted child sex offender Frankie Caballero.

He has also been criticized for saying that “White nationalists” are joining immigration enforcement to “hunt people down.”

Pulido’s campaign has dismissed both matters as “lies” and “desperate attacks.”

In another resurfaced post from 2018, Pulido wrote that “we have an abusive cop problem.” His post referenced a video of an El Paso police officer appearing to point his gun at a mob of children who seemed to be attempting to interfere with an arrest.

In the same thread, Pulido wrote, “I long for the day when we teach our children how to behave even when a cop is way out of line. He should be punished legally and to the fullest, not by abhorrent curse words from children.”

A year later, Pulido wrote that, “unfortunately, many people including some judges and police when given power, turn into monsters. Human nature?”

TALARICO CAMPAIGNS WITH SURGEON WHO OPERATED ON TRANSGENDER MINORS: ‘WOLF IN SHEEP’S CLOTHING’

In response to the resurfaced tweets, Zach Kraft, a spokesperson for the Republican National Committee, accused Pulido of smearing law enforcement.

“Pedophile protecting Pulido has displayed a disturbing pattern of befriending criminals while smearing the brave men and women of law enforcement,” Kraft told Fox News Digital.

Kraft ripped into Pulido, calling him the Spanish word for “rotten,” and predicting that South Texans “will reject this creep because, unlike Bobby ‘Podrido,’ they want sex predators in jail, not performing at middle schools.”

Fox News Digital reached out to Pulido and the Democratic National Committee for comment.

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Beyond these comments, Pulido has also faced scrutiny for claiming that President Donald Trump and Republicans’ immigration enforcement agenda is motivated by the “theory of White replacement.”

“When President Trump ran, he ran on getting rid of the bad guys. They lied to us,” Pulido said.

“It’s race. It’s always down to race. And I hate to say this, because I hate to inflame it, but I’m going to call it out because that is what it is. Look, when they have this theory of White replacement, they’re saying, ‘Oh, no, no, if it weren’t for this and this and crime,’ they’ll throw in all these other things to dance around the true issue,” he said. “Which is there’s too many Brown and Black people, which they’re saying they’re just going to stay the same and be poor.”

Pulido noted during the interview, “I do not want to demonize law enforcement.” However, he expressed that when it comes to immigration enforcement, “a lot of the people that are joining, not all of them, OK. There’s a lot of White nationalists that want to join because they want to go hunt down people, right, they’re yahoos.”

EXPERT WHO FLED CUBA WARNS OF ‘VICIOUS CYCLE’ THAT WILL LEAD TO ‘COMMUNISTS IN DOUBLE DIGITS’ IN CONGRESS

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After De La Cruz’s campaign accused Pulido of smearing Border Patrol officers, a spokesperson for his campaign told Fox News Digital that “these desperate attacks prove one thing. The GOP establishment is in full panic mode because Mentirosa [Spanish for ‘liar’] Monica De La Cruz is running a dumpster fire of a campaign, and they know they’re going to lose.”

The spokesperson said that Pulido “has been a lifelong supporter of our law enforcement” and added that “South Texas knows that, and they’re going to make it loud and clear in November.”

Graham Platner, the embattled Democratic Senate nominee in Maine, suspended his campaign on Wednesday amid mounting controversies and growing calls from top Democrats in his home state, in the nation’s capital, and across the country for him to immediately quit the race.

Platner, a populist Democrat backed last September by progressive champion Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., was challenging longtime Republican Sen. Susan Collins in a high-profile, combustible and expensive race in Maine, which is one of a handful that will determine if the GOP holds onto its slim Senate majority in November’s midterm elections.

“For the movement to continue, it can’t be me. For that reason, we are suspending campaign operations,” Platner said in a video posted to social media.

Platner’s exit from the race comes five days before a crucial deadline, which, if he had missed, would have prevented Maine Democrats from replacing him with a new nominee on the general election ballot.

The suspension of his campaign took place one month after Platner won a landslide victory in Maine’s June 9 Democratic Senate primary, but just two days after an explosive report on Monday afternoon contained an allegation of rape from a woman he previously dated. 

SCANDAL-PLAGUED PLATNER CAPTURES DEMOCRATIC SENATE NOMINATION DESPITE MOUNTING CONTROVERSIES

Addressing those allegations, a visibly irritated Platner charged, “This is all false. The things that have been claimed did not happen. It is not real.”

And Platner, who has run an outsider, anti-establishment campaign for nearly a year, pointed to the political class and argued, “the brutal political reality is they are going to take everything away from us.”

Platner said that if he continued his bid, he’d lose the ability to raise money and access crucial voter data, essential elements to any campaign.

“Those in power who have the ability to do so are using these allegations as an excuse to take away all the things that we need to run a campaign,” he charged.

Longtime Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, following Platner’s announcement, said in a post on X, “Democrats are going to defeat Susan Collins, win Maine, and take back the Senate.”

The Marine Corps combat veteran and oyster farmer became the all-but-certain party nominee in the spring, after two-term Gov. Janet Mills, who had been backed by Schumer and the Democratic establishment, suspended her bid after significantly trailing Platner in fundraising and polling.

Platner’s suspension of his campaign comes just before a 5 p.m. deadline on Monday, July 13, set by state law, for candidates to withdraw from the race.

Since Platner dropped out ahead of the deadline, the Maine Democratic Party will be able to replace him on the general election ballot. The party needs to select a new nominee by July 27.

If Platner had exited the race after the deadline, his name could be stricken from the ballot, but Maine Democrats would not be able to replace him with another candidate. 

The Maine Democratic Party on Tuesday night, in a stunning announcement, said that party officials were working “around the clock” to determine a replacement process, but claimed that Platner and his team were trying “to put their thumb on the scale of what this process looks like.”

Platner’s team, responding, said they had reached out to the party but denied they were trying to put any “finger on the scale.” 

A couple of hours before Platner dropped out, the state party announced it would hold a nominating convention to choose a new Senate nominee, if Platner were to exit the race.

That didn’t appear to sit well with Platner, who in his video said, “What comes next needs to come from the people. Needs to come from the people of Maine. Needs to come from the voters who on June 9….said no to this kind of politics. Voted for a politics that would actually represent them. Vote against the political system. Against the donor class. Against the entrenched forces.”

“I’m not asking for how this process is going to work. I’m not trying to dictate to anyone how it should be or how we get there,” he emphasized. “But I will say this, it needs to be open, transparent, and democratic. It needs to be reflective of the will and the values of the people that built this movement, the people that showed up on June 9. People in DC should stay in DC. Decisions should not be made in backrooms by people in places of political power.”

The allegation that triggered Platner’s exit from the race came from Maine resident Jenny Racicot, 41, who told CNN’s Jake Tapper that “by dictionary definition” Platner “raped” her.

“I thought, here’s a man who was drunk and who, by dictionary definition, raped me. And he’s blaming drunk women,” Racicot said. “So I just felt like that was a very odd take to have on that. And I also feel like with all of the comments that he made about women, sexual assault, rape, even, um, you know, the comments that he had made that was in The New York Times article about, you know, threatening people with rape, like, why does this person have this issue, like scattered throughout their life, throughout their commentary, like it‘s on their mind?”

Racicot also said over the course of three interviews with Politico that Platner forced her to have sex five years ago against her will, a claim that Platner denied in the Politico story. Additionally, the report says that a man Racicot dated afterward confirmed she had told him about the incident, which was also corroborated by emails between Racicot and her therapist. 

“I remember him grabbing my pelvis and being really forceful of me,” Racicot told the outlet about the incident, which allegedly took place while Platner was “almost blackout drunk.” “I remember the specific moment where I thought to myself, like, ‘This is no longer my choice.’”

Racicot alleged that Platner entered her home uninvited and forced her to have unprotected sex despite her telling him to stop multiple times. 

Racicot said in the report that “one of the reasons” she didn’t come forward until now was the “huge moral conflict” she had between her support of Platner’s politics and not supporting him “as a person.”

“I just want the truth out there,” Racicot said. “I just want people to have a whole scope of who he is as a person.”

In a statement to Politico, Platner said, “These allegations are troubling, serious, and false. Any accusation of non-consensual behavior is categorically untrue.”

The Platner campaign also posted a video on X shortly after the Politico story published where Platner again called the allegations “false” and that he was going to “reflect” on the best path forward. 

“So, regardless of the inaccuracy of the reporting, but mindful the political reality it will inflict, we are taking the time to reflect on the best path forward for the state that I love, the people that I love, the movement I belong to, and the goal of defeating Susan Collins,” Platner says in the video. “Those were the goals when we launched this campaign, and they remain my goals today.”

Platner was hit with a second explosive allegation of sexual impropriety on Tuesday. In a report published by The Washington Post, Platner was accused of removing condoms during sex with his ex-girlfriend Lyndsey Fifield after she explicitly directed him to wear them.

Fifield, 41, previously accused Platner of physical misconduct during their relationship, saying that he sometimes grabbed her hard enough to leave marks on her body and that one time he twisted her arm around her back, pushed her into a bedroom and held the door shut until she “calmed down.”

In a statement to The Washington Post, the Platner campaign said that Fifield’s latest allegations were “categorically false and politically motivated,” as they pointed to her previous work for the conservative Heritage Foundation.

And in his Wednesday night video, Platner reiterated that he wasn’t suspending his campaign “because of allegations. We’re doing it because of structures that are being taken away from us by those in power.”

One of the party organizations Platner railed against, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC), pledged in a statement that it would “work tirelessly to ensure the new Democratic nominee has the infrastructure and resources to immediately turn their focus to the general election, and in November we will defeat Susan Collins and win a Senate majority.”

Meanwhile, Republicans quickly pounced after Platner’s announcement.

“Maine Democrats elected a rapist Nazi to be their nominee for Senate, and regardless of who they anoint next, Susan Collins will be re-elected in November,” National Republican Senatorial Committee Regional Press Secretary Samantha Cantrell charged in a statement.

Alex Latchum, executive director of the Senate GOP-aligned super PAC Senate Leadership Fund, argued that  at the 11th hour, the Democrat Establishment has tipped the scales against Maine voters in an attempt to salvage their failing midterm strategy. Regardless of who Washington Democrats install, Senator Susan Collins will win in November.” 

Moderate Democratic Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, a vocal Platner critic, said in an interview Wednesday night on Fox News  “Jesse Watters Primetime” that “the trash took itself out tonight.”

Platner was forced onto defense the past couple of months amid multiple controversies that muddied the final days of his primary campaign and overshadowed his victory.

Past inflammatory online comments made on a now-deleted Reddit account came back to haunt him at the same time he was reeling from revelations of a now covered-up tattoo on his chest that resembled a Nazi symbol. Then reports that Platner exchanged sexually explicit messages with several women while married came right before allegations from ex-girlfriends of a history of rape fantasies, heavy drinking and violent episodes.

Platner repeatedly called the allegations of violence untrue.

A day before the primary last month, a former high-level staffer from the Platner campaign wrote in a Washington Post op/ed that Platner “is not someone who would be good for Maine or for the country.”

The mounting controversies grabbed plenty of attention, gave Republicans more ammunition to use against him and triggered some Democrats in the nation’s capital to question whether Platner was damaged goods.

But the allegations didn’t stop him from riding a populist wave to capture the nomination.

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Platner, who had acknowledged his battle with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) from his three tours of duty in the war in Iraq with the Marines and one tour with the Army National Guard in Afghanistan, apologized for his controversial Reddit posts after some of them made headlines last fall soon after he launched his Senate campaign.

And Platner said he got the skull and crossbones tattoo in 2007, while drinking with fellow Marines stationed in Croatia. He said that he covered up the tattoo with a new design after learning last year that it resembled a Nazi symbol.

But allegations from an ex-girlfriend raised questions about Platner’s timeline regarding knowledge of the tattoo.

In his primary night victory speech, Platner emphasized that he was a changed man.

“If you believe, as I do, that we can change our politics and change our country, then you must also believe that people can change,” Platner told the crowd. “And the reason I believe that is because I have lived it. And the reason that I have lived it is because of my wife.”

THE TEN RACES THAT WILL DETERMINE THE SENATE’S MAJORITY

Rumors about Platner potentially dropping out started swirling this past weekend, as multiple events by the candidate were canceled without an official explanation. The Bangor Daily News reported on Monday that one organizer said an event was canceled due to Platner “not feeling well.”

The news of the canceled events led conservative outlets and pundits to speculate whether there was an underlying reason for the cancelations or an impending end to his campaign.

Collins said in a statement, “These allegations are appalling. Nevertheless, it is not up to me to choose the Democratic nominee for Senate.” 

As Monday afternoon turned into Monday evening, a growing chorus of leading Democrats called on Platner to quit the race.

Schumer called the allegations in the Politico report “incredibly disturbing – violence, abuse and sexual assault are absolutely unacceptable.”

In a statement with Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) Chair Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, Schumer emphasized, “Graham Platner needs to immediately withdraw as the Democratic nominee for Senate and allow Maine Democrats the opportunity to choose a new candidate who can defeat Susan Collins. The DSCC will not invest in the Maine Senate race if Platner remains on the ballot.”

Senate Majority PAC, the Schumer-aligned top super PAC backing Senate Democratic incumbents and candidates, said it was “redirecting resources away from the Maine Senate race in light of the latest allegations against Graham Platner.”

The leadership of the Maine Democratic Party, in a statement, said it “is calling Graham Platner to withdraw as the Democratic nominee for the U.S. Senate.”

One of Platner’s top supporters in Congress, Rep. Ro Khanna of California, rescinded his endorsement.

“I’ve been very clear that sexual assault or violence against women is a red line. These allegations are very serious and credible. Graham Platner should drop out from the race. I am withdrawing my endorsement,” Khanna wrote in a social media post.

Khanna, a top progressive leader in the House, told Fox News Digital as he campaigned with Platner in Maine days ahead of the primary that he was “concerned about making it clear that we’re opposed to misogyny, those relationships were toxic and volatile, there’s no excuse for that.”

“I talked to Graham, and he says he was at a very dark period. He had come back from two tours of duty in Iraq as an infantryman seeing violence and death. That doesn’t excuse it,” Khanna said last month.

Also dropping their endorsement on Monday was Democratic Sen. Ruben Gallego of Arizona, who along with Khanna is considered a potential 2028 White House hopeful.

“The allegations against Graham Platner are troubling and deeply serious,” Gallego wrote on X. “I am rescinding my endorsement.”

So did progressive champion Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, who had endorsed and appeared with Platner.

Our Revolution, a progressive political action organization founded by Sanders, announced it was withdrawing its endorsement of Platner.

On Tuesday, Sanders finally put out a statement.

“I have spoken with Graham Platner about the best path forward for Maine. In light of these very serious allegations, I have recommended that he step aside,” the senator wrote.

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Platner, who launched his bid for U.S. Senate last summer, quickly started drawing large crowds and built a healthy fundraising war chest earlier this year, thanks, in part, to Sanders’ early support and the candidate’s tireless efforts on the trail.

Two polls conducted late last month indicated a close general election contest. A Fox News poll gave Collins a three-point edge, while a New York Times/Siena survey indicated Platner holding a two-point margin.

But beating Collins hasn’t been easy. Six years ago, public opinion polls indicated the senator was headed to defeat, but Collins defied expectations and won re-election by defeating then-Democratic state House Speaker Sara Gideon by nine points.

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Collins, a moderate Republican who at times votes against President Donald Trump’s agenda, is running for a sixth six-year term in the Senate.

Republicans currently control the chamber 53-47 and flipping the Senate seat in left-leaning Maine is a key part of the Democrats’ path to retake the majority.

Fox News’ Olivia Palombo and Matthew Donnell contributed to this report

The efforts of Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Texas, to move past his indictment and subsequent pardon by President Donald Trump are clashing with his brother’s legal troubles.

Martin Cuellar, sheriff of Webb County, Texas, faces a court hearing on Thursday over accusations of having misappropriated county funds. The case, coupled with the closeness of the Cuellar family, is complicating Henry Cuellar’s political outlook as he wages a campaign to continue his congressional career in one of the country’s most competitive districts.

It’s been over half a year since Trump pardoned Cuellar from an indictment on charges of bribery, conspiracy and money laundering.

“This pardon gives us a clean slate. The noise is gone. The work remains,” Cuellar said in a post to X, announcing that very same day that he would pursue reelection.

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Cuellar was accused of accepting nearly $600,000 in bribes from an oil and gas company controlled by the government of Azerbaijan and a Mexican bank.

Although those charges are gone, Cuellar’s case is still very much in the public eye as his brother fends off accusations of siphoning funds.

Martin Cuellar faces 10 years behind bars as well as a possible $250,000 maximum fine for allegedly using county employees and resources to run his own disinfecting business, Disinfect Pro Master.

Martin allegedly took home about $175,000 in illegal proceeds between 2020 and 2022, according to the Department of Justice.

“They allegedly opened Disinfect Pro Master in April 2020 and entered into service agreements with local businesses and restaurants despite having no employees or supplies of their own,” the U.S. attorney’s office wrote.

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“The indictment alleges WCSO employees handled the company’s day-to-day operations from the sheriff’s office where they picked up schedules and equipment to conduct disinfecting services both on and off the clock with the county.”

Connections between Cuellar and his siblings are further strengthened by their closeness. In the past, Cuellar has used his campaign fundraising apparatus to bolster his family’s chances in their own official pursuits, records show.

According to FEC filings, Cuellar’s campaign and his leadership PAC have paid $11,000 to his sister Rosie Cuellar for doing work for the campaign in 2022 and then donated $1,200 to her bid to become a judge. He has similarly donated $8,400 to his brother, Martin Cuellar, and his campaign to become sheriff in 2008 and 2020.

To at least one onlooker, the family’s woes look interconnected.

“The latest legal trouble surrounding Henry Cuellar’s family proves one thing: the scandals didn’t end with Henry. They simply moved down the family tree,” Christian Martinez, the national Hispanic press secretary for the National Republican Congressional Committee, said in a statement.

“The Cuellar family’s culture of corruption has turned South Texas into a case study of what happens when one self-serving family holds power for too long,” he added.

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Cuellar’s campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.

Having cleared the Texas primary in March, Cuellar now heads to the general election on Nov. 3. Cuellar last won reelection in a 52.8% to 47.2% victory over Republican challenger Jay Furman in 2024.

Amid many Americans’ plummeting support for Israel, potential Democratic presidential candidate Rahm Emanuel on Wednesday took aim at Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Emanuel, who is Jewish and a longtime defender of Israel, appears to have changed his tune and is now cautioning that the alliance between the U.S. and Israel “cannot stand or survive as it’s been.”

The former White House chief of staff to President Barack Obama and one-time Chicago mayor who later served as U.S. ambassador to Japan in the Biden administration, issued the tough-love message for America’s increasingly isolated ally amid its ongoing military operations in Gaza against Hamas.

His message was blunt: Unconditional U.S. support for Israel needs to end, and Israel needs to make major changes if it wants to keep America as its top ally.

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“The hard truth is that America’s silence for years has engendered the worst of your domestic politics. We’ve done you no favors by averting our eyes,” Emanuel argued during his more than 30-minute address at the University of Tel Aviv, the centerpiece of his trip to Israel this week.

And pointing to Netanyahu, Emanuel argued that America’s “unconditional support has produced a prime minister who has presumed that his strategic interests would incur no cost if he ignored America’s concerns.

“I came here from Chicago to tell you directly where things need to head if we are to maintain the historic alliance between two democracies. Without question, the alliance is at a crossroads,” he added.

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A horrific Hamas sneak attack on Oct. 7, 2023, killed roughly 1,200 people in Israel. The continued Israeli response over the past two and a half years has resulted in more than 73,000 people being killed, according to health officials in the Palestinian territory.

Israel’s response has led to condemnation of the country from across the globe, including from longtime advocates for the Jewish state.

“Support for Israel is plummeting around the world. You’ve lost Europe, your biggest economic partner,” Emanuel emphasized.

“Israel has never been more strategically isolated.”

Democrats have become increasingly divided over the war in Gaza, with a growing number of politicians on the left charging that Israel’s actions against the Palestinians are “genocide” and calling for a halt to longstanding U.S. military aid to the Middle East nation.

Roughly half of Democrats questioned in a new Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll said Israel had committed genocide in its war with Hamas. Meanwhile, 58% said the U.S. is “too supportive” of Israel, which is up 13 points since January.

Most Republicans remain strong supporters of Israel, although there’s increasing unease among some in MAGA/America First camp.

The poll indicated a slight deterioration in support for Israel among those in the GOP, but overall only a sliver of Republicans questioned felt that Israel had committed genocide.

Emanuel called for a “new and fundamentally new approach to this alliance. … To maintain the strength of our ties, we need significant changes and a new direction.”

21 DEMOCRATS WHO MAY RUN FOR THE WHITE HOUSE IN 2028

And he sketched out early ideas for a new peace process.

“The now-discredited path to a ‘two-state solution’ should be replaced by a 23-state solution: The 21 Arab nations that have exploited Palestinian rights as a slogan for decades now need to roll up their sleeves and stand up a governing authority capable of accepting the historic Jewish connection to this land,” Emanuel proposed.

“If Israel made peace with 21 … Arab nations, that would be your greatest day and Iran’s worst nightmare.”

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Emanuel’s proposals include sanctioning Israelis who attack Palestinian civilians and property, along with companies and banks that support Israeli settlements in the West Bank that most of the international community consider illegal.

He also called for ending U.S. subsidies to Israel’s defense budget, arguing the country “should be able to buy American arms under the same financial terms, the same restrictions and the same requirements as every other trusted ally that abides by our laws.”

For Emanuel, long known as a moderate who has clashed with the left-wing faction of his party, the speech appeared to be an attempt to find what he’s described as a realistic middle ground.

His message: “Those chanting ‘from the river to the sea’ need to hear this: You will never have your way.

“Those calling for a greater Israel, you need to hear this: You will never have your way, either. Both of them are fantasies chanted by fanatics that lead to perpetual endless conflict.”

Netanyahu, who years ago famously slammed Emanuel as a “self-hating Jew,” had yet to respond to the speech at the time this report posted.

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Emanuel, who has been crisscrossing the country this year as he considers a presidential bid, has made two stops in New Hampshire, which has traditionally held the first primary in the White House race.

He has also made trips to two other crucial early primary election states — Nevada and South Carolina.

Political heavyweight Dana White, whose endorsement of President Donald Trump was instrumental in his 2024 victory, is now hinting that he may jump back into presidential politics in 2028 because he has “become really close” with Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

This comes as White’s UFC announced a rare “sports diplomacy” partnership with the State Department this week. White and Rubio signed a memorandum of understanding establishing the partnership last month, according to a UFC statement. The league said that as part of the agreement, UFC athletes and coaches will serve as “sports ambassadors” for young athletes around the world through the State Department’s Sports Envoy Program.

White was explicitly asked by OutKick’s Tomi Lahren, whether there are any leaders he is looking at for 2028, to which he responded, “It’s funny, As I was, leading up to the White House fight, doing all this media, you know, a lot of the left media was saying to me, ‘So, you’re out of politics after this, right?’ And I can’t remember who it was that I said it to but … I said, ‘I’ve become really close to Rubio.’ We’ve become really close.”

“People are asking me if I’m going to get out of politics when the president leaves and I just said, ‘I’ve become very close to Rubio.’ He and I have become friends,” he emphasized.

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White said that Rubio “is a great guy, I like him,” adding, “He’s smart, I like the way he handles himself.”

He also said, “I’ve met his sons, and I like his kids and, you know, so, never say never.”

Pressed on whether Rubio is his official pick to succeed Trump as president, White clarified, “I’m not saying I’m picking.” He noted that he also likes Vice President JD Vance, who, alongside Rubio, is a rumored 2028 presidential frontrunner.

“JD is a great guy too,” said White, adding, “It’s a tricky situation, and I don’t know enough about politics to even comment on that, but, yeah, I don’t know, but it’s not a bad thing to have two strong candidates.”

Rubio and Vance are the two Republicans most discussed as possible successors to Trump. While Rubio ran for president in 2016, he has expressed support for Vance, calling him a “close friend” and saying the vice president “would be a great nominee if he decides he wants to do that.”

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Though White stopped short of issuing a full-throated endorsement of Rubio, his partnership with the State Department through UFC underscores the high regard he appears to have for the secretary.

This is the first time the UFC has entered into such a partnership with the State Department. The NFL, which entered into a similar agreement in January, is the only other major sports organization to have signed such a formal agreement with the department.

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UFC Chief Operating Officer Lawrence Epstein said the league is “thrilled” about the partnership. He said it would allow the State Department and UFC to “work together to build bridges through community engagement.”

“We’re excited to join this program, led by Secretary Rubio, as UFC is a truly global organization with athletes representing 75 countries. We can’t wait to get started later this year,” said Epstein.

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In turn, Rubio spoke very highly of the UFC, saying it “has become a global phenomenon by embracing values that resonate far beyond the Octagon: excellence, discipline, opportunity, and meritocracy.”

The secretary said the State Department is “proud” to launch the sports diplomacy partnership with UFC and to “continue growing the sport of MMA.”

With Graham Platner facing mounting pressure to end his Senate campaign after rape allegations surfaced Monday, longtime Maine Democrat Troy Jackson filed paperwork Tuesday positioning himself to enter the U.S. Senate race should the Democratic nomination become available.

Prominent Democratic leaders, including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., have withdrawn their support for Platner and urged him to end his campaign. Platner has denied the allegations as “categorically false” and has remained in the race.

Under Maine law, Platner has until Monday, July 13, 2026, to withdraw if Democrats hope to replace him on the November ballot. If he steps aside before the deadline, the state Democratic Party will have until July 27, 2026, to choose a new nominee.

Jackson, who lost the Democratic gubernatorial primary just weeks ago, signaled his interest in the Senate race by filing a Statement of Candidacy with the Federal Election Commission. He later took to social media to condemn the allegations against Platner while emphasizing that he has not yet decided whether to seek the nomination.

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“While I haven’t made any final decisions yet, I’m deeply humbled by the outpouring of support and encouragement I’ve received,” Jackson wrote. “I’m currently weighing the best path forward to support our progressive movement and the working class political revolution Mainers are fighting for.”

Jackson and Platner ran closely aligned progressive campaigns and appeared together at campaign events throughout the 2026 election cycle. Both embraced a progressive platform and earned the backing of Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt.

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Following the allegations against Platner, however, Our Revolution — the progressive political organization Sanders founded after his 2016 presidential campaign — withdrew its endorsement of Platner and instead backed Jackson, whom it had also endorsed during his gubernatorial campaign.

“We have days, not weeks, to make sure a real progressive is on this ballot,” Our Revolution Executive Director Joseph Geevarghese said in a statement. “If we do not organize now, we risk watching the Democratic establishment handing Maine a corporate placeholder while the party that just got outvoted decides it knows better. We refuse to let that happen.”

Jackson’s ties to Sanders stretch back more than a decade. He was one of the few Democratic National Committee superdelegates to endorse Sanders over Hillary Clinton during the 2016 Democratic presidential primary and later served as Sanders’ Maine political director, introducing him at campaign rallies across the state. Sanders later returned the favor, endorsing Jackson’s gubernatorial campaign and appearing alongside him on the campaign trail.

FOX NEWS POLL: MAINE SENATE RACE IS TIGHT, WITH CONCERNS ABOUT BOTH CANDIDATES

“Fighting for the working class of Maine is not something new for Troy,” Sanders said during a campaign rally. “That’s what he has done for his entire life as a logger and as a member of the Maine state legislature. Troy knows what’s going on with the working class of Maine because he’s part of that working class.”

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A fifth-generation logger and one of Maine’s best-known labor Democrats, Jackson spent more than two decades in the state Legislature, including six years as president of the Maine Senate before leaving the post in 2024.

During his gubernatorial campaign, he ran on a platform that included universal child care, Medicare for All and the creation of a Department of Affordable Housing. He also secured endorsements from more than 20 labor unions, cementing his reputation as a working-class progressive.

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Despite his progressive politics, Jackson has repeatedly won elections in one of Maine’s most Republican regions. He represented northern Aroostook County, a largely rural district that has consistently supported President Donald Trump by double-digit margins in recent presidential elections. Jackson has argued that his success stems from focusing on working-class economic issues rather than partisan labels.

Fox News Digital reached out to Jackson for comment.

President Donald Trump addressed speculation about the dangers of flying home from the NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey, amid Iranian threats, saying he is not flying home on the new Air Force One because the aircraft is being sent to the United Kingdom.

“It’s flying to Europe, to one of the big bases,” Trump said. “Two or three of the big bases where we can show it to the people. And we’ll be going home by normal methods.”

Trump said the aircraft would stop at “a couple of bases,” including one in particular, “so the soldiers can see it, because it’s truly magnificent.”

NEW AIR FORCE ONE TAKES FLIGHT AS TRUMP UNVEILS REVAMPED PRESIDENTIAL AIRCRAFT

In a Truth Social post earlier Wednesday, Trump said the new aircraft was being sent to Mildenhall Air Force Base in the United Kingdom to honor U.S. troops.

“To honor our brave men and women of the Military, we are sending the brand new, and truly spectacular, Air Force One to Mildenhall Air Force Base, in the United Kingdom, to give them a chance to tour the Aircraft — Everybody is so excited, and we thought that they should be the first,” Trump wrote.

“For old time’s sake, we’ll be taking the former Air Force One, from Turkey to Mildenhall, a short trip that is totally worth doing in order to give our Great Military Heroes a chance to appreciate our beautiful new addition to the Air Force Fleet!” he added.

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Trump was pressed during a news conference about speculation that he was leaving Turkey on the older presidential aircraft due to possible threats from Iran.

“Well, I speak about it a lot because, you know, the life of a president is very dangerous,” Trump said, adding that he is “No. 1 on the kill list for Iran.

“They’re lovely people. I’m No. 1.”

TRUMP FACES UNPRECEDENTED THIRD ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT

Trump, the target of at least three assassination attempts, has frequently addressed the danger of being the leader of the free world, noting the mortality rate is “5.2%” for U.S. presidents.

“You know what a race car driver is? One tenth of 1%,” Trump continued. “A bull rider – that looks pretty dangerous to me – it’s one tenth of 1%.

“You should have told me,” the president said. “You’re an excellent reporter. You should have told me that years ago, maybe I wouldn’t have run. It’s a very dangerous profession.”

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Trump added he doesn’t “really care” about the threats or danger, “because I’m doing my job.”

“I like being No. 1 on TikTok better,” Trump said, “but I’m No. 1 on the list for killing.”

Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce’s Madison Square Garden wedding is drawing backlash from socialist commentators who say the celebrity spectacle showcased billionaire excess and disrupted New York City during a crowded holiday weekend.

“Controversial opinion: I think this is a dramatic misuse of public resources,” socialist Twitch host Hasan Piker in a livestream Friday. “I think it’s insane. I think it’s a bad look. I think it’s, it’s, it’s heightening the contradictions. It’s showcasing one again that like, no matter how beloved a public figure you might be, you’re still, if you’re a billionaire, you’re still a billionaire and you are going to do billionaire s–t.” 

The pop star has historically been embraced by the left, including when she endorsed then-President Joe Biden and then-Vice President Kamala Harris in the 2024 race, when she criticized President Donald Trump over the George Floyd protests in 2020 and for her pro-abortion stance. Her massive Madison Square Garden wedding has reopened criticism of her billionaire status, with socialist voices blasting the spectacle as Manhattan dealt with holiday-weekend crowds, street closures and added pressure from the ongoing World Cup games. 

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“This is a glaringly obvious example of that. This is straightforwardly a flex I think. It is straightforwardly a flex to be like, ‘Yeah, I can do this, f it.’ And I kind of think it is a little tacky, at best,” Piker added.

Swift and Kelce tied the knot on Friday at Maddison Square Garden (MSG) in front of 1,000 guests, keeping much of their garden-themed wedding under wraps to the public.

Fox News Digital previously reported Swift wore a Christian Dior wedding dress, comedian Adam Sandler officiated the ceremony, and guests played a raffle game to win lavish prizes.

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Like other large events at MSG, the Swift-Kelce wedding led to street closures in the area, complicating access to transportation such as nearby Penn Station. 

“She’s just another psychotic billionaire. On a holiday weekend. Amidst all this worldwide suffering, the ultra-wealthy still have no compunction. Unreal,” Democratic Socialists of America member and political talk show “Majority Report” host Emma Vigeland posted on X.

“I’m sorry but he’s right. I’m sorry, swifties,” wrote pro-socialist account on X.

The backlash comes as socialist-aligned voices are gaining more influence in New York Democratic politics, with several candidates backed by Mayor Zohran Mamdani defeating incumbents in recent primaries.

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Democrats also took shots at the wedding, including former NYC Mayor Eric Adams’ spokesman Fabien Levy. 

“Unpopular opinion but this takes Groomzilla and Bridezilla energy to a new level,” wrote Levy on X.

“This wedding is inconveniencing thousands of local residents, impacting the nation’s largest transit hub, and taking cops away from patrolling streets when we’re in a heightened threat environment,” Levy continued.

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The White House also weighed in, using the moment to poke fun at the fanfare surrounding the couple’s nuptials by sharing a meme of Madison Square Garden’s pink sign altered to read, “Trump is your president.”

China is using control over global seas as a tool of “political coercion,” the U.S. ambassador to the United Kingdom warned, as President Donald Trump is restating his interest in Greenland for that very same reason.

China is seeking to turn ports, ships and supply chains into instruments of geopolitical leverage, U.S. Ambassador to the U.K. Warren Stephens warned in a statement to the International Maritime Organization Council (IMO).

“I spoke about a challenge that we cannot afford to ignore: China’s systematic effort to use maritime power as an instrument of political coercion,” Stephens wrote in a Truth Social post after the speech. “Beijing has pursued an aggressive strategy of acquiring port concessions and infrastructure around the world — not simply for commercial gain, but to extend its strategic reach and weaponize that access against sovereign nations.”

The U.S. is “not a passive observer of maritime affairs,” Stephens told the IMO, calling America a “cornerstone of the global maritime economy.” He said the U.S. Maritime Transportation System supports $5.4 trillion in economic activity each year and nearly 30 million jobs.

SEN TODD YOUNG: THE HIDDEN DANGER CHINA’S SHIPS COULD BRING TO OUR SHORES

The warning comes as Trump continued peacemaking efforts in the Strait of Hormuz and pressing Demark and NATO for U.S. control over Greenland due to Chinese and Russian threats to free navigation in the Arctic.

“Denmark doesn’t spend money to really help Greenland, but it’s an important part for the United States, and it’s surrounded by China ships and Russian ships,” Trump said at the NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey.

For global security, Greenland “should be controlled by the United States, not by Denmark,” Trump added.

“They wouldn’t go along with it,” Trump said of Denmark. “And with all the money we spend to help them with Russia. And we don’t have to spend any money, we could remove all of our soldiers out of Europe because, as you probably noticed, Europe is a very different place than it was 20 years ago. A lot different.”

DENMARK VOWS TO DEFEND GREENLAND AFTER TRUMP REITERATES US SHOULD CONTROL TERRITORY

Greenland’s position between the Arctic and North Atlantic has made it a key piece of U.S. security planning.

“President Trump has made restoring American maritime leadership a national priority,” Stephens said in his IMO remarks warning on China’s broader maritime footprint.

“The evidence is clear and growing,” Stephens said. “China currently builds more than half of the world’s ships. It dominates the production of ship-to-shore cranes and shipping containers.”

Stephens cited Panama as a recent example, pointing to a ruling by Panama’s Supreme Court that found CK Hutchison’s port concessions at the Balboa and Cristóbal terminals unconstitutional. The terminals sit at opposite ends of the Panama Canal, one of the world’s most strategically important trade corridors.

TRUMP MAKES FRESH GREENLAND PLAY AFTER XI TALKS AS CHINA’S ARCTIC AMBITIONS LOOM

Stephens said China’s response to the Panama ruling was “swift and punishing,” accusing Beijing of taking action against Panama-flagged vessels in a move the U.S. characterized as an attempt to undermine Panama’s sovereignty and disrupt global supply chains.

“What happened to Panama is a warning to every nation in this room,” Stephens said.

“When a country allows a foreign power or its proxies to control its ports, it does not simply accept a commercial arrangement,” he added. “It accepts a vulnerability.”

Stephens urged IMO member states to closely scrutinize deals allowing foreign entities, especially state-linked enterprises, to operate critical port infrastructure.

“Transparency, the rule of law, and genuine sovereignty are not obstacles to commerce,” Stephens said. “They are its foundation.”

The ambassador also said the U.S. would press for maritime security, sanctions enforcement, protection of flag state rights, freedom of navigation and updated standards on polar operations, autonomous vessels and cyber risk management.

“The pattern is consistent: China uses its maritime and economic power to coerce, to intimidate, and to punish those who assert their sovereign rights,” Stephens said.

The Chinese government has routinely rejected U.S. accusations that its overseas infrastructure investments are coercive, portraying its port, shipping and Belt and Road projects as commercial partnerships that support global trade and development.

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Stephens said the U.S. will continue contributing expertise, resources and leadership at the IMO, but warned that the rules-based maritime order cannot be taken for granted.

“A free and open ocean is not guaranteed,” he said. “It must be defended.”

Former Wisconsin Judge Hannah Dugan was ordered Wednesday to pay a $5,000 fine for obstructing the arrest of an illegal immigrant at a courthouse, but she will not serve any prison time.

Dugan, 67, was convicted of felony obstruction last year after federal agents attempted to serve a warrant to Eduardo Flores-Ruiz on April 18, 2025. She was acquitted of concealing an individual to prevent arrest, a misdemeanor. She faced up to five years in prison. 

Prosecutors had asked that Dugan be sentenced to between 15 and 21 months. 

DEM JUDGE IN HOT SEAT AFTER DHS EXPOSES ‘WHOLE NEW LEVEL’ OF ACTIVISM, SHELTERING ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT

Dugan addressed the case against her on Wednesday just before U.S. District Judge Lynn Adelman imposed her sentence, defending her actions and announcing she intends to “return to public service.” 

“My acts that day were consistent with community concerns at the courthouse,” Dugan said. “My judicial acts were not done with any malicious intent or to advance any personal interests.”

“Since the government’s arrest of me, I was forced to retire… In January, I resigned from my office, so the constituents would have a judge in my branch to begin the year,” she added. “I have been cast as a scaffold and as a hero. I am neither. I am a public servant who was just trying to do my job. Your honor, I will not let those minutes on April 18, 2025 define my life’s work. It is my intent to return to public service.”

In January, Dugan resigned from the Milwaukee County circuit judgeship amid threats of impeachment from Republican state lawmakers, who labeled her an activist judge.

Before her sentencing, several people testified on her behalf. 

“Hannah models what it means to be Christian,” said Rev. Gregory J. O’Meara, a Jesuit priest, lawyer and law professor who met Dugan at the University of Wisconsin’s law school. “We’ve made arrangements to hold service for her privately because she’s been hassled. I do not think there is a need for further punishment, deterrence, retribution or reform.”

Janine Geske, a law professor at Marquette University, said Dugan’s life wasn’t “completely defined by her work.”

“She has been punished by being handcuffed… by being in the media… all she loves to do is share with others,” Geske said. “She has lost her profession and her income and she’s here humbly to ask you to give her the opportunity to return to the community.”

HOUSE CONSERVATIVES RALLY BEHIND PUSH TO IMPEACH JUDGE BOASBERG OVER ROLE IN TRUMP INVESTIGATION

On the day of the incident, ICE agents appeared at the Milwaukee County courthouse after learning Flores-Ruiz, 31, had re-entered the United States illegally and was scheduled to appear before Dugan for a hearing in a state battery case. 

Upon learning ICE agents were in the building, Dugan confronted them outside her courtroom, arguing their administrative warrant was insufficient to arrest Flores-Ruiz. She told the agents to go to the chief judge’s office down the hall and then directed Flores-Ruiz and his attorney to leave her courtroom through a back door, federal prosecutors said. 

Flores-Ruiz was spotted moments later by the agents, who followed him outside and arrested him after a brief foot chase.

Dugan’s lawyers argued that she was shielded from prosecution because of her position as a judge. However, Adelman rejected the argument. 

“What judges around the country are looking at this case and saying, ‘Yes, Sign me up?’ There won’t be a crime wave of judges defying ICE. No judges have acted similarly,” Dugan’s defense attorney Steve Biskupic said Wednesday in court. 

Prosecutors said Dugan violated her oath as a judge, putting the lives of law enforcement officers and the public at risk, while Republican lawmakers cast her as an activist judge. 

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Dugan was arrested by the FBI weeks after the confrontation with ICE and led outside in handcuffs. Flores-Ruiz has since been deported.

President Donald Trump’s lawyers asked the Supreme Court to reconsider its decision rejecting his appeal of the $5 million civil judgment awarded to writer E. Jean Carroll, a request filed after the justices turned away the case last week.

The court denied Trump’s petition June 29 without taking up the case, leaving in place the judgment tied to a 2023 jury verdict that found Trump liable for sexually abusing Carroll in the 1990s and defaming her. Trump has denied Carroll’s allegations.

In the rehearing petition, Trump’s lawyers argue the court should reopen the case because he plans to file a separate Supreme Court appeal in another Carroll defamation case that they say will raise presidential immunity questions.

TRUMP SAYS HE WILL ‘CONTINUE THE FIGHT’ AFTER SUPREME COURT DECLINES TO REVIEW CARROLL ABUSE VERDICT

They asked the justices to “grant rehearing” or hold the petition while the related case proceeds.

“Petitioner President Donald J. Trump respectfully petitions for rehearing of this Court’s June 29, 2026 order denying his petition for a writ of certiorari,” the Michael Martinich-Sauter filing read. “Rehearing is warranted because President Trump will imminently file a petition for a writ of certiorari in Carroll v. Trump, No. 24-644 (2d Cir.) (“Carroll I”), which will present vital questions concerning Presidential immunity for official statements.

“Those questions are likely to bear on the proper disposition of Trump v. Carroll, No. 25-573 (“Carroll II”), due to the fact that Respondent improperly introduced and relied on those same official Presidential statements at trial in Carroll II. See Trump v. United States, 603 U.S. 593, 630-32 (2024).

“The Court should grant rehearing, and either grant the petition in this case, or hold it pending the disposition of the petition in Carroll I.”

MORNING GLORY: THE SUPREME COURT OFFICIALLY CLOSES THE BOOKS ON ANOTHER TERM

The request faces steep odds. Supreme Court rules limit rehearing petitions after the denial of certiorari to intervening circumstances with a substantial or controlling effect, or other substantial grounds not previously presented.

The Supreme Court docket shows Trump’s first rehearing filing was not accepted Monday because a correction was needed.

The corrected petition was submitted Wednesday. The court has not yet ruled on the rehearing request.

READ THE REHEARING PETITION — APP USERS, CLICK HERE:

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A decision could come later this month, perhaps as soon as July 20.

Fox News’ Shannon Bream and William Mears contributed to this report

A top Democratic senator admitted on CBS News that he believes President Donald Trump “wisely” made the critical demand to NATO allies to spend more on defense.

Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., who is in Turkey this week as part of a bipartisan congressional delegation to NATO, spoke with CBS News when an anchor laughingly asked him about Trump’s “strange relationship with NATO over his push for them to spend more on security.” The anchor asked Durbin, “Where does this relationship go from here?”

In response, Durbin described Trump’s relationship with NATO as a “back-and-forth, love-and-hate relationship.” He went on to say that “the president has, I think, wisely asked for our NATO allies, there are 32 members of NATO, to spend more of their own money to protect themselves.”

“That’s not an unreasonable ask,” he added.

TRUMP ENTERS FINAL NATO SUMMIT DAY AS UKRAINE, DEFENSE SPENDING TAKE CENTER STAGE

Durbin, who has served in the Senate for nearly 30 years, is the minority whip and ranking member of the influential Judiciary Committee. He is in Ankara, Turkey’s capital, as part of a congressional delegation led by Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., to the 2026 NATO Summit. Trump is also attending the summit, accompanied by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and National Security Adviser Michael Waltz.

Durbin did not spend all his time praising the president. Speaking from Ankara, he went on to say that “there have been things that happened during his second presidency which raised the question of our commitment to the future of NATO.”

“I believe in it; that’s why I’m here. And I’ve found that of the delegates that are here from all over the region, part of NATO, that they believe, as I do, that we’re a safer world with the NATO alliance. We have been since 1945.”

TRUMP BETS ON FORMER NATO TROUBLEMAKER AS TURKEY’S STRATEGIC VALUE SURGES

He added that the summit “will be an opportunity for us to convince the president, if we have to, to move forward with this relationship.”

Before traveling to Turkey for the summit, Trump vented his frustration about NATO, writing in a social media post that “the United States spends more money on NATO than any other country, by far, to protect them, without getting any benefit from so doing: U.S. 999 Billion Dollars, United Kingdom, 90.5 Billion Dollars, France, 66.5 Billion Dollars, Italy, 48.8 Billion Dollars, Poland, 44.3 Billion Dollars. Others, including Germany, are MUCH LOWER. (2014-2025) Ridiculous!”

A NATO release stated that the “cut-off date for information used in this report was 3 June 2025” and that “figures for 2024 and 2025 are estimates.” It listed estimated 2025 U.S. defense spending at $980 billion, the United Kingdom’s at $90.508 billion, France’s at $66.531 billion, Italy’s at $48.8 billion and Poland’s at $44.314 billion.

TRUMP CALLS OUT NATO AHEAD OF SUMMIT, CALLING IT ‘RIDICULOUS’ FOR US TO PERSIST ON ‘ONE SIDED PATH’

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In another post, Trump said it is “ridiculous for the U.S.A. to continue along this one sided path when the relationship is not reciprocal. They were not there for us!!!”

The president’s comments came after NATO leaders backed a new defense spending benchmark calling on allies to invest 5% of gross domestic product in defense and defense-related expenditures.

Fox News Digital’s Alex Nitzberg and Morgan Phillips contributed to this report.

FIRST ON FOX: The YMCA is facing renewed pressure to change its policies on transgender access to sex-segregated locker rooms, sports teams and overnight accommodations after the American Parents Coalition (APC) argued the organization’s rules conflict with the Supreme Court‘s recent Title IX rulings.

The coalition argued the nonprofit, which operates about 2,600 locations nationwide and receives more than $600 million annually in government funding, should update its policies to align with the Supreme Court’s interpretation of Title IX because it accepts taxpayer funding.

In a letter sent this week to YMCA President and CEO Suzanne McCormick and the organization’s board of directors, APC urged the organization to revise its policies governing sports, bathrooms, locker rooms and overnight accommodations following the Supreme Court’s June 30 decisions in West Virginia v. B.P.J. and Little v. Hecox. In a 9-0 decision, the Supreme Court ruled that states can limit women’s and girls’ sports to biological females and that Title IX’s use of the word “sex” refers to biological sex.

CONSERVATIVES HAIL JUSTICE THOMAS FOR ‘TRUTH BOMB’ ABOUT RULING PROTECTING WOMEN’S SPORTS

“The Supreme Court has drawn an unmistakable line by reaffirming that Title IX’s protections are rooted in biological sex,” American Parents Coalition Executive Director Alleigh Marré said in a statement. “The YMCA has ignored parents’ concerns for far too long while maintaining policies that undermine the privacy, safety, and fairness Title IX was enacted to protect. The Court’s decisions should serve as a wake-up call for every federally funded institution.”

The coalition is calling on YMCA leadership to rescind policies allowing biological males to participate in female sports or access female-only bathrooms, locker rooms and overnight accommodations, publish updated policies recognizing sex-based protections for women and girls, and publicly affirm the organization’s commitment to complying with Title IX.

“The Supreme Court has now made clear that biological sex is the legally operative distinction under Title IX,” the letter states. “The YMCA faces a choice. It can restore policies that protect women and girls, rebuild parents’ trust, and align its practices with the law as interpreted by the highest court in the land.”

BIDEN OFFICIALS CIRCUMVENTED COURT ORDER IN TITLE IX CASES, INCLUDING MALES IN GIRLS’ SPORTS, DOCS SHOW

The letter marks the latest step in APC’s yearlong campaign targeting the YMCA’s transgender inclusion policies. Last year, the organization filed Title IX complaints with the Departments of Education, Health and Human Services, and Housing and Urban Development, alleging the YMCA’s policies violated federal civil rights law. It also asked Congress to investigate the YMCA’s use of federal funding.

APC argues that although the Supreme Court’s recent rulings focused on women’s sports, the Court’s reasoning extends to other sex-separated spaces. The group contends YMCA policies allowing individuals to use bathrooms, locker rooms, overnight accommodations and participate on sports teams according to their gender identity are inconsistent with the Court’s interpretation of Title IX.

The coalition also alleges the YMCA removed or revised webpages describing some of its gender identity policies after they received public scrutiny while leaving the underlying policies unchanged. APC further claims some YMCA camps continue allowing counselors to stay in cabins that correspond with their gender identity rather than their biological sex.

TRUMP CABINET MEMBER SCRAPS OBAMA-ERA GENDER IDENTITY HOUSING RULE, CITES ‘BIOLOGICAL REALITY’

A Fox News Digital review found several local YMCA associations, including the YMCA of Metropolitan Detroit, Lakeland Hills YMCA in New Jersey and the Gateway Region YMCA, maintain policies allowing members to use bathrooms and locker rooms that correspond with their gender identity.

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The renewed criticism comes a month after controversy at a San Francisco YMCA drew national attention. After months of complaints from some members regarding a transgender woman using the women’s locker room at the Stonestown branch, the facility adopted updated locker room guidelines emphasizing that nudity should be “discreet, limited, and brief” while instructing members to respect others’ privacy and personal space. The revised rules addressed conduct inside the locker room but did not change the YMCA’s policy allowing transgender members to access facilities consistent with their gender identity.

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The YMCA did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment on APC’s allegations or whether it plans to review its policies following the Supreme Court’s decisions.

Several Democrats are speculated to be options to replace Maine Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner on the ballot if he ends his campaign, which many expect him to do following an ex-girlfriend’s allegation of rape on Monday.

Under Maine law, if Platner formally withdraws as the Democratic nominee by 5 p.m. on July 13, the Maine Democratic Party can replace him on the general election ballot by selecting a new nominee through its party process, with the replacement required to be chosen by July 27.

A handful of Democrats in the state are being discussed as viable options to challenge incumbent Republican Sen. Susan Collins.

Platner’s campaign, the New York Post reported, is deliberating about potentially dropping out, but that any potential replacement would need to align with the same political platform as Platner.

GRAHAM PLATNER’S CHANCES OF DROPPING OUT SKYROCKET TO 94% AFTER PARTY REVOLT: KALSHI

Troy Jackson

Former state Senate President and gubernatorial candidate Troy Jackson is a name circulating on social media as someone who could potentially jump into the race a month after his failed primary bid for governor.

“This is something I never considered, but if Graham’s stepping away, I am very, very interested and think I’m the best person to replace him,” Jackson told the Bangor Daily News on Monday.

Jackson, who, like Platner, is backed by Vermont independent Senator Bernie Sanders, came in third in the Democratic gubernatorial primary last month.

On Tuesday, the Bangor Daily News reported that Jackson filed paperwork to explore a Senate run, the first potential candidate to do so. 

FOX NEWS POLL: MAINE SENATE RACE IS TIGHT, WITH CONCERNS ABOUT BOTH CANDIDATES

Jared Golden

Democratic Rep. Jared Golden, who represents Maine’s right-leaning and mostly rural 2nd Congressional District since first winning election to the U.S. House in 2018, passed on launching a Senate run last year.

Golden, a Marine veteran who served in combat in Afghanistan and Iraq, also decided against seeking re-election and is retiring from Congress when his term ends at the beginning of next year.

Golden, a moderate, has often been at odds with his party leadership over policy.

On Tuesday evening, a Golden spokesperson distanced the congressman from speculation he would run for the seat. 

Angus King III

The 56-year-old son of Sen. Angus King and 2026 Democratic gubernatorial candidate who finished at the bottom of the pack in the single digits in last month’s primary is considering a bid for the Senate if Platner exits the race.

In a statement to News Center Maine, King said: “Right now, I’m taking time to reflect, spend time with my family, and think carefully about how I can make the greatest contribution to the state I love. I’ve never been motivated by holding office. If I decide to run again in any capacity, it will be because I believe I have something meaningful to offer and because it’s the right way to help Maine move forward—not because of the office itself.”

Janet Mills

Mills, the current Democratic governor of the state until her term expires in January, suspended her Senate campaign in April citing anemic fundraising after jumping into the race in October 2025 with the backing of Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer.

The 78-year-old governor remained on the ballot in the June primary and received 19.2% of the vote compared to Platner’s 72.1%.

EXPLOSIVE SEXUAL ASSAULT ALLEGATION ROCKS PLATNER CAMPAIGN AHEAD OF KEY DEADLINE IN CRUCIAL SENATE RACE

Shenna Bellows

Attention is also focused on Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, who was a leading contender in the gubernatorial primary.

Bellows, the first woman to serve as Maine’s secretary of state, grabbed national attention during the 2024 election cycle for attempting to remove President Donald Trump from the state’s ballot.

“While Graham ignited a powerful movement to challenge the status quo, given the seriousness of the allegations, he needs to step down,” Bellows said of Platner in a social media post Monday.

Sara Gideon

Former Maine House Speaker Sara Gideon was the Democratic Senate nominee in the 2020 election.

Polls indicated Gideon leading longtime GOP Sen. Susan Collins, but Gideon ended up losing to the incumbent by nine points.

Paige Loud

Loud, a social worker, finished fourth out of four candidates in the Democratic primary for Maine’s 2nd Congressional District earlier this year, finishing with 10% of the vote. 

“Paige has filed as a Senate candidate for the 2026 midterm in light of the Platner situation,” a spokesperson for Loud said on Tuesday. “In the event Platner drops out, Paige is being proactive in keeping options open for supporters across the state who have voiced a desire for a woman to be considered as the nominee.”

Nirav Shah

Dr. Nirav Shah, who came second in Maine’s Democratic gubernatorial primary, is also being looked at as a potential Platner replacement.

Shah served as director of the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention from 2019 to early 2023 and steered the state’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. He later served as principal deputy director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) during former President Joe Biden’s administration.

“In the past 24 hours, my team and I have received hundreds of encouraging messages, as Graham Platner signaled he will withdraw from Maine’s U.S. Senate race,” Shah said in a statement Tuesday.

He added that he has been having conversations and evaluating “whether I should enter the Senate race.”

Shah, who is viewed as more moderate than Platner, emphasized, “I’m not an establishment politician, and I’m not an insider.”

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Jordan Wood

Wood, who served as chief of staff to then-Rep. Katie Porter of California, last year launched a bid for the Senate in Maine. But as Platner’s political star started to rise, Wood switched his bid to the U.S. House in the race in the state’s 2nd Congressional District to succeed retiring Democratic Rep. Jared Golden.

Wood, who vowed to take on the establishment and battle corruption, ended up finishing third in last month’s Democratic primary.

“I am continuing conversations with voters across Maine if I should enter an open Senate race,” Wood wrote in a social media post on Tuesday. “If my fellow Maine Democrats decide through an open and democratic process that I am the best candidate to defeat Susan Collins, I would be humbled by your trust.”

David Costello

Former Deputy Secretary of the Maryland Department of the Environment David Costello was the Democratic Senate nominee in Maine in the 2024 election, coming in a distant third to incumbent independent Sen. Angus King.

Costello ran a second straight cycle, coming in a distant third to Platner in last month’s Democratic Senate primary.

In a social media post on Tuesday, Costello wrote, “I’m back in, if Graham Platner withdraws,” and he touted that he believes he’s “the best candidate to defeat Susan Collins.”

Dan Kleban

Maine Beer Company co-founder Dan Kleban is also considered a potential candidate. A source in Kleban’s camp said the former candidate has been receiving calls and encouragement to run again.

State law does not require a new primary election or specify how the replacement must be chosen, leaving the process to the Maine Democratic Party’s internal rules. Party leaders said in a Monday press release that they intend to use an open and inclusive process, though they have not yet announced exactly how a replacement would be selected.

Late Tuesday night, the Maine Democrats X account posted a video reacting to the situation.

“As you know, the Maine Democratic Party has been working around the [clock] and we are committed to ensuring that Democrats across [Maine] [have a voice in the process],” Maine Democratic Party Executive Director Devon Murphy-Anderson said.

“Unfortunately, Graham Platner’s team has repeatedly reached out to us in an attempt to put their thumb on the scale of determining our next Democratic nominee for the U.S. [Senate].  We have also reiterated [that the focus] in Maine can 1783518918 focus on defeating Susan Collins this November as soon as Graham Platner formally withdraws from this race.”