00:00The Democratic Party's hopes of flipping a critical U.S. Senate seat in Maine have descended
00:04into chaos. Graham Plattner was spotted with his wife outside his home late yesterday. It's the
00:09first time he's been seen since an ex-girlfriend accused him of rape, which of course he denies.
00:14It came as a fresh allegation surfaced from another ex who claimed he had a sneaky habit
00:20of removing his condom during sex. When she confronted him about the dangerous behavior,
00:25he'd apparently laughed it off thinking he was being cute. Now the embattled Democratic nominee
00:31is reportedly discussing whether to drop out of the race and sources tell the New York Post
00:35his decision hinges on one outrageous demand that he gets to pick his own successor.
00:42Sources say Plattner is holding his party hostage by insisting that any replacement share his exact
00:47same progressive politics. Several names have already emerged, including former Maine Senate
00:53President Troy Jackson, reportedly the top pick of the Plattner campaign, Maine's Secretary of State
00:58Shanna Bellows, former CDC Director Nirav Shah, and former Congressional candidate Jordan Wood.
01:03If Plattner doesn't withdraw before the state's July 13th deadline, his name will stay on the ballot.
01:09If he quits, Maine Democrats will have just two weeks to choose a new nominee.
01:13The alleged sexual assault, the latest in a string of controversies for Plattner,
01:18prompted several Democratic leaders to finally abandon him. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer
01:23pulled his endorsement. He'd initially backed Governor Janet Mills in the Democratic primary,
01:28but once Plattner officially became the nominee, Schumer said, quote,
01:31Maine voters will elect Graham Plattner and we will win a Senate majority.
01:35Bernie Sanders, who was one of Plattner's biggest defenders through all of his previous scandals,
01:39is now publicly urging him to step aside. Now Sanders had previously said, quote,
01:44there are no saints in the United States Senate and nobody's perfect. And New York City Mayor Zora
01:49Memdani is also calling on him to drop out, even though his former strategist, Morris Katz,
01:53is reportedly the one pushing to give Plattner the dealer's choice on his replacement.
01:59Even if Plattner does drop out and a new, less controversial candidate takes his place,
02:04has the damage already been done for the Democrats? Will this scandal follow them around the country and
02:09crash that blue wave many had predicted for the midterms? The Post's political reporter,
02:14Ryan King, has been digging into that.
02:16It's certainly a significant blow to the Democrats' brand heading into the midterm elections. I mean,
02:23part of their sell to voters is that Democrats have been a bit more moral than Republicans have
02:30been under Trump. And now they have to defend the fact that many of them, particularly in leadership
02:37and some of the most prominent members of the Democratic Party, had stood by Graham Plattner when
02:44a series of scandals broke against him. There were a lot of warning signs about this, and many of them
02:50stood by him nonetheless. And now that the rape allegations came out, they have started to distance
02:58themselves. And I think most of the impact from this will be in Maine, where Democrats are trying to get
03:08him to drop out of the race before the July 13th deadline. That would enable them to easily replace
03:17him with another nominee. And they think that that will help boost their chances of winning in November.
03:26But whoever gets the nomination on the Democrat side in Maine will likely have this stain on their
03:35candidacy. And then, of course, Republicans are going to take this and knock Democrats with this
03:41all throughout the coming weeks and see how that resonates with voters. But I think it certainly
03:50does damage the Democrats' brand. I'm not so sure that it will prevent the
03:57move the needle too much in terms of where things stand with control of Congress, particularly when it comes
04:04to House races. On the Senate side, Maine was always a bit of a tough race for both Republicans and
04:11Democrats.
04:11It was always a race that could go either way. And I think most of the fallout on the Senate
04:18side of things will be largely contained to Maine. So I think I think they got a lot of branding
04:25damage, but it's not
04:27necessarily going to significantly damage their chances of having a successful midterm election.
04:36Is Senator Mitch McConnell really calling colleagues from a hospital bed or is there something else going on?
04:42That's the question fueling a wave of online conspiracy theories after a 911 dispatch audio revealed the 84-year-old
04:49senator was rushed to the hospital last month after being found unconscious at his D.C. home.
04:54The audio sparked wild speculation online, including claims from conservative commentator Laura Loomer
04:59that McConnell was, quote, brain dead and that his condition was being covered up.
05:04But McConnell's office is finally pushing back. A spokesperson says the senator is continuing to recover,
05:10even working with his staff from the hospital. The senator, according to his staff, appreciates the
05:14outpouring of support. Several prominent Republicans have also said they personally spoke with McConnell
05:20this week. Senate Majority Leader John Thune, Senator John Barrasso and former McConnell advisor
05:25Scott Jennings all say they received calls from the Kentucky Republican. Jennings said their conversation
05:30lasted nearly 20 minutes and included discussions about Iran, Ukraine, Maine politics and Senate history.
05:35For now, though, the 84-year-old senator remains hospitalized. His office says he is
05:40improving even as the online rumor mill remains spinning.
05:44For more on these stories and everything else you could possibly want to know, check out the
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