It takes guts to admit when you're wrong, and a lot of journalists and other Democrats spent Tuesday admitting they were wrong about Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner … after a sexual assault allegation cost Platner in the polls against incumbent Susan Collins. The New York Times' Michelle Goldberg says she was taken in by Platner's "political charisma," as was John V. Last at The Bulwark, who wrote a piece suggesting Platner be the Democrats' 2028 nominee for president.
As we reported earlier, a few are digging in their heels. Newsletter scribe Matt Stoller said he wasn't clairvoyant, and then went on to claim that Platner's Nazi tattoo wasn't a Nazi tattoo.
Hasan Piker has dropped Platner like a hot rock and claims "there's a real populist rage brewing" in Maine. David Burge, aka Iowahawk, posted a photo of a young Piker contemplating how to harness that populist rage:
Young Hasan Piker contemplating how to harness working class populist rage for a socialist revolution https://t.co/3n1D1wh8aQ pic.twitter.com/6yvn4UHt9X
— David Burge (@iowahawkblog) July 7, 2026
Burge was back after online pundit Noah Smith admitted he was wrong about Platner's appeal.
The Platner thing isn't hard to understand. He was a real working class white guy who was willing to declare himself part of the leftist team. That's basically a unicorn. They've been dreaming of winning over the white working class forever.
— Noah Smith 🐇🇺🇸🇺🇦🇹🇼 (@Noahpinion) July 7, 2026
That was posted on Monday and was hit with a Community Note:
Readers added context they thought people might want to know
Graham Platner is the son of a lawyer, grandson of an architect, and attended a private boarding school. He was given an oyster farming business, orchestrated by his mother, who's restaurant is it's primary customer.
His father also gave him $200,000 to buy a house, which he said he would have been priced out of if it weren't for his veteran's benefits.
OK I got owned on this tweet and I deserved it. Platner is not a real working class white guy. He is merely good at cosplaying one. That was good enough for his supporters and hangers-on.
— Noah Smith 🐇🇺🇸🇺🇦🇹🇼 (@Noahpinion) July 8, 2026
My apologies for being sloppy. https://t.co/gxEYsfXG90
FFS am I the only person on this hellsite with a rudimentary grasp of the working class https://t.co/AQX6RhM8tU
— David Burge (@iowahawkblog) July 8, 2026
No, you're not.
— Darwin A. Garrison (@DarwinAGarrison) July 8, 2026
My dad was a mechanic and my mom stayed at home to raise us in our family’s small single-wide trailer. I’m fluent in working class. https://t.co/X9Hn3P8yik
— Margot Cleveland (@ProfMJCleveland) July 8, 2026
I was walking on stilts hanging and finishing drywall before my wee legs were big enough to be pinned by the top strap.
— Everett Mansfield (@everettmjr) July 8, 2026
So we made dish towel bushings.
I’m made in the same factory where they dye the collars blue, bub.
I get paid every Friday to this day.
I ran one of these for 20 years. Working class enough for ya? You are not alone. pic.twitter.com/UHME2ZXAFJ
— Mary (@thisismary) July 8, 2026
Homo Proletarius: Burrows in small home with wheels, communicates with hands, smells faintly of Hoppe's No. 9, WD-40, neatfoot's oil. Laughs at inappropriate jokes about its betters.
— Jon Gabriel (@exjon) July 8, 2026
Being a poor working class white trash kid who grew up on a college campus has given me the unique perspective of a unicorn.
— EducatëdHillbilly™ (@RobProvince) July 8, 2026
At age 16 I had a part time, after school job as a janitor.
— Cynical Publius (@CynicalPublius) July 8, 2026
$3.10 an hour.
I was so proud of that job.
Turing Test. I still say a meeting of a mechanic, a teacher, a couple others, regular people, at a local Applebee's for a 1-2 hour conversation with the candidate would have caught this 80%+ of the time.
— John Hasley (@PonsSublicius) July 8, 2026
To really recognize a working class person one probably needs to have known a few
— Lord of Misrule (@ComeAndFakeIt) July 8, 2026
Someone said the difference between working class and middle class is if you have the bills on autopay or not. IDK if it's a good definition but at least it is one
— Yeshaya (@Yeshaya86) July 8, 2026
🙋🏼♂️
— Ryan A. Stambaugh (@StambaughRyan) July 8, 2026
I own a tool & die welding business in Michigan. I don't even need Grok to translate your posts. I just *get* them. #workingclass
Platner was able to sell his bogus oyster farmer cred because most political operatives [and reporters] aren't exactly big on physical labor. They wouldn't know how to dispute the claim.
— Mike Glenn (@MikeRGlenn) July 8, 2026
And that's how the media sold him — as an upstart oyster farmer taking on the political establishment. To have not seen through that as of yesterday is embarrassing.
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