Maine Democrat Graham Platner has pledged to enhance relations with China should he secure a seat in the Senate, emphasizing the need for the U.S. to adopt a more collaborative stance with the communist nation, particularly on global issues like climate change.
During a February livestream, Platner advocated for a cooperative approach toward China, arguing against a confrontational stance given the significant trade ties between the two countries. He remarked that adopting an aggressive posture would be “absurd.”
Platner clarified his position, stating, “I am not a China hawk in any sense,” and underscored the necessity of finding ways to collaborate, especially in addressing challenges such as climate change.
As a progressive candidate, Platner aims to challenge Republican Sen. Susan Collins in the upcoming November midterm elections. His perspective on China diverges from the mainstream political view and positions him further left than many fellow Democrats, who often regard China as a major strategic rival or geopolitical threat.
Platner also identifies fascism and climate change as the two most pressing global threats facing the United States. Reflecting on these priorities, he noted, “Before the rise of fascism, I would have said that the biggest global challenge is climate change,” drawing from his experiences as an oyster farmer and combat veteran.
“Before the rise of fascism, I would have said that the biggest challenge we have … globally is climate change,” Platner, an oyster farmer and combat veteran, said during the livestream.
Platner referred to federal immigration officers as “armed thugs,” accusing them of murdering American citizens, an apparent reference to two fatal shootings during an immigration enforcement surge in Minneapolis earlier this year.
He has previously advocated for abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and dragging agents in front of Congress to testify about their work.
Platner’s campaign did not respond to a request for comment.
The Republican National Committee (RNC) sharply criticized Platner’s remarks in a statement to Fox News Digital.
“Graham Platner’s soft-on-communism radical ideology would lift up dictators, threaten America’s national security, and cost American lives,” RNC spokeswoman Kristen Cianci said in a statement. “He has no business in the Senate or any position of power.”
Platner is facing Maine Gov. Janet Mills, D-Maine, in an increasingly nasty primary that has split factions of the Democratic Party. Leading progressives, including Sens. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., have endorsed him while Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., who leads the party’s establishment wing, is supporting Mills.
Sanders and Warren have doubled down on their embrace of Platner despite the political newcomer’s bevy of controversial online posts and scrutiny over a Nazi-linked tattoo that he has had removed.
Platner called for deposing Schumer as Democratic leader, weakening the filibuster to ease the passage of left-wing legislation and adding seats to the Supreme Court to dilute the power of the conservative majority, in an interview with NBC News this week.
The Sanders-backed oyster farmer has carved out a dominant lead in recent polling ahead of the June primary, despite Mills serving as the most senior-ranking Democrat in the state.
Collins is running for a sixth Senate term in the blue-leaning state. The nonpartisan Cook Political Report rates the contest as a “toss-up.”
