A top Jewish Democrat and member of the House Intelligence Committee called for Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner to exit the race, adding that if the scandal-plagued oyster farmer were running in New Jersey, he would be “buried under the Meadowlands.”
Rep. Josh Gottheimer, the subject of a recent profile that compared him to Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and said he wants to be a “bulwark” against Democrats’ newfound leftist impulses, suggested there is no room for Platner on the party’s midterm ticket.
When asked by CNN if his aversion to Platner should be read as a recommendation that Democrats instead vote for moderate Republican Sen. Susan Collins, Gottheimer offered another off-ramp.
“No, what I would suggest is that Graham Platner get off if he wins today, which I assume he will because there’s no one actively campaigning against him, that he get off the ballot and let another Democrat step in,” Gottheimer said.
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Platner is the frontrunner in Tuesday’s primary, as Gov. Janet Mills suspended her campaign and other candidates, including Bangor’s David Costello, have failed to gain traction.
“If this were Jersey and you had a candidate who abused women, obviously has a Nazi tattoo that — now it’s clear that he knew was a Nazi tattoo: not to mention many of his other lies and his comments and extremist comments; pro Hamas — a terrorist organization — other things of that nature. He should get off the ballot.”
Gottheimer, who represents Bergen County’s deep-blue New York City suburbs and the rural ruby-red Skylands of the state’s northwest, said that if Platner tried to run in the Garden State, “we’d throw him off the ballot or bury him under the Meadowlands.”
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Former Teamsters President James Hoffa Sr. was also purportedly buried beneath Giants Stadium after his disappearance decades ago.
Gottheimer said Platner should leave the ballot when he wins Tuesday, and let someone more “qualified” replace him.
He said separately that socialists should not be considered true members of the Democratic Party no matter their cataloged affiliation, and that the hard left wing is not where the mainstream of the U.S. is.
“I think it’s really important that we speak out when we see some of these issues that are a challenge,” he said, referring again to Platner.
He said he doesn’t believe Platner will be the ultimate contender for the Democrats against Collins by November.
He alluded to Mills’ statement that her campaign is not over, but only suspended.
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“Hopefully today you’ll see Janet Mills, even though she is the governor, left the race, her name is still on the ballot. We’ll see how well she does. And I think that’s going to be a sign of the frustration,” he said, while questioning how female voters could support someone facing allegations of violence against women.
He also appeared to blame President Donald Trump for the New York Knicks’ narrow loss to the San Antonio Spurs at home on Monday.
The president was loudly booed by the largely liberal fan base but at the same time was welcomed into Madison Square Garden by team owner and Republican donor James Dolan and some faint “U-S-A” chants could be heard under the rancor on the ABC broadcast.
“[Trump] brought in some bad mojo into the Garden last night and p—ed off a lot of people — but don’t worry,” he said of the Knicks’ chances in the finals overall.
While Gottheimer joins Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman in ridiculing Platner, he retains support from 1992 Clinton campaign architect James Carville, who said on his podcast that, as a Louisianan, he understands oyster farming is “hard a—work” and that Platner’s apparent PTSD is something voters should better understand.
“Maybe we need a combat veteran right on that Senate floor who is [expletive] up, who every time these [expletives] go to vote for another war … Maybe they need to look at this guy before they start sending young people off to fight wars and see what the consequence of it is,” he said, according to RCP.
Fox News Digital reached out to the Platner campaign for comment.
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