Opinion: The ‘Frankenstein candidate’ frightening Democrats across the nation

A version of this article was first published in the Right to the Point newsletter. Sign up_to receive the newsletter in your inbox every Wednesday morning and to vote in subscriber-only polls._

When Graham Platner first announced that he was running for office in Maine, he sounded like a cross between Tucker Carlson and Bernie Sanders. He talked about the dangers of “the oligarchy” and asked,“Why are we funding endless wars and bombing children?”

Platner was interesting, to say the least: an oyster farmer and firearms instructor in a blue state, a veteran who served in both Iraq and Afghanistan. I followed him on X, where the bio describes him as “friend of the working Mainer, foe of the oligarchy. Husband. Candidate for U.S. Senate.” He seemed like somebody worth watching.

But following Platner on social media now seems like a moral transgression, given the steady stream of controversies that have dogged him, most recently sexually explicit texts that he sent to multiple women — texts that were revealed to the campaign by his wife and to the media by a former campaign aide.

There was also the Nazi-associated tattoo and deleted Reddit posts, one in which he is alleged to have said he had a “pretty flexible moral compass” when it comes to infidelity. (He has blamed the behavior on “anger and alcohol,” per the Washington Free Beacon.) His critics have also highlighted the difference between his working-class rhetoric and his background, noting that he once attended an elite boarding school and has had financial help from his father, an attorney.

All this adds up to a challenging campaign for a key seat that Democrats hope to claim in order to give them a majority in the Senate.

The newsletter of James Golden (better known to Rush Limbaugh fans as Bo Snerdley) recently described Platner as the “Frankenstein candidate” that Democrats created.

But at least in Mary Shelley’s book, Victor Frankenstein abandons the monster he made. Right now, Democrats are sticking by Platner, with the possible exception of New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker who said Sunday on ABC’s “This Week” that he has “concerns” about Platner and that the candidate “has questions to answer.”

Booker, by coincidence, happens to be the author of a new book that is about the importance of virtue, which the senator describes as “the disciplined practice of our highest ideals.” The revelations about Platner put Booker in a precarious position. He can’t call out Republican leaders for their lack of virtuous behavior, while finding excuses for Democrats.

At any rate, Platner remains a person to watch, not for the reasons I initially thought, but for the questions his candidacy now raises:

How much grace should the people of Maine give him? As much as his wife?

Or will they agree with the former aide, Genevieve McDonald, who told The New York Times, “The United States Senate is not a training ground for redemption. It is a place for proven leaders with moral clarity and integrity.”?

We’ll find out in November — unless there are more revelations that cause Platner to drop out.

The uproar over ‘60 Minutes’

Nick Bilton, the newly appointed executive producer of “60 Minutes,” said last week that the most important thing about the long-running show is “the story.”

But Bilton himself has become the story, as unhappiness at CBS over Bari Weiss’s decisions boiled over in a fiery staff meeting that was recorded and given to The New York Times.

Weiss installed Bilton, a technology journalist and an executive producer of documentaries, after firing his predecessor, Tanya Simon, and several correspondents. The show has been mired in controversy over its editing over an interview with Kamala Harris during the 2024 presidential campaign and also a segment on a maximum-security prison in El Salvador where Venezuelan migrants were sent.

Perspective: Why the Kamala Harris '60 Minutes' brouhaha matters

The New York Times reported that “60 Minutes” correspondent Scott Pelley angrily confronted Bilton during a staff meeting, saying that his qualifications for the job were “slender” and that Weiss was “murdering” the show and the changes she has made at the CBS Evening News have been “catastrophic.”

It’s unknown who provided the recording to the Times.

In that meeting, Pelley asked Bilton why he would have taken a job “knowing that you will never be welcome here.”

He replied, per the Times, “I have been a journalist for 25 years, Scott. I’ve sat across from incredibly powerful people like you have, and none of it intimidates me. OK? So you are not going to intimidate me in front of this group of people.”

Tony Dokoupil and the 'CBS Evening News' declare 'We love America.' But can patriotism save the nightly news?

Bilton left the meeting after about 15 minutes, saying, “I just want to thank everyone for graciously being so welcoming” and “Enjoy the bagels.” The staff applauded as he left, the Times reported.

Pelley has been the de-facto leader of the opposition at “60 Minutes” going back to last spring, when executive produce Bill Owens resigned.

But he is now without a job, having been fired late Tuesday by CBS.

As is usually the case, both sides could have learned something from the other before things fell apart so explosively. Pelley and his former colleagues are rightly protective of a show that has provided America important investigative reporting for nearly six decades. And Weiss is right to want more nuance in certain stories and for “60 Minutes” to be responsive to changes on the media landscape.

Can this show be saved? Should it be? Here’s what Pelley said. We’ll find out soon enough what Bari Weiss thinks.

New statement from Scott Pelley:

There has never been anything in America like 60 Minutes.

The Sunday tradition is the most successful program of any kind in history. For more than a decade, its innovative growth on every major online platform has extended its reach to…

— Dylan Byers (@DylanByers) June 3, 2026

A message to President Trump

On her NewsNation show over the weekend, Batya Ungar-Sargon**** addressed President Donald Trump directly on the subject that is front of mind for many Americans: the cost of living.

Here’s an excerpt of what she said:

“Mr. President, your supporters are hurting. People who voted for you three times, who would walk over Legos covered in hot coals to vote for you, are broke. Some are skipping meals, others are buying canned chicken in bulk because that’s all they can afford. ...

“Gas is $4.50 a gallon as we head into the summer travel season. The producer price index is up 6% as we head into grilling season. Savings are at an all-time low. Thirteen percent of credit card balances are now over 90 days delinquent, the highest since 2011. You keep saying that the stock market is doing great, and that is true. But the gains of the economy and nearly all consumer spending are concentrated in the top 10%. Everyone else is broke.“

How Batya Ungar-Sargon went from coastal elite to 'MAGA lefty'

Ungar-Sargon went on to suggest that the $200 billion the administration said it collected from tariffs should be shared with Americans who are struggling. It’s an idea that Trump had promoted last year, but vanished amid the legal fight over their legality. But some people are trying to get individuals tariff rebates through class-action lawsuits, like one filed last week on behalf of IKEA customers.

No response from the White House, not surprisingly.

Mr. President: Your supporters are hurting. They need help. And they need it from you. A stimulus check to get working-class people through the months of negotiations in Iran would go a long way. pic.twitter.com/Y2KKbSwm6K

— Batya Ungar-Sargon (@bungarsargon) May 31, 2026

Recommended Reading

Perhaps you’ve seen the TikTok video of a teary young woman holding a baby and saying “I need to have a kid.” Allyson Flake Matsoso goes deep into what interacting with a real, live baby does to us, especially in a time of declining births.

“If it isn’t sacrilegious to compare a child to a product, the best way to get people to try something new is often through exposure. I finally caved and bought the new Thin Mint Frost after seeing it, hearing it raved about and getting just a small taste of it. Real-life babies are like that — they sell themselves.”

Encountering babies has become rare for many

Jay Evensen wonders if America’s drawdown of troops could prompt Vladimir Putin to expand the Ukraine-Russia war into NATO countries.

“But why would Putin do such a reckless thing at a time when, according to The Wall Street Journal, Russian forces are suffering casualties in Ukraine numbering about 35,000 per month? The answer is in the question, according to Kaja Kallas, the European Union’s head of foreign affairs and security policy. Russia needs to recruit a lot more soldiers.”

Is Trump emboldening Putin in Europe?

Samuel J. Abrams says he is encountering students who have not been taught to argue, but to only affirm, which is a problem in a democratic society.

“The first thing we owe the next generation is the explicit cultivation of civic skills. Disagreement, deliberation, listening, weighing evidence, changing one’s mind — these are not personality traits. They are skills, in exactly the same sense that addition and reading are skills."

After 250 years, has America forgotten how to argue with itself?

End Notes

In last week’s poll, we considered this question: Should you show respect for the office of the president even if you don’t respect the president?

Most of us were of the same mind on this, almost unanimous in saying that we should behave respectfully toward the president, regardless of how we feel about the president.

Finally, last fall, the oft-boycotted retailer Target decided to take a page from the Chick-fil-A book of customer service and try to make customers happy by being .... nice.

The 10-4 program, per USA Today, required “employees who are within 10 feet of customers to smile, make eye contact, wave, and use friendly, approachable, and welcoming body language.”

Employees within 4 feet of customers “must personally greet the guests, smile, and initiate a warm, helpful interaction.”

Incredibly, this idea was widely maligned, even though you’d think “warm, helpful interactions” would be the standard across all of retail.

Now Target is trying to woo shoppers with a new strategy that includes “modern décor and fixtures and specialty LED lighting to create a shopping experience that is both hip and cool, warm and inviting.”

I think I speak for Target shoppers everywhere when I say: noooooooo.

No one will come to Target, or any other store for that matter, because they have installed specialty LED lighting and decor that is “hip and cool.” (Does anyone even say “hip and cool” anymore? And is this decor “hip and cool” by Zoomer standards or their mothers’?)

Bring back the smiling and welcoming body language, please.