Platner floats jailing billionaires in fiery pre-primary speech pushing far-left agenda

Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner drew criticism from Republicans after a pre-primary speech pushing far-left policies. joking about jailing billionaires.

Scandal-plagued MaineSenate candidateGraham Platner used a fiery pre-primary address to pitch universal health care, wealth taxes, a Green New Deal. other far-left agenda items, like floating an idea that billionaires should be jailed for looking at political ads "the wrong way" in remarks about campaign finance reform.

The comment about jailing billionaires earned the candidate backlash from his Republican critics, who pointed out some of Platner's biggest endorsers are funded by billionaires, highlighted the "Marxist dystopian" nature of the remarks,. joked that Platner must have some sort of affinity for locking people up against their will, referring to recent allegations from an ex-girlfriend.

"We need to get money out of politics. We need to get rid of Citizens United. And, if I had my way, elections would last two months, they will be publicly funded. if a billionaire looked at a TV ad the wrong way, we'd put 'em in jail," Platner told a crowd of constituents Sunday night in Maine, earning applause. The comments came as Platner was laying out his far-left agenda and railing against conservatives, including calling PresidentDonald Trump"dumb."

"That's one way to thank some of his own supporters for their generosity!" quipped veteran Republican strategist Colin Reed, who pointed to Platner's prominent endorsers, like Sens.Bernie Sanders, I-Vt.,. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., who received several contributions last month from billionaires like George Soros, Pat Stryker, Jon Stryker and Jennifer Pritzker, according to campaign finance watchdog OpenSecrets.

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Graham Platner, Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate, speaks to an overflow crowd outside a campaign event Sunday, June 7, 2026, in Portland, Maine.(Robert F. Bukaty/AP Photo)

"Why worry about slowly slipping into a Marxist dystopia? With Graham Platner. you can sprint toward it!" Jason Savage, Executive Director of the Maine GOP, said in response to Platner's stump speech remarks about jailing billionaires.

"Dude is big on locking people in rooms against their will, apparently," joked CNN senior political commentator Scott Jennings, an apparent reference to recent reporting on Platner’s past romantic relationships, including one ex-girlfriend’s allegation that he once twisted her arm behind her back, pushed her into a bedroom. held the door shut from the other side.Platner has denied the allegations.

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Platner’s campaign has beendogged by controversiessince he emerged as a progressive challenger in Maine’s closely watched Senate race against incumbent Republican Sen. Susan Collins, including recent complaints from multiple ex-girlfriends about his behavior during their relationships. The reports included accusations from one of Platner's ex-girlfriends. Lyndsey Fifield, who told The New York Times about being trapped in a room by Platner during their relationship more than a decade ago.

"The Platner campaign has already spent more than $14 million. we aren't even past the primary," Shawn Roderick, a spokesperson for the Collins campaign told Fox News Digital. "Does Graham Platner really think that American taxpayers should be paying his high-priced political consultants. the tech billionaires who own the platforms where he does his advertising? He is floating this idea to distract from the many disturbing problems his campaign has faced over the past two weeks."

Platner has also been facing backlash for exchangingsexually explicit messages with multiplewomen early in his marriage on the platform Kik. Following those reports, Platner was found to still have anactive profile on Kik, an anonymous messaging app that has faced criticism from child-safety groups. law enforcement officials. The profile reportedly featured a shirtless mirror selfie of Platner with a towel around his waist. which Republican staffers later appeared to mock outside the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee by showing up in towels.

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Republican staffers. including National Republican Senatorial Committee staffers, protest outside the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee headquarters in Washington, D.C., wearing towels to mock Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner’s reported Kik profile photo.(Nicholas Ballasy/Fox News Digital)

Platner’s wife,Amy Gertner, reportedly disclosedthe messages to campaign officials during an internal vetting process,. the campaign has acknowledged the messages existed while arguing the matter was addressed privately between Platner and his wife.

Meanwhile, Platner has argued that the allegations from former girlfriends arepolitically motivated,while his campaign has accused critics. national media outlets of focusing on private matters and personal attacks rather than the issues affecting Maine voters.

By the time those controversies hit the news, Platner had already faced scrutiny over atattoo that critics identifiedas a Nazi-linked symbol, which he later covered up. said he was not aware of its meaning when he got it. One of Platner's former staffers. Genevieve McDonald, alleged that even though Platner has said he was unaware of the symbol’s association with Nazis when he got the tattoo years ago, he has been aware of its meaning for some time.

Platner also apologized after hisold Reddit posts resurfacedin which he made a series of inflammatory comments about rape, race, political violence, police, rural Americans. military veterans. Platner has said his views have changed. that some of his past comments reflected a darker period in his life after military service.

Graham Platner, a Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate in Maine. points to a covered tattoo that had previously been an image recognized as a Nazi symbol, during an interview on Wednesday in Portland, Me.(WGME via AP)

Fox News Digital reached out to the Platner campaign. the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) for comment but did not hear back in time for publication.