IT’S JUST A BLITZKRIEG OF OPPOSITION DUMPS: Platner Maintained Sexually-Suggestive Profile on ‘Predator’s Paradise’ App Known For Child Exploitation.

Democrat candidate for Maine U.S. Senate Graham Platner has had a long history of sexual deviancy unearthed over the course of his political campaign. It’s previously been revealed that Platner has engaged in bouts of masturbation in public restrooms, had phone sex on a network compromised by the Taliban, and cried over the closure of a Thailand prostitution tax-loophole.

A recent report from the Wall Street Journal revealed that Platner has an account on an anonymous messaging platform known for playing host to countless sexual predators, Kik.

Platner’s account, which goes by the username phustle0331, remains active today. His chosen avatar is a mirror selfie where an individual appears to be dressed in nothing but a bath towel. The tattoos featured on the individual match tattoos that Platner had as recently as October when he conducted an interview with a local ABC affiliate, confirming that he is the individual pictured. Further, the username matches that of private Instagram account associated with Platner as well as his infamous Reddit account.

* * * * * * * *

Platner’s Kik account, which he later admitted was his to the Wall Street Journal, was created on June 26, 2016. By that time, Kik has already garnered a strong reputation as a platform rife with predators seeking to sexually exploit children. Several cases received widespread attention, including a 2016 sting operation that resulted in the arrests of more than 2,600 predators. The issue was considered so prevalent that the New York Times published an exposé on the dangers the app posed to children.

Meanwhile, when you’re a leftist who’s lost The Atlantic…: Atlantic Drops ‘Do Better Than Platner’ Bomb as Shipwreckedcrew Warns: DNC Prepping Another Primary Heist.

Obviously, The Atlantic would never publish anything without the express approval of the DNC, so it gives a peek at how the Democrat Party is feeling about adding Platner to their elected ranks. Clearly, they see it as very problematic.

This is getting very curious. These influential voices are coming out on this point VERY LATE. The primary is June 9.

I do not think anything will happen in advance of the primary, and Platner is going to win with no real opponent still in the race.

BUT, under Maine law, if… https://t.co/SSiVPBrqQp

— Shipwreckedcrew (@shipwreckedcrew) May 30, 2026

Related:

Platner joined Kik four months *after* the New York Times published an expose on the app’s popularity among sexual predators, who used Kik to distribute child pornography and facilitate abuse, kidnapping, and murder. pic.twitter.com/Zx0HqbV7n2

— Tim Rice (@TimRiceDC) May 30, 2026

Graham Platner is about to get Bidened.

Janet Mills is about to get Kamalaed.

But Collins will still win.

Sit back and watch. The Nazi tattoo, port-a-potty domain mastering and the sex texts have become too much, even for Democrats.

Book it.

— Cynical Publius (@CynicalPublius) May 30, 2026

Bob Torricelli, tanned, rested, and ready; as Michael Graham sagely cautioned in 2004 (the year Torricelli was swapped out and replaced by a fossilized Frank Lautenberg on the NJ ballot), “Don’t assume you know who’s on the Democratic ticket until Election Day.”

DAVE KOPEL HAS AN ANALYSIS of New Jersey election law as it applies to the Torricelli succession.

Hmm. That sounds like a Robert Ludlum title, doesn’t it? The Torricelli Succession.

THE REAL TORRICELLI SCANDAL, according to John Cole.

“TORRICELLI’S TERROR PAL$:”

NEW Jersey voters already concerned about Sen. Robert Torricelli’s low ethical threshold now learn that he’s been a paid shill for a group the government identifies as a terrorist organization.

Called on this by his Republican opponent, Douglas Forrester, in a debate Thursday, Torricelli said the group had been pulled from the State Department’s global terror list and given a clean bill of health. Not true.

(Via Orrin Judd).

THE OTHER SHOE: I suppose this explains why Torricelli finally decided to resign.

TNR’S BLOG BIDS a not-so-fond adieu to Robert Torricelli: “Rarely is there ever more cause for public glee than when a scoundrel gets his due. In Trenton this afternoon, the Senate’s most loathsome character got his.”

UPDATE: Rich Galen won’t miss him either: “Bob Torricelli’s career is over. It came to an abrupt and undignified end, which is fitting. Bob Torricelli is an abrupt and undignified person.”

Excerpts from The Torch’s undignified, but sadly not abrupt, farewell speech are here.

BOB TORRICELLI ISN’T AN OPTION? Ted Cruz predicts Democrats will dump Joe Biden for Michelle Obama right before the election.

As Michael Graham sagely cautioned in 2004 (the year Torricelli was swapped out and replaced by a fossilized Frank Lautenberg on the NJ ballot), “Don’t assume you know who’s on the Democratic ticket until Election Day.”

BOB TORRICELLI, TANNED, RESTED, AND READY: Whoa. Chicago Tribune writer: Democrats should tell Hillary to step aside.

As Michael Graham sagely cautioned in 2004 (the year Torricelli was swapped out and replaced by a fossilized Frank Lautenberg on the NJ ballot), “Don’t assume you know who’s on the Democratic ticket until Election Day.”

TORRICELLI MAY DROP OUT OF THE RACE, according to an AP report.

WILL THE DEMOCRATS DUMP “OVERHEATED” HILLARY?, asks Roger Simon.

Hey, Bob Torricelli — tanned, rested and ready!

THEY’RE GONNA PULL A TORRICELLI: Jeffrey Carter: Why are the Democrats torpedoing Biden?

YES, I’M EXPECTING A TORRICELLI MANEUVER: DeSantis: Republicans Need To Be Prepared For Biden Dropping Out, Ready For Who Dems Pull Out Of The Hat.

THE TORRICELLI OPTION: ‘Expect emergency DNC meeting to CONSIDER replacement for Hillary,’ Dem operatives say.

It’s not personal, Hillary. It’s strictly business.

OLD AND BUSTED: The Torricelli Gambit.

The New Hotness? Rolling Stone: Gisele Fetterman became the “de facto candidate” after husband’s stroke.

As Michael Graham wrote in 2004 after Frank Lautenberg was swapped in to replace Bob Torricelli on the Democrats’ Senate ticket in NJ, “Don’t assume you know who’s on the Democratic ticket until Election Day.”

THE TORRICELLI SOLUTION TO THE COMING CLINTON IMPLOSION?

As Michael Graham warned in 2004, “Don’t assume you know who’s on the Democratic ticket until Election Day.”

“WE LIVE SUBMERGED AT THE BOTTOM OF AN OCEAN OF AIR”:  On this day in 1608, Evangelista Torricelli, physicist, mathematician, and inventor of the barometer was born.

HOWARD KURTZ has the Torricelli-aftermath roundup and also manages to use the words “cheap trollop,” which is no small accomplishment, though — well, just read it.

TAEGAN GODDARD writes that the maneuvering over the New Jersey elections is not such a big deal:

The Democrats seem to have a pretty safe alternative if the courts do not allow them to replace Torricelli on the ballot. Under New Jersey law, if Torricelli resigns before his seat before Monday, Gov. James McGreevey can call a special election on November 5. Doug Forrester would then run against the person McGreevy names to fill Torricelli’s seat for the remaining two months of his term.

Yeah, but that’s if you can get the Torch to resign. Is he that loyal?

I STILL THINK THEY’RE GOING TO TRY TO PULL A TORRICELLI BEFORE THE ELECTION: Tepid Democratic support for Biden helps odds of Trump reelection.

MICKEY KAUS wonders if it’s too late for the Torricelli option. I don’t think things are that bad for Kerry — his campaign has no problems that he couldn’t fix with some straight talk.

THE TORRICELLI OPTION: Roger Simon: Will the Democrats Dump ‘Overheated’ Hillary?

Related: Dead by Election Day: What happens if a presidential candidate passes away at the last second? Note that this piece was run back when media folks thought it was fine to portray John McCain as old and sickly.

UPDATE: Right on schedule:

Plus:

Hey, maybe my 2015 Trump vs. Sanders 2016 column will turn out to be prescient!

HERE’S THE TEXT of the New Jersey Supreme Court ruling that allows Torricelli to be replaced on the ballot. Here’s a link to the New York Times story, here’s one to the Washington Post’s report, and here’s one to the Philadelphia Inquirer story. Based on a quick read, I don’t have much to say about the opinion except that I don’t see why the “two party system” deserves such legal stature.

Eugene Volokh also has little to say in response to such a sketchy opinion. Solly Ezekiel rules out partisan bias.

UPDATE: Volokh has more now. Read it!

ANOTHER UPDATE: Orrin Judd says the New Jersey Democrats should have suffered for not picking Cory Booker.

STILL ANOTHER UPDATE: Mickey Kaus sums up the opinion this way:

I would add that the court doesn’t appear to have made any effort to discern a statutory scheme here. The operative rule seems to be: “We’re going to do what we think is right unless there’s an incredibly clear black-letter statute saying we can’t. And then we can always declare it unconstitutional.” Does the elected legislature have any role to play here at all? (It’s ironic that the court pays such attention to finding what it thinks is the most democratic way to pick a lawmaker, even as it brushes aside the actual work-product of those democratically-elected lawmakers, namely statutes.)

Well said. Tony Adragna adds this observation:

I don’t see how those interests couldn’t have been served by simply leaving Torricelli on the ballot notwithstanding that he’s a loser — that he’s a loser threatens not the two party system. limits not participation, the party had a candidate on the ballot — chosen through the primary process — and “most importantly” voters still had a choice on Election Day… hmmm… I think this ruling is bad law….

There’s more.

Tom Maguire is unhappy, and so is IMAO. On the other hand, Jonathan Adler, whose post on this yesterday at The Corner seems to have hit pretty close to the mark, emails that the decision isn’t out of character for New Jersey courts in election disputes: “There’s a bunch of New Jersey case law on stretching election law to ensure voter ‘choice’ on the ballot.” Yeah, but if they really cared about voter choice, they’d have a line for “none of the above.”

Here are the choices the voters would have had. And here’s what one of the “choices” had to say.

BOB TORRICELLI IS PREPARED TO PARACHUTE IN AT A MOMENT’S NOTICE: SC Democrats call on their party’s US Senate nominee to quit.

The South Carolina Democrat vying to oust Republican U.S. Sen. Tim Scott is facing calls from within her own party to fold her campaign, following the publication of additional leaked audio in which she appears to make disparaging remarks about her constituents.

The calls for state Rep. Krystle Matthews to withdraw just two months ahead of the general election came Thursday in reaction to leaked audio published by conservative activist group Project Veritas of Matthews speaking to one of its members, without her knowledge.

Sitting in a restaurant, Matthews, who is Black, is heard saying that she represents a “mostly white” district, adding, of white voters: “I keep them right here — like under my thumbs. … Otherwise, they get out of control — like kids.”

In a statement, Matthews acknowledged her voice on the recording, calling Project Veritas a “satirical MAGA Powered news outlet.”

The compilation also features more of Matthews’ conversation, parts of which were previously published by Project Veritas, in which she spoke to an inmate about funding her campaign with “dope boy money” and having Democrats run as Republicans, saying “secret sleepers” represent “the only way you’re gonna change the dynamics in South Carolina.”

As Michael Graham wrote in 2004 after Frank Lautenberg was swapped in to replace Bob Torricelli on the Democrats’ Senate ticket in NJ, “Don’t assume you know who’s on the Democratic ticket until Election Day.”

IT’S CALLED “PULLING A TORRICELLI.” Democrats have no Biden backup plan for 2024, despite age concerns. My prediction is that he’ll drop out late, and the nominee will be picked in a (formerly) smoke-filled room. This time the scent will be oat milk lattes, but otherwise it’s the same story. This is why they’re building up Newsom.

WHY, INDEED? NYT: Say, why is Biden being so “cagey” about his health?

More interestingly, why is the NYT raising it now? Is there a last minute move to pull a Torricelli with Biden?