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SEE IT: Maine voters sound off on Platner’s divisive campaign as crucial primary nears: ‘He’s a disgrace’
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PORTLAND, Maine — Voters in Maine are just one day away from deciding which Democrat they want to represent them in the U.S. Senate, and residents who spoke to Fox News are mixed on whether Graham Platner’s swirling controversies disqualify him from seeking the office.
«He’s a disgrace to every veteran that has PTSD like I do, because he’s using it as an excuse to cover up his own personal failings,» Bill, a Peaks Island resident and military veteran, told Fox News, referencing Platner leaning into his PTSD struggles as a combat veteran.
«You do not abuse women because you were in combat. You do not say things about trans people. You do not wear Nazi symbols because you were in combat. That is because of who you are,» Bill said. «He’s a little bitty, well-to-do guy hiding behind his status as a veteran and not acknowledging himself as a failed human being.»
WATCH: MAINE VOTERS DIVIDED ON PLATNER AS SCANDALS SHADOW DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY
Maine voters are divided over Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner as he heads into Tuesday’s primary amid a series of personal controversies. (Fox News)
As the primary nears, Platner is facing criticism from both the left and the right over allegations of abuse from former girlfriends, sexually explicit messages allegedly sent to women during the early days of his marriage, a Nazi-linked tattoo and online comments mocking a Purple Heart veteran.
Mike, a Maine voter, said Platner’s tattoo made his decision a «no-brainer,» saying it was difficult to believe the candidate did not know the Totenkopf symbol on his chest had been used by Nazi death camp guards.
«Nothing good about him,» Mike said. «Anybody with a Nazi tattoo, and it’s not a Bugs Bunny tattoo, okay? It’s like, ‘Oh my God, I got a tattoo, I didn’t know what it was.’ If he was honest about it, and said, ‘Hey, it was a mistake. I got a Nazi tattoo, and it’s stupid. I was drunk and I was in the service,’ then maybe that’s one thing. But at that point, it’s a no-brainer for me.»
DEMOCRATIC MAINE SENATE CANDIDATE GRAHAM PLATNER CONFRONTED BY MS NOW HOST ABOUT TATTOO CONTROVERSY
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)
When asked if Democrats should drop Platner, Mike said, «Of course they should,» adding that Democrats are standing by Platner because they see him as their best chance to unseat Sen. Susan Collins.
«I mean, it’s like they’re locked in now. This has nothing to do with being a Democrat or Republican. They want to get rid of Susan Collins, take over the Senate, and that’s the bottom line. He could be Adolf Hitler. It doesn’t matter who he is. It’s just the fact that they want to take over the Senate, and that’s their only option right now.»
Karen, a Rockland resident, also questioned whether Platner’s scandals should be overlooked, saying they reflect on his character.
«I think it’s crazy,» Karen said. «I think there’s a lot of things about him that people should understand. They say, ‘Oh, it’s personal,’ but then that also indicates his character.»
Other Mainers who spoke to Fox News struck a different tone, including Holly, a Belfast resident.
«Nobody’s perfect. Everyone makes mistakes,» Holly said. «He’s apologized for the mistakes he’s made, and he’s taken action about it. If you listen to what he’s about in terms of policy, he is very much saying the right things for Maine and the right thing for the country more broadly, and I think he’s a very good candidate.»
GRAHAM PLATNER BLASTS NEW ALLEGATIONS AS ‘FALSE ACCUSATIONS’: ‘MAINE, YOU HAVE MY BACK’
Graham Platner, a Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate in Maine, points to a covered tattoo that was previously recognized as a Nazi symbol during an interview in Portland, Maine, on Oct. 22, 2025. (WGME via AP)
Claire, a Brooklin resident, said voters should focus less on Platner’s past and more on his candidacy, saying, «He’s the best candidate by far, and probing into the minutiae of his personal relationships when you don’t do that for any other candidate is ridiculous.»
One voter argued that working-class candidates should not be expected to have spotless records.
«If we want folks who are representing us from the working class, they’re not necessarily going to have a groomed and perfect political record coming into politics,» Paul, a Bar Harbor resident, said.
Kathy, a Rockland resident, said she was willing to look past Platner’s «baggage,» saying «He’s got new ideas, and he’s saying things for the people and about the people.»
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Platner, widely believed to be the presumptive Democratic nominee for Senate, heads into a Tuesday night primary election where Democratic Gov. Janet Mills and former senior government official David Costello are on the ballot.
If victorious, Platner will square off against incumbent Republican Sen. Susan Collins in November.
democrats elections, ptsd, battleground voters, graham platner, senate elections
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Mamdani-backed socialists look to take New York playbook nationwide after primary victories
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Hours after their ballot box victories in a handful of congressional primaries in New York City, the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) set their sights west.
«Today, the East Coast, next week the Mountain West,» the DSA wrote in a social media post last week.
The post came after DSA-aligned Darializa Avila Chevalier, a 32-year-old far-left community organizer, ousted incumbent Democratic Rep. Adriano Espaillat, the Congressional Hispanic Caucus chair, and state Assembly Member Claire Valdez, another socialist, won a congressional primary by beating an establishment-backed candidate.
The victories by Chevalier and Valdez, who were heavily supported by socialist New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, further emboldened the far left as it takes on the center-left establishment in a high-stakes battle for the future of the Democratic Party.
VICTORIES BY MAMDANI-BACKED CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATES SPOTLIGHTS GROWING RIFT IN DEMOCRATIC PARTY
Congressional candidate Claire Valdez, congressional candidate Brad Lander, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, and congressional candidate Darializa Avila Chevalier raise their hands during a Get Out the Vote (GOTV) rally at King’s Theater on June 18, 2026, in New York City. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
The DSA is now looking to replicate its playbook across the country, starting Tuesday in the Democratic primary in Colorado’s 1st Congressional District, a solidly blue seat anchored in Denver that then-Vice President Kamala Harris carried by a whopping 56 points in the 2024 election.
Democratic Rep. Diana DeGette, who was first elected to Congress three decades ago, is facing two primary challenges, including DSA-backed Melat Kiros, a first-time candidate and former attorney born four months after DeGette first took office.
Kiros, who lost her job as a lawyer in New York after writing an essay critical of Israel, is also supported by Justice Democrats, the nearly decade-old political group known for heavily supporting «Squad» members Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, Ayanna Pressley, and Rashida Tlaib as they toppled entrenched incumbents in their initial elections to Congress.
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Democratic congressional candidate Melat Kiros participated in a League of Women Voters Congressional District 1 candidate forum at Montview Presbyterian Church on May 28, 2026, in Denver. (RJ Sangosti/MediaNews Group/The Denver Post via Getty Images)
«ELECT ANOTHER SOCIALIST TO CONGRESS ON JUNE 30TH,» a DSA social media post states as it urges supporters to lend a hand to the Kiros campaign.
The far left is also training its firepower in two high-profile statewide Democratic primaries in early August in key battleground states: the Senate showdown in Michigan and Wisconsin’s gubernatorial contest.
DSA-aligned Abdul El-Sayed, a former Wayne County health director who unsuccessfully ran for governor eight years ago, is one of three major candidates trying to succeed retiring Democratic Sen. Gary Peters.
LURCHING LEFT: MAMDANI-BACKED CANDIDATES OUST ESTABLISHMENT DEMOCRATS
Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., stands with Senate candidate in Michigan Abdul El-Sayed after speaking at Mumford High School on May 3, 2026, in Detroit. (Sarah Rice/Getty Images)
And Wisconsin state Rep. Francesca Hong is on the rise among a crowded field of candidates in the race to succeed retiring Democratic Gov. Tony Evers.
«It’s a great day to be a democratic socialist,» the DSA-aligned Hong posted on X last week. «Wisconsin is next!»
Mamdani’s stunning Democratic mayoral primary victory a year ago sent political shockwaves across the country and cemented the DSA as a major political force.
A year later, Mamdani’s kingmaker status was further enhanced by last week’s results in New York City. Possibly looking to the national stage, the mayor said, «My goal is to make America a place that every American can afford.»
Democratic strategist Joe Caiazzo, a veteran of progressive champion Sen. Bernie Sanders’ 2016 and 2020 presidential campaigns, told Fox News Digital, «Some of the DSA and the majority of the left wing of the Democratic Party appear to be the only ones truly engaging in a conversation about economic populism in a period where costs continue to soar, and there is seemingly no plan from anyone in Washington to rectify that problem. You can see why it’s appealing.»
BERNIE SANDERS, DSA REVEAL DEMANDS FOR DEM PARTY AFTER SOCIALISTS SWEEP NEW YORK ELECTIONS
It’s not just strategists from the progressive wing of the party that acknowledge the increasing power of the far left.
Matt Bennett, one of the leaders at the Third Way, a leading center-left Democratic organization, noted, «There is enormous energy around the far left in very, very blue places, like New York City» and that «they are succeeding in their mission to oust incumbents or mainstream Democrats from blue seats and make them bluer.»
But outside what has been labeled New York City’s «commie corridor,» which includes parts of Brooklyn and Queens, where voters in recent years have consistently backed far-left and socialist candidates, more mainstream Democrats prevailed in Tuesday’s primaries.
In the high-profile showdown to succeed retiring longtime Democratic Rep. Jerry Nadler in Manhattan, former Nadler staffer Micah Lasher came out on top.
Miles north of New York City in the state’s swing 17th Congressional District, Army veteran Cait Conley won the primary and will challenge GOP Rep. Mike Lawler in a key midterm contest that is one of a handful which will determine if Republicans hold the slim House majority.
Combat veteran and Democratic congressional nominee Cait Conley, left, is challenging GOP Rep. Mike Lawler in New York’s 17th District, a key swing seat in this year’s midterm elections. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images; Tierney L. Cross/Getty Images)
In Utah, former Democratic Rep. Ben McAdams defeated progressive rivals to win the primary in the newly redrawn and blue-leaning 1st Congressional District. In Maryland, just outside of Washington D.C., in the race to succeed longtime Rep. Steny Hoyer, Adrian Boafo, who was supported by Hoyer, topped a crowded and diverse Democratic primary field.
And in South Carolina, Nancy Lacore, a former Navy admiral who was fired by War Secretary Pete Hegseth, won the Democratic primary in a Republican-leaning district Democrats had hopes of flipping.
Bennett said the New York City races grabbing outsized attention «are not representative districts, and it remains the case that the far left, in the Trump era, has failed to flip a single seat in Congress from red to blue, House or Senate.»
«They’re doing nothing to put a check on Trump or get power back,» he argued. «And in fact, they’re making it harder, because they’re handing Republicans very potent ammunition to use against Democrats in swing districts the way the GOP used ‘defund the police’ very effectively in 2020.»
Veteran center-left Democratic strategist Matt Corridoni, who advises the political groups The Bench and Majority Democrats, said, «I think if we’re only focusing on New York we’re missing the forest through the trees.»
Corridoni said, «There are dozens of examples across the country of these sort of purple reddish districts where we’re getting candidates who are tapping into the energy that voters are feeling right now.»
Despite the success of center-left candidates, it’s the far-left that’s grabbing the media spotlight.
And that’s giving Republicans more ammunition as they portray all Democrats as radicals.
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani speaks at a news conference in Manhattan. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
Since Mamdani’s shocking Democratic mayoral primary win a year ago, Republicans have used him as a cudgel as they work to hold their razor-thin House majority in this year’s midterm elections.
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National Republican Congressional Committee spokesman Mike Marinella argued, «Zohran Mamdani’s socialist brand is as toxic as it comes.»
Pointing to Tuesday’s results, Marinella charged that «it was the night the Democrat establishment officially surrendered to Zohran Mamdani and the socialist wing of their party. Every House Democrat, in safe and competitive districts alike, will now answer to the radicals calling the shots. And Americans should be terrified by where the Democrat Party is headed.»
midterm elections, zohran mamdani, democratic party, socialism, elections, politics
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Fingió que iba a ser mamá durante meses, asesinó a una amiga embarazada y le robó a su beba: el caso de Taylor Parker
Durante meses nadie sospechó de Taylor Parker. Publicaba fotos de su supuesto embarazo en las redes sociales, compartía ecografías con familiares, compraba ropa para bebés y hasta tuvo una fiesta de revelación de género. Su novio esperaba con ansiedad la llegada de la hija que, creía, iban a tener juntos.
Sin embargo, todo eso formaba parte de una mentira que salió a la luz cuando la policía encontró a Taylor al costado de una ruta de Texas, en octubre de 2020. En ese momento, la joven aseguró que acababa de dar a luz dentro de su vehículo y que el bebé había dejado de respirar.
Los agentes intentaron asistirla y trasladaron al recién nacido a un hospital. A pesar de ello, en cuestión de horas, los médicos descubrieron algo inesperado: Parker nunca había estado embarazada. Ese fue el principio de uno de los casos más estremecedores de Estados Unidos.
Una red de mentiras
Taylor Parker tenía 27 años y vivía en la zona de Texarkan, en el estado de Texas. Sus amigos de ese momento la describían como una mujer carismática, sociable y con facilidad para ganarse la confianza de los demás. Sin embargo, detrás de esa imagen escondía una larga historia de mentiras.
Antes incluso del falso embarazo, varias personas de su entorno aseguraron que Parker inventaba enfermedades graves para “llamar la atención”. A varios amigos les dijo que tenía cáncer, esclerosis múltiple, un tumor cerebral e incluso que había sufrido un accidente cerebrovascular. Con el tiempo, muchos comenzaron a tomar distancia al descubrir que aquellas historias no eran ciertas.
En julio de 2019, conoció a Wade Griffin, un cazador y criador de animales de una pequeña comunidad rural del este de Texas, y comenzaron una relación. Poco después de empezar el noviazgo, Paker le dijo que estaba embarazada.
La noticia fue celebrada por la familia y los amigos de Griffin, que nunca pensaron que todo era una puesta en escena. Durante meses, Parker utilizó almohadas y prótesis para simular el crecimiento de su panza, falsificó estudios médicos y ecografías, compró muebles y ropa para bebés. Incluso, hasta participó de una fiesta de revelación de género organizada por su pareja.
Con el correr de los meses, algunas personas empezaron a desconfiar, ya que había detalles que no cerraban. A pesar de las dudas, Taylor siempre encontraba alguna explicación convincente para cualquier pregunta.
Sin embargo, lo que nadie sabía era que años antes se había sometido a una histerectomía, una cirugía en la que le habían extirpado el útero, motivo por el cual no podía quedar embarazada.
En ese tiempo, mientras sostenía el engaño, Parker comenzó a acercarse cada vez más a otra joven que estaba a punto de ser madre: Reagan Simmons-Hancock, de 21 años. La chica estaba casada, ya tenía una nena de tres años y cursaba la semana 35 de embarazo de otra beba a la que planeaba llamar Braxlynn. Reagan Hancock-Simmons era madre de una nena de tres años y, antes de ser asesinada, esperaba a una beba. (Foto: Ktal News)
Taylor había conocido a Reagan en 2019, cuando trabajó como fotógrafa en su casamiento. Con el paso de los meses, fortalecieron el vínculo hasta convertirse en amigas: salían juntas, hablaban sobre la maternidad e incluso un día antes del crimen, Parker le llevó regalos para la futura nueva integrante de la familia Simmons-Hancock.
El crimen
El 9 de octubre de 2020, Parker fue hasta la casa de Reagan, ubicada en New Boston, Texas. Allí también se encontraba la hija mayor de la víctima.
Según la reconstrucción judicial, Taylor atacó con un martillo a la joven y luego la apuñaló decenas de veces. La autopsia reveló posteriormente que la víctima recibió más de 100 heridas cortantes y punzantes.
Cuando la embarazada ya no pudo defenderse, Parker le abrió el abdomen para extraer a la beba de manera improvisada, sin ningún tipo de conocimiento médico. Después del ataque, Taylor dejó el cuerpo de su amiga dentro de la casa y escapó con la recién nacida.
La hija de tres años de la víctima permaneció sola dentro de la propiedad hasta que horas después llegó la madre de Reagan. Alarmada porque su hija no respondía los mensajes, encontró la puerta del garaje abierta y una escena llena de sangre. Poco después encontró el cuerpo de Reagan y dio aviso a la policía. Taylor Parker junto a su novio, Wade Griffin. (Foto: Netflix)
Mientras los investigadores realizaban las primeras pericias en la escena del crimen, otro episodio ocurría a varios kilómetros de distancia. Un patrullero detuvo a Taylor Parker porque manejaba de forma errática. Al frenar, la mujer aseguró que acababa de dar a luz al costado de la ruta y que la beba había dejado de respirar.
Los policías comenzaron a practicar maniobras de reanimación y trasladaron de urgencia a ambos al hospital. Sin embargo, apenas ingresó al centro médico, detectaron algo extraño.
Taylor no presentaba ninguna señal física compatible con un parto reciente. Los exámenes confirmaron además que jamás había dado a luz y que, debido a una histerectomía practicada años antes, era imposible que hubiera estado embarazada.
Al mismo tiempo, los investigadores que trabajaban en la casa de Reagan se dieron cuenta de que la beba había sido arrancado del vientre de la víctima. Más tarde, las pruebas de ADN confirmaron lo peor: la recién nacida era hija de la mujer asesinada.
Taylor Parker durante su declaración indagatoria. (Foto: Netflix)
La menor murió poco después de llegar al hospital debido a las graves lesiones sufridas durante la extracción y a la falta de atención médica adecuada.
Con las evidencias acumuladas, Parker quedó acorralada y terminó confesando su participación en el crimen.
Durante la investigación también salieron a la luz búsquedas realizadas desde su computadora y su celular que demostraban la planificación del ataque. Había investigado cómo conseguir una panza falsa, cómo encontrar madres embarazadas, procesos de adopción, videos de cesáreas y distintos métodos relacionados con el embarazo.
Leé también: Asesinó a una mujer embarazada, le sacó el bebé del vientre y se lo robó: el caso que estremeció a EEUU
La condena
Taylor Parker fue juzgada por asesinato capital, uno de los delitos más graves contemplados por la legislación de Texas. Durante el juicio, la fiscalía sostuvo que el crimen había sido cuidadosamente planificado y que el único objetivo era obtener un bebé para sostener su engaño frente a su pareja.
Durante el proceso judicial declararon familiares de la víctima, investigadores, médicos forenses y el propio Griffin, quien aseguró que jamás imaginó que el embarazo fuera una mentira.
En octubre de 2022, un jurado declaró culpable a Parker por el asesinato de Reagan Simmons-Hancock. Un mes después, tras la etapa de sentencia, fue condenada a la pena de muerte.
Los jueces consideraron especialmente agravantes la premeditación del crimen, la extrema violencia ejercida contra la víctima y la muerte de la beba, que no logró sobrevivir tras ser extraída del vientre de su madre.
En 2025, un tribunal de apelaciones confirmó la condena. Parker continúa presentando recursos judiciales, por lo que sigue alojada en el corredor de la muerte de la prisión Patrick L. O’Daniel Unit, en Gatesville, Texas, a la espera de que finalice el proceso de apelaciones.
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