WASHINGTON (AP) 鈥� President laced into on Wednesday, calling the Senate candidate from Maine a 鈥渢hug鈥� and a 鈥減ig鈥� and suggesting that the Democratic Party was hypocritical for lining up behind someone with so many questions about his past .
That line of political attack was striking coming from a president who himself has been accused of , was and was .
Trump also has endorsed a parade of Republicans with their own personal baggage 鈥� but that didn’t stop him from faulting the other side for doing the same.
鈥淗e鈥檚 a thug, and they鈥檙e trying to make excuses for him,鈥� Trump said of top Democrats. 鈥淚 mean, he鈥檚 worse than any human being that鈥檚 ever run for office, probably.鈥�
The criticism follows Platner’s decisive primary victory
Platner, who clinched the Democratic nomination on Tuesday night, has faced criticism over numerous issues, including , a that is widely recognized as a Nazi symbol and he sent to women after getting married. He will face five-term Republican Sen. Susan Collins in the November election.
Asked about Trump’s comments, Platner’s campaign said the candidate remained focused on issues facing Maine.
The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, in response, issued a statement focused on Collins, who is considered one of the most vulnerable senators up for reelection this year.
鈥淪usan Collins is facing backlash in Maine after voting with Trump 96 percent of the time, being the decisive vote for the justices who overturned Roe v. Wade, and selling out to the special interests that fund her campaigns after three decades in the Senate, and that鈥檚 why Trump praised her today in the Oval Office,鈥� spokesperson Josh Marcus-Blank said in a statement.
The White House defended Trump’s comments by noting Platner’s past social media posts.
鈥淕raham Platner proudly referred to himself as a 鈥榗ommunist,鈥� called all police 鈥榖astards,鈥� and said rural White Americans 鈥榓ctually are鈥� racist and stupid. President Trump is absolutely correct that Platner is both a thug and a pig. Attempting to compare President Trump to Graham Platner is exactly why trust in legacy media outlets like the failing Associated Press is at an all-time low,鈥� White House spokesperson Kush Desai said in a statement.
鈥楥an you imagine if the Republicans had him?鈥�
Trump, when speaking about Platner to reporters at the White House during , said, 鈥淣obody鈥檚 ever had a record like that.鈥�
鈥淗e鈥檚 like a pig,鈥� the president said, adding that perhaps 鈥減igs would be very upset鈥� to be associated with Platner, drawing laughter from assorted Republican lawmakers in the Oval Office with him.
Trump then brought up another scandal that has swirled around him dating back to his first term as president: his former friendship with convicted sex offender . Trump sought to paint Democratic Senate leader Chuck Schumer as a hypocrite, saying he 鈥済oes crazy over this or that or Epstein, Epstein, Epstein鈥� but instead should be concerned about Platner.
Later, Trump offered, 鈥淐an you imagine if the Republicans had him?鈥�
Setting aside the allegations Trump has faced over the years, Republicans have had candidates who were accused of serious misconduct who nonetheless won Trump’s backing.
The president this year over incumbent GOP Sen. John Cornyn, though Paxton had faced state and federal corruption investigations and a 2023 in which he was acquitted but publicly exposed his extramarital affair. Paxton has said allegations of wrongdoing were politically motivated.
Trump also didn’t back away from endorsing 2017 Alabama Senate candidate , who was accused of sexual misconduct involving teenage girls decades earlier. Trump, at the time, and said his vote was needed for Republican priorities. Moore’s eventual loss gave way to the in a quarter-century.
He endorsed 2024 North Carolina gubernatorial candidate and declined to rescind the backing after CNN reported that the candidate had made lewd and racist comments on a pornography website 鈥� though he did . Robinson, who later acknowledged making the posts, the general election in the swing state.
He similarly decided not to revoke his support for Texas Rep. Tony Gonzales this year after the congressman who later died by suicide. Gonzales , and Trump later endorsed someone else.
and other key offices who had been accused of some form of sexual misconduct.
That includes Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who was and denied it, and Trump鈥檚 initial choice for attorney general, former Rep. Matt Gaetz, who faced a Justice Department sex trafficking investigation and a House Ethics Committee investigation into sexual misconduct.
Gaetz denied wrongdoing and withdrew his name from consideration. The DOJ investigation ended without federal charges against him.
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