Good afternoon from Washington, where the collapse of Graham Platner’s campaign has sparked a rolling crisis for Democrats in a key state that may determine control of the Senate.
President Donald Trump has spent the week overseas in Türkiye for a NATO summit, doing what he does best: berating Europeans. It’s made for quieter waters in DC this week, with the town recovering from the oppressive heat and deafening noise of the July Fourth celebrations that went well into the early hours of Sunday morning.
But scandal up north has kept everyone plenty occupied. Platner, the gruff progressive who as recently as last week looked likely to be the next senator from Maine, saw his campaign rocked by a new, and ultimately fatal, sexual assault allegation, which he denies.
Read on for a look inside Platner’s Maine bunker as his campaign imploded, sparking all-out war between the grassroots movement he fostered and a Democratic Party desperate to beat Republican Susan Collins and wrest back control of the Senate.
PLUS: Who the hell is Count Binface? And finally, how the Irish ambassador was forced to postpone an event with disgraced reporter Mark Halperin.
Also mentioned in this issue: Meghan McCain, Nigel Farage, Elina Shirazi, Donald Trump Jr., 50 Cent, Marco Rubio, Todd Blanche, Bari Weiss, Douglas Murray, and Lachlan Cartwright.
Got tips? Hit the Party Animals hotline: aidan_mclaughlin@condenast.com. Or text me—my number is 917-817-8266. Complaints will be tabled at the next NATO conference. Praise will be a delegate at the Maine Democratic Party’s hastily arranged Senate convention.
