Graham Platner is trying to move on from the divisive online posts that threaten to derail his insurgent candidacy for Senate.

The Maine business owner seeking the seat now held by GOP Rep. Susan Collins released a video Friday offering a lengthy explanation and expressing regret for Reddit comments that endorsed political violence, minimized rape in the military and disparaged police.

Platner said his online views were a reflection of his mental state following his return from military service in Afghanistan, and that his views have since evolved.

“When I got back from Afghanistan in 2011, I stayed in the Army for another year. I got out in 2012. Some of the worst comments I made, the things that I'm — I think are least defensible, that I wouldn't even try to defend, come from that time,” he said in the video message. “When I got out, I still had the crude humor, the dark, dark feelings, the offensive language that really was a hallmark — hallmark of the infantry when I was in it.”

Platner’s social media posts, including messages from as recently as 2021, have gained widespread media attention in recent days.

POLITICO reported Platner suggested political violence is necessary to affect social change in a 2018 post. The Washington Post reported Platner downplayed concerns about sexual assault in posts from 2013. CNN reported he labeled all White Americans in rural areas as racist and stupid in one 2020 post and said all cops are “bastards” in a 2021 post. The Bangor Daily News reported Platner asked why Black people “don’t tip” in a 2013 post.

The Reddit posts were deleted prior to announcing his campaign. Platner acknowledged making the posts and has apologized for them.

Platner said in his video statement that he stopped posting on Reddit “around 2020 or 2021” when he returned to Maine.

“I went from thinking that people were bad to knowing that people are good. I went from thinking that there was no hope to having nothing but hope — a hope that is rooted in the fact that it was in my community, here in Sullivan, Maine, that I got to come home and build a nice life,” he said.

Platner, who’s been endorsed by progressive Sen. Bernie Sanders, is hoping to defeat Senate Democrats’ preferred candidate Gov. Janet Mills and win the party’s nomination in Democrats’ best opportunity to pick up a Senate seat in the midterms.

Republicans quickly dismissed Platner’s video apology.

“Five minutes in which Graham Platner blames HIS FELLOW SERVICEMEN for things he said,” National Republican Senatorial Committee spokesperson Joanna Rodriguez said in a social media post.

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All passengers, including Hegseth, were safe after the plane landed due to a crack in its windshield.

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Disney announced “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” will resume airing on Tuesday, ending Kimmel's short-lived suspension following comments the host made on his show about the killing of Charlie Kirk.

In a statement released Monday, Disney said it suspended Kimmel last week “to avoid inflaming a tense situation.” The company received intense pressure from Trump allies, including Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr, over Kimmel’s comments.

“Last Wednesday, we made the decision to suspend production on the show to avoid further inflaming a tense situation at an emotional moment for our country,” Disney said in the statement. “It is a decision we made because we felt some of the comments were ill-timed and thus insensitive.”

“We have spent the last days having thoughtful conversations with Jimmy, and after those conversations, we reached the decision to return the show on Tuesday,” the statement continued.

Sinclair Broadcasting Group, which operates nearly 40 ABC affiliates, said Monday evening that it will preempt Kimmel's show on its stations when the show returns.

Kimmel’s suspension set off a wave of criticism from leaders in both parties who were concerned about political censorship.

Prior to Kimmel’s suspension, Carr condemned Kimmel’s comments and suggested that media companies who receive licensing from the FCC have “an obligation to operate in the public interest.”

“We can do this the easy way or the hard way,” Carr said last Wednesday in an interview.

Hours later on Wednesday, Nexstar Media Group and Sinclair Broadcasting Group, two of the nation’s largest owners of local television stations, said they would preempt tapings of “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” because of Kimmel’s comments. Nexstar Media Group is currently pursuing a billion-dollar merger with Tegna that would require FCC approval.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

A handful of prominent Republicans on Capitol Hill, including Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, warned that Carr could set a dangerous precedent and urged the Trump administration to be careful in pressuring a private company to influence its speech.

Democratic leaders in Washington and hundreds of artists and celebrities joined in condemning Kimmel’s suspension.

FCC commissioner Anna Gomez, the lone Democrat in the agency's leadership, welcomed Kimmel's return to air and praised Americans who criticized the suspension.

"I am glad to see Disney find its courage in the face of clear government intimidation," she said.

Andrew Kolvet, a spokesperson for Turning Point USA, encouraged Nexstar and Sinclair to keep their pledge to preempt Kimmel when his show returns.

“Disney and ABC caving and allowing Kimmell back on the air is not surprising, but it's their mistake to make,” Kolvet said in a social media post Monday. “Nextstar and Sinclair do not have to make the same choice.”

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The president said three people were killed in an airstrike in international waters.

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Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe said Friday that the state’s Legislature will draw new congressional maps in a special session, officially inserting the deep-red state into the nationwide redistricting battle that will reshape the fight to control the House in 2026.

Missouri’s redistricting push could see the state add an additional Republican-majority district to its eight-member congressional delegation. The delegation is currently split between six Republicans and two Democrats.

Kehoe released its proposed maps on Friday, which target the Kansas City-area 5th Congressional district held by Democratic Rep. Emanuel Cleaver. The special session will be Wednesday.

The move is the next phase of President Donald Trump’s effort to pressure GOP-controlled states to take up mid-decade redistricting to strengthen Republicans’ chances of retaining control of the House.

Last week, Trump preemptively declared Missouri had signed up for mid-decade redistricting and stressed its importance in helping Republicans win in 2026.

“The Great State of Missouri is now IN. I’m not surprised. It is a great State with fabulous people,” Trump wrote on Truth Social last week. “I won it, all 3 times, in a landslide. We’re going to win the Midterms in Missouri again, bigger and better than ever before!”

Trump played a key role in pushing Texas Republicans to draw new maps with five additional Republican-friendly districts. In response, Texas Democrats left the state to deny the Legislature a quorum and temporarily delay approval of the new maps.

Democrats in Missouri will face more obstacles to oppose a GOP gerrymander — Republicans hold supermajorities in both chambers of Missouri’s Legislature, meaning they can power through any Democratic opposition.

Republicans are hoping other states follow Texas and Missouri. Trump and Vice President JD Vance this week ratcheted up their pressure campaign on Indiana Republicans in hopes the state will redraw its maps to create another favorable district. Ohio could also produce as many as three additional Republican-leaning districts when the state takes up its mandatory redraw.

Democrats have limited paths to counter the White House’s redistricting effort beyond California, where Gov. Gavin Newsom and statewide Democrats are seeking to form five new Democratic-leaning districts through a ballot measure. Some Democrats are eyeing an unexpected opportunity to potentially challenge for a seat in Utah after a judge ordered the state’s Legislature to draw new maps compliant with state rules restricting partisan gerrymandering.

But other Democratic governors have yet to take concrete steps towards redistricting — and the party is outnumbered in the redistricting arms race. Republicans control the governor’s office and the state Legislature in 23 states, compared to only 15 states for Democrats.

Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin attacked Missouri’s redistricting plan as an attempt to undermine Missouri voters.

“Time and time again, Missouri Governor Mike Kehoe has undermined the voice of Missouri voters,” Martin said in a statement on Friday. “Now he is attempting to dilute their power altogether by removing the ability of Missourians to stand up against this power grab.”

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President Donald Trump attacked the Utah judge who ordered the state to redraw its congressional maps ahead of the 2026 midterms — a decision that could result in less favorable districts for Republicans in the deeply red state.

Trump, who sparked a redistricting battle after demanding that Texas redraw its political boundaries to favor Republicans ahead of the midterms, called Monday's ruling “absolutely unconstitutional” and urged his party to preserve the state's four GOP-majority districts.

The president accused Judge Dianna Gibson of political bias for ruling that the state can no longer use its current maps and must draw new lines in compliance with an independent commission.

“How did such a wonderful Republican State like Utah, which I won in every Election, end up with so many Radical Left Judges?,” Trump wrote on social media. “All Citizens of Utah should be outraged at their activist Judiciary, which wants to take away our Congressional advantage, and will do everything possible to do so.”

Gibson was appointed to the district court by former Gov. Gary Herbert, a Republican, in 2018.

Trump’s criticisms of the Utah decision come as both Republicans and Democrats push for mid-decade redistricting around the country. After Trump pressured Texas Republicans to draw new lines, California Democrats responded with a ballot measure that asks voters to approve new congressional maps that would adopt five new Democratic-leaning districts.

Gibson said in her ruling that the state must obey a 2018 ballot measure approved by Utah voters that required districts to be drawn by an independent commission. Nonpartisan congressional maps could present an opportunity for Democrats to challenge for a seat in the Salt Lake City-area.

Trump’s comments echo the defense used by members of the state Legislature who argued the provisions of the 2018 ballot measure were unconstitutional. In her ruling, Gibson said that ballot measures to reform Utah’s voting laws aren't prohibited by state law or the Constitution and are binding.

“Neither the U.S. Constitution nor the Utah Constitution grants sole and exclusive authority over redistricting to the Legislature,” Gibson wrote. “Because legislative power is shared co-equally and co-extensively between the Legislature and the people, and because redistricting is legislative, the people have the fundamental constitution right and authority to propose redistricting legislation that is binding on the Legislature.”

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Texas Democratic Rep. Lloyd Doggett said he will not run for reelection in his home district if the Texas redistricting proposal is approved, avoiding a potential member-on-member primary with Rep. Greg Casar, who was drawn into Doggett’s district in the new maps.

Doggett did not say whether he would retire from Congress if the maps are approved or if he plans to run in another Texas district.

The 78-year-old lawmaker has faced pressure from some Democrats to allow Casar to run in the new Austin-area district. A primary in the 37th District between Doggett and Casar could have reopened old fissures in the party over elderly incumbents — a debate amplified last year by Doggett, who was the first Democrat in Congress to call on then-President Joe Biden to drop out of the presidential race.

“If the courts give Trump a victory in his scheme to maintain control of a compliant House, I will not seek reelection in the reconfigured CD37, even though it contains over 2/3rd of my current constituents,” Doggett said in the statement.

Doggett said he will run for reelection in his current district if Texas Republicans’ “racially gerrymandered Trump map” is rejected. Doggett’s office did not immediately respond to requests for clarification about his intentions if the maps are approved.

A spokesperson for Casar declined to comment.

Doggett quickly announced his intention to run in his home district last month after Texas released its redrawn maps. Last week, he leaned on Casar to run in the new 35th District, a bloc east of San Antonio where Trump won 54 percent of the vote last year.

Days later, Casar’s chief of staff said he would only run for Congress in his native Austin, and chastised Doggett for attempting to force him to run elsewhere.

“I had hoped that my commitment to reelection under any circumstances would encourage Congressman Casar to not surrender his winnable district to Trump,” Doggett said in the statement. “While his apparent decision is most unfortunate, I prefer to devote the coming months to fighting Trump tyranny and serving Austin rather than waging a struggle with fellow Democrats.”

Pressure against Doggett ramped up in recent days after David Hogg’s super PAC said it planned to financially support Casar if the two members squared off in a primary. Doggett, who holds over $6 million in his campaign account, had said he planned to spend significantly to defend his seat. Hogg’s group said they had intended to help Casar make up some of the difference.

“Thank you, Congressman Lloyd Doggett, for letting the next generation lead and for your decades of progressive service. I hope more members of Congress follow his example and pass the torch,” Hogg said in a statement to POLITICO.

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Former President Barack Obama is supporting California’s mid-cycle redistricting effort as a “responsible approach” to Republicans drawing new maps in Texas.

Obama praised California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s ballot measure proposal to redraw congressional districts and tilt at least five congressional districts in the state towards Democrats at a fundraiser on Tuesday for the National Democratic Redistricting Committee.

“I believe that Governor Newsom’s approach is a responsible approach,” he said, according to excerpts obtained by POLITICO. “I think that approach is a smart, measured approach, designed to address a very particular problem in a very particular moment in time.”

California Democrats are expected this week to allow voters to bypass an independent commission established by voters and decide whether to approve the new partisan maps for the next three election cycles in response to the Republican’s move in Texas.

Obama’s remarks comes as both parties in California gear up for what is expected to be a hard-fought campaign over the ballot initiative to redraw political boundaries in the state in response to President Donald Trump’s efforts to keep the House in Republican hands in the 2026 midterms.

The former president said redrawing the lines is “not my preference,” but that the Democratic-led effort in California is “responsible” in this context.

“We cannot unilaterally allow one of the two major parties to rig the game,” he said. “And California is one of the states that has the capacity to offset a large state like Texas.”

The Associated Press first reported Obama’s remarks.

Obama said he hopes that the NDRC and national Democrats will work to eliminate partisan gerrymandering as a “long-term goal,” but applauded Newsom’s response to the new Texas maps and Trump’s broader campaign to push other red states to draw new, more favorable maps.

“Given that Texas is taking direction from a partisan White House that is effectively saying: gerrymander for partisan purposes so we can maintain the House despite our unpopular policies, redistrict right in the middle of a decade between censuses — which is not how the system was designed; I have tremendous respect for how Governor Newsom has approached this,” he said.

Newsom thanked Obama for his support in a social media post and promised that California’s redistricting proposal will “neutralize any attempts Donald Trump makes to steal Congressional seats.”

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