Rallying With Sanders, Platner Condemns ‘Corrupt Politicians and the Corporations That Bought Them’
“We will defeat the oligarchy and the political system that it maintains,” said Graham Platner. “The politics of Susan Collins.”
US Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner appeared together during a “Fight Oligarchy” tour stop on May 24, 2026 in Orono, Maine.
(Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
Jake Johnson
May 25, 2026
COMMON DREAMS
US Sen. Bernie Sanders on Sunday rallied in Orono, Maine with progressive Senate candidate Graham Platner, who called for transformative political change to reclaim the wealth that has been “stolen by corrupt politicians and the corporations that bought them.”
Platner, who effectively locked up the Maine’s US Senate Democratic primary after Gov. Janet Mills exited the race last month, placed five-term incumbent Republican Sen. Susan Collins among the corrupt lawmakers who have sold out workers and advanced the interests of the billionaire class, which is shelling out millions to protect Collins’ seat.
‘Building a Movement for the Future,’ Bernie Sanders Endorses 61 State and Local Progressives
Condemning ‘Corruption’ of Susan Collins, End Citizens United Endorses Platner in Maine
“We will not just fight the oligarchy,” Platner told an audience of 1,400 gathered at the University of Maine, the location of the 40th stop of Sanders’ (I-Vt.) nationwide “Fighting Oligarchy” tour. “We will defeat the oligarchy and the political system that it maintains... The politics of Susan Collins. A politics that turns politicians into millionaires but tells you to be grateful for crumbs. It is a lie.”
Platner declared that “we need a political revolution,” something he said Sanders “has been fighting for for 60 years.”
“When we beat back fascism, when we defend our democracy and our freedom, let it be a different kind of freedom,” said Platner. “A freedom to not be condemned to scraps and struggle, but to live with the dignity and fulfillment that gives us the society we deserve.”
Watch the full rally:
Sanders, who became the first US senator to endorse Platner last August when he was widely seen as a long shot to win the Democratic nomination, said that “what we’re talking about”—from Medicare for All to a living wage to union rights for all workers—“is not radical.”
“What is radical is when so few have so much,” said Sanders. “What is radical is when billionaires control our political system.”
Sunday’s “Fight Oligarchy” rally came days after a survey showed Platner leading Collins—who has held her seat for nearly three decades—by seven percentage points among likely voters, who appear unfazed by an intensifying wave of attacks on Platner from pro-Collins super PACs and the National Republican Senatorial Committee.
“Susan Collins is spineless and corrupt,” Platner wrote on social media ahead of the rally. “And in 163 days, we will defeat her.”
“We will defeat the oligarchy and the political system that it maintains,” said Graham Platner. “The politics of Susan Collins.”
US Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner appeared together during a “Fight Oligarchy” tour stop on May 24, 2026 in Orono, Maine.
(Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
Jake Johnson
May 25, 2026
COMMON DREAMS
US Sen. Bernie Sanders on Sunday rallied in Orono, Maine with progressive Senate candidate Graham Platner, who called for transformative political change to reclaim the wealth that has been “stolen by corrupt politicians and the corporations that bought them.”
Platner, who effectively locked up the Maine’s US Senate Democratic primary after Gov. Janet Mills exited the race last month, placed five-term incumbent Republican Sen. Susan Collins among the corrupt lawmakers who have sold out workers and advanced the interests of the billionaire class, which is shelling out millions to protect Collins’ seat.
‘Building a Movement for the Future,’ Bernie Sanders Endorses 61 State and Local Progressives
Condemning ‘Corruption’ of Susan Collins, End Citizens United Endorses Platner in Maine
“We will not just fight the oligarchy,” Platner told an audience of 1,400 gathered at the University of Maine, the location of the 40th stop of Sanders’ (I-Vt.) nationwide “Fighting Oligarchy” tour. “We will defeat the oligarchy and the political system that it maintains... The politics of Susan Collins. A politics that turns politicians into millionaires but tells you to be grateful for crumbs. It is a lie.”
Platner declared that “we need a political revolution,” something he said Sanders “has been fighting for for 60 years.”
“When we beat back fascism, when we defend our democracy and our freedom, let it be a different kind of freedom,” said Platner. “A freedom to not be condemned to scraps and struggle, but to live with the dignity and fulfillment that gives us the society we deserve.”
Watch the full rally:
Sanders, who became the first US senator to endorse Platner last August when he was widely seen as a long shot to win the Democratic nomination, said that “what we’re talking about”—from Medicare for All to a living wage to union rights for all workers—“is not radical.”
“What is radical is when so few have so much,” said Sanders. “What is radical is when billionaires control our political system.”
Sunday’s “Fight Oligarchy” rally came days after a survey showed Platner leading Collins—who has held her seat for nearly three decades—by seven percentage points among likely voters, who appear unfazed by an intensifying wave of attacks on Platner from pro-Collins super PACs and the National Republican Senatorial Committee.
“Susan Collins is spineless and corrupt,” Platner wrote on social media ahead of the rally. “And in 163 days, we will defeat her.”
The Maine Republican was a decisive vote for Brett Kavanaugh, “and in the years since Roe was overturned, Susan Collins has done everything she can to skirt responsibility and avoid accountability,” said the Democrat.
Democratic US Senate candidate Graham Platner poses for a photograph with nurses during a town hall on May 20, 2026 in Portland, Maine.
(Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
Jessica Corbett
May 22, 2026
COMMON DREAMS
As part of Graham Platner’s campaign to oust Republican Sen. Susan Collins in Maine, the Democrat on Friday called out the five-term senator for skipping committee hearings on reproductive healthcare, including abortion, since the US Supreme Court that she helped build overturned Roe v. Wade.
Reproductive freedom advocates across Maine have renewed efforts to replace Collins since she voted to confirm various anti-choice judicial nominees during President Donald Trump’s first term, including Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who was credibly accused of sexual assault, in 2018.
‘Charade Is Over’: New Platner Ad Takes Aim at Collins’ ‘Symbolic Opposition’ to Trump Agenda
‘We Are All With You’: Outpouring of Support as Platner Family Shares Fertility Heartbreak
Kavanaugh is part of the far-right supermajority that reversed Roe with the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision in 2022, which led to a fresh wave of state-level restrictions on reproductive healthcare.
Beacon, run by the Maine People’s Alliance, reported Friday that since the Dobbs ruling, Collins has not attended any Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee “meetings focused on abortion or reproductive healthcare,” according to the panel’s hearing reports.
They included the July 2022 hearing titled “Reproductive Care in a Post-Roe America: Barriers, Challenges, and Threats to Women’s Health” and the June 2024 hearing titled “The Assault on Women’s Freedoms: How Abortion Bans Have Created a Healthcare Nightmare Across America.”
More broadly, the Beacon noted, “Collins has also missed more than half of all possible HELP Committee meetings during her current term. Between 2021 and March 2026, she did not attend 67 of 125 possible HELP Committee and relevant subcommittee hearings.”
Since launching his campaign last year, Platner has repeatedly called out Collins for demonstrating “symbolic opposition” to Trump while enabling his agenda and serving the interests of wealthy donors instead of working people. The combat veteran and oyster farmer—who’s now the presumptive Democratic nominee after Gov. Janet Mills dropped out of the primary race last month—similarly took aim at his opponent in response to the new reporting.
“Thanks to Susan Collins’ decisive vote for Brett Kavanaugh, the freedom to choose was stolen from millions of women. And in the years since Roe was overturned, Susan Collins has done everything she can to skirt responsibility and avoid accountability—from skipping hearings to avoiding town halls at all costs,” said Platner in a statement.
“In November, Susan Collins will learn she can only run and hide from her damaging votes for so long. Because whether she knows it or not—her charade is over,” added the Democrat, who has been open about his family’s fertility struggles during the campaign.
No comments:
Post a Comment