Graham Platner's Comedic Potential Lost in Joke Drought

Tim Graham on May 27, 2026

Bonchie of RedState.com asked an interesting question on X: Has a single late-night comic told a single joke about Graham Platner? That question shouldn't have to be asked about the radical-left Democrat Senate nominee in Maine, the one who had the Totenkopf symbol tattooed on his chest, which symbolizes the SS who ran the death camps. OK, that doesn't sound funny.

But Platner is a walking, talking pincushion for comedians. Add to the Nazi tattoo these gaffetastic items:

-- Mocked Purple Heart recipient Ted Daniels after he was shot four times in a 2012 battle with the Taliban: "Dumb motherf---er didn't deserve to live."

-- Replied to a discussion about nostalgic military smells by declaring: "I still have to jerk off every time I sit in a portas----er ... That blue water smell conditioned me."

-- In a discussion on rape, Platner claimed people should "take some responsibility for themselves and not get so f---ed up they wind up having sex with someone they don't mean to."

-- Identified himself ideologically as "I got older and became a communist."

-- Railed against police officers, writing, "F--- these cops," and "Cops are bastards ... All of them, in fact."

-- Responded to a post titled, "White people aren't as racist or stupid as Trump thinks," by insisting, "Living in white rural America, I'm afraid to tell you they actually are."

Platner's as ripe for caustic jokes as former GOP Rep. George Santos, and the late-night comedians once ran 72 jokes on Santos in a two-week period in 2023. Alex Christy at NewsBusters, who counts the jokes on the late-night shows, found zero Platner jokes on ABC, CBS or NBC in late night.

Someone could argue that if Platner is energetically ignored by network newscasts, then the late-night viewers might not know enough to get the jokes. This underlines the argument that late-night comedy shows act as message-enhancers for the leftist networks. If they obsess over Santos in the news, then the comedians obsess in the "comedy." It's a one-two punch.

Last October, there were a couple of Platner jokes on Comedy Central's "The Daily Show" from fake-news host Michael Kosta. On Platner's Reddit posts, he summarized: "A communist who hates police and thinks rural white people are stupid. Mr. Platner, you must step down from the Maine Senate race -- and move to Brooklyn to be their anointed king!" That's not exactly negative.

He then added: "I'm kidding. I think Platner still has a chance. Sure, his posts are offensive to rural white Americans, but keep in mind, most of them can't read." He's siding with Platner over the rural rubes.

A few weeks ago, "Daily Show" Monday host Jon Stewart brought Platner on his "Weekly Show" podcast and lamented any comedy: "You have been caricatured in many ways, in the national media. ... And so to be able to spend an hour or so just getting to know you and getting to know your story, you really make a lot more sense to me now."

Time magazine just published a soft-soap cover story on Platner, furiously spinning: "After decades of nominating buttoned-up technocrats with glittering resumes, many Democrats want candidates with flaws, faded ink, and redemption arcs that resemble their own. Platner's past, in other words, may actually be his path." The gaffes may be his "secret sauce," said one Democrat.

"Comedy" has been weaponized in late night as a partisan tool to undermine Republicans as evil, stupid, even criminal. They were targeted with 92% of the political jokes in 2025. The Left is somehow never worthy of mockery.

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Tim Graham is director of media analysis at the Media Research Center and executive editor of the blog NewsBusters.org. To find out more about Tim Graham and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.