Tipsheet

'Follow Them Around:' Graham Platner Believes Political Intimidation Will Help Pass Medicare for All

Amy Curtis
Amy Curtis  |  November 24, 2025 8:30 AM

Graham Platner, the Maine Democratic Senate candidate, is no stranger to calls for political violence. In a series of unearthed, since-deleted social media posts, we learned last month that Platner believes violence is necessary to foment political change. In one of those posts, he said if people "expect to fight fascism without a good semi-automatic rifle, they ought to do some reading of history," and in another, he said "an armed working class is a requirement for economic justice."

Platner is back, and he's calling for more violence against politicians who oppose socialized medicine.

"We need to be able to turn people out to flood their offices. Frankly, I want people to follow them around and don’t let them have a public dinner without getting yelled at. Because that’s power. That’s real power," Platner said.

Here's more:

Platner justified those tactics as a way of building "secondary power." He said they’re a proven form of political pressure and that "American history tells us that that’s exactly the power that we have."

"We also have to build secondary power. Real power of organization, the power to turn people out, the power to shut things down, frankly, the power to impose costs," Platner said. "If we can’t impose costs, then they’ll never listen to us, because they won’t care."

Platner has made Medicare for All a centerpiece of his campaign. His economic platform also calls for a major expansion of Social Security benefits—including the elimination of the payroll tax cap—a "billionaire minimum tax," and steep increases in capital gains and corporate taxes. He’s said he wants to use "the tax code to get the money back that was stolen from the working people of this country."

Yes, because we all know those tax dollars go back to the working people and not some government coffers.

It's always the ones you least expect. Not.

Yeah, the shelf-life on the whole "punch a Nazi" think wasn't long at all, was it?

If that happens, Platner would play the victim and use it as "proof" that the Right is violent. Democrats think they can get away with this stuff because they have, for years.

Either way, it would be worth it.

Yes, we are.

Many people will do the exact opposite when you bully them into accepting your position. That's human nature.

And it's not just directed at Republicans, either. Platner says politicians, so he's fine with the rational members of his party being harrassed (or worse) in public.