The Democrats running for Senate who hate the country
Article excerpt
As America celebrates 250 years this July, several Democratic Senate candidates are marking the occasion by expressing just how much they hate the country. Their behavior isn’t exactly shocking. Recent polling found only 18% of Democrats say they are proud to be American. Yet rather than celebrating the nation’s birthday, these candidates are hoping a […]
As America celebrates 250 years this July, several Democratic Senate candidates are marking the occasion by expressing just how much they hate the country.
Their behavior isn’t exactly shocking. Recent polling found only 18% of Democrats say they are proud to be American. Yet rather than celebrating the nation’s birthday, these candidates are hoping a hatred of America will win them votes.
Maine’s Democratic Senate nominee Graham Platner, in now-deleted Reddit posts, agreed with a user criticizing the U.S. strike in 2020 that killed Iranian terrorist Qassem Soleimani, the man responsible for the deaths of hundreds of American soldiers. A Reddit user with the handle “RevolutionaryCommie” called the American response to Soleimani’s death “ghoulish” and “disgusting,” and said the United States is “a disgraceful country.” Platner, under the username “P-Hustle” replied: “I’m an American and I can’t disagree with you tonight.”
This comment is only the latest installment in a series of critical and demeaning comments scandal-ridden Platner has made both toward the U.S. and its military service members on the platform.
Platner admitted he became disillusioned with American patriotism after his service, writing again on Reddit: “After the war, I’ve pretty much stopped believing in any of the patriotic nonsense that got me there in the first place.” And while he has tried to shake these incidents, they shouldn’t be easily forgiven.
Democratic Senate nominee James Talarico of Texas claims to be a “Christian who hates Christianity.” And if that didn’t seem backward enough, in 2019, Talarico told an audience the American flag is “such a complicated symbol for most of us.” He likened it to the cross of Christ, suggesting it had been “co-opted” and that its “true meaning has been betrayed.”
A man who hates his own faith probably would find the flag complicated. But it’s not. It is a symbol of the most powerful nation in the history of the world, whose citizens have fought and died for 250 years to defend its principles of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness for all its citizens. There’s nothing all that complicated about that.
Graham Platner, Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate, speaks to an overflow crowd outside a campaign event Sunday, June 7, 2026, in Portland, Maine. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)
" data-large-file="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/AP26159010940117_aece53.jpg?w=696" src="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/AP26159010940117_aece53.jpg?w=696" alt="Graham Platner" class="wp-image-4601908" srcset="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/AP26159010940117_aece53.jpg 1024w, https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/AP26159010940117_aece53.jpg?resize=300,200 300w, https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/AP26159010940117_aece53.jpg?resize=768,512 768w, https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/AP26159010940117_aece53.jpg?resize=150,100 150w, https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/AP26159010940117_aece53.jpg?resize=696,464 696w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px">Graham Platner, Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate, speaks to an overflow crowd outside a campaign event Sunday, June 7, 2026, in Portland, Maine. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)
Then there’s likely Michigan Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El Sayed, who believes his two daughters are “growing up in an America where they have fewer rights than their immigrant grandparents had.” El Sayed has not specified which rights he believes his daughters are missing out on, but he has campaigned to abolish Immigration and Customs Enforcement: a position that would make it easier for people in the country illegally to access those same rights.
El Sayed also accepted an endorsement from Hasan Piker, the influencer who declared “America deserved 9/11,” and rather than condemning it, El Sayed defended him, claiming the remark needed to be viewed in “context.”
But there is no context that makes that statement acceptable.
Incumbent Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA), meanwhile, made a different, although not unique, case against the country he already represents. In an appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert earlier this year, Ossoff called Trump’s two terms as president representative of a “deeper disease” in American society.
Nothing says “I’m here to serve you” quite like telling half of your constituents they’re infected.
AMERICA 250: AMERICAN OPTIMISM ISN’T NAIVE. IT JUST NEEDS TO BE HONEST
According to Platner, Talarico, El-Sayed, and Ossoff, America is diseased, disgraceful, and hardly worth preserving. But real patriots know that while our nation surely has its faults just as all human institutions do, it is the single greatest experiment in self-government the world has ever seen, and it’s worked.
America is a country that abolished slavery, rebuilt Europe after two world wars, put a man on the moon, and produced the freest and most prosperous society in history. It’s something worth fighting for, something worth celebrating, something worth preserving for generations to come. And those candidates who can’t bring themselves to feel and express that kind of love and pride for our nation should stop asking for the public’s votes.
Tayte Christensen is an investigative journalist. Her work has been featured in The Daily Caller.