A conservative publication recently dug up a column that upstart U.S. Senate candidate Graham Platner co-wrote as a high school student that critiqued media outlets after 9/11 for not describing the “motivations” of terrorists.
It led to criticism from the right and a fellow Democrat running against Platner in the 2026 primary for the chance to take on U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine. While Platner and his classmates did not condone terrorism, the op-ed and its reference to Israel as a “semi-oppressive” state match views the oysterman and Marine veteran is running on.
His rivals’ focus on the Bangor Daily News opinion piece from 2002 that eight students from Bangor’s John Bapst Memorial High School co-wrote also underscores Platner’s growing status in the Senate race after his campaign launch in August got national buzz and an endorsement from U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont, who rallied with Platner in Portland on Labor Day.
More than 20 years later, Platner has not shied away from calling Israel’s ongoing military campaign in Palestine “genocide,” and the veteran who served in Iraq and Afghanistan has also bashed America’s involvement in “stupid foreign wars.”
Both of those stances make him sharply stand out at the highest level of Maine politics. Both U.S. Sen. Angus King, an independent who caucuses with Democrats, and U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree, a 1st District Democrat, called for no more U.S. aid to Israel while children starve in Gaza, but neither has used the word “genocide” to describe Israel’s actions.
Both Republicans and Jordan Wood, the former Capitol Hill operative from Bristol who is one of Platner’s Democratic opponents, accused Platner this past week of sympathizing with terrorists after the conservative Washington Free Beacon published a story highlighting the op-ed Platner co-wrote while a senior at Bangor’s John Bapst Memorial High School.
The piece mentioned the deadly 2002 incident in Russia when Chechen militants took hundreds hostage in a Moscow theater and also how international bodies at the time had found Israel guilty of human rights violations against Palestinians. Platner and the other students questioned why “most news outlets” did not explain the terrorists’ motivations.
“In post 9-11 America, every terrorist is portrayed as evil,” they wrote, before quoting the adage, “One man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter.”
The students added they “don’t condone” the actions of the terrorists but believe “a resolution to terrorist actions is best achieved by understanding the circumstances under which they were committed.” Wood, who lauded King’s stance against Israel aid, jumped on Platner this past week amid the anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
“On 9/11, terrorists murdered thousands of innocent Americans and shattered families and communities across our country, including right here in Maine,” Wood, who launched his campaign in April and went for months as the best-known Democratic candidate, said. “They weren’t ‘freedom fighters’ or misunderstood – they were murderers who attacked our nation, our values, and our way of life.”
Maine Republican Party Chair Jim Deyermond hit Platner in an email to supporters by recalling his time working for Massachusetts State Police, where he helped arrest one of the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing perpetrators. Platner is “a phony who thinks sympathizing with terrorists and ‘understanding their perspective’ is the path to peace,” Deyermond said.
Platner responded to the criticism of his past writings by pointing to his three tours of Iraq as a Marine and one tour for the Army in Afghanistan.
“After 9/11, I enlisted to serve and protect our country,” Platner said. “I’d be happy to compare combat medals and my commitment to defending this country with anyone in this race.”
A Collins campaign spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment. Collins, who has long backed Israel and said it has a right to defend itself after Hamas militants launched a deadly attack on Israel in October 2023 that sparked the ongoing war, criticized Platner in August for describing AIPAC, the powerful, pro-Israel lobbying group, as “weird.”
Other Democratic candidates in the Senate race did not go after Platner. Maine Beer Company cofounder Dan Kleban, who launched his campaign this month, has said he does not support a resolution from Sanders to block arms sales to Israel. Regarding Platner’s past writings, a Kleban spokesperson said “we’re going to pass on this one.”
Brunswick Democrat David Costello, who is running in 2026 after he also tried to unseat King last year, said Platner and others “should unambiguously condemn Hamas” before adding that “while it’s justifiable to also condemn much of what Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his right-wing allies have done in Gaza, it’s extremely important to not blame all Israelis.”
Support for Israel’s military campaign in Palestine continued to deteriorate among American voters polled this summer. Israel and Palestine may continue to arise in the Senate race.
State Rep. Dan Ankeles, D-Brunswick, who is Jewish, said he tries to remove politics from the discussion that is personal to him as someone whose cousins in Israel saw their next-door neighbors’ house hit by a rocket fired by Hamas militants.
Ankeles believes Israel “has a right to exist and defend itself” but also feels “betrayed” by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s “corrupt, right-wing government.”
“It’s just more complicated than a simple newspaper article,” Ankeles said.