After Democrat Graham Platner finally dropped out of the Maine Senate race on Wednesday night, Thursday’s Morning Joe continued to try to defend him. Co-host Joe Scarborough said Republicans would be “beyond hypocritical” to wade into the issue, as he said it was “fascinating” that some were “summarily calling him a rapist now.” His co-host and wife, Mika Brzezinski, also joined in as she called the controversies, like the Nazi tattoo, “just a Tuesday” for some Republicans. After the show played clips from Platner’s dropout announcement video, Scarborough first detailed Platner’s denials as strong. He said, “First of all, he denied these charges as clearly and as strongly as you can deny these charges.” Scarborough then said it was “fascinating that there are people in the media, people that we know, that are just summarily calling him a rapist now,” as he claimed he and Brzezinski had the same defense for Brett Kavanaugh.   Morning Joe continued defending Graham Platner on Thursday. Joe Scarborough said Platner "denied these charges as clearly and as strongly as you can deny these charges" before he said it was “fascinating” that “people in the media...are just summarily calling him a rapist now.” pic.twitter.com/liT7aMfpLt — Nick (@nspin310) July 9, 2026   He said Republican outrage that Democrats would support Platner was “beyond hypocritical.” He continued: “That that is that is just sheer farce. This is even beyond South Park levels of farce.”  Later in the show, after Scarborough’s whataboutism, MS NOW reporter Jackie Alemany detailed how Platner’s many controversies were now too much for voters: This has been sort of one infraction too many, with this obviously being the most serious of a lot of these allegations. But as we walk through yesterday from the stories about his Nazi tattoo to all of these Reddit posts to then allegations of infidelity, sexting, to now this sexual assault allegation, there is a trust deficit that has emerged amongst voters.   After reporter Jackie Alemany detailed Platner's scandals, including the Nazi tattoo and the sexual assault allegations, Mika Brzezinski remarked, “It's just funny because for that list that Jackie just made, I mean, for some Republicans, that's just a Tuesday. But whatever…” pic.twitter.com/pOlCv17sYs — Nick (@nspin310) July 9, 2026   Brzezinski responded to Alemany’s thoughts and said, “It's just funny because for that list that Jackie just made, I mean, for some Republicans, that's just a Tuesday. But whatever, you know.” Near the end of the 15-minute-plus-long segment on Platner’s demise, Scarborough warned Democrats in D.C. that, despite the many controversies and sexual allegations, many Maine Democrats still support Platner and the “Platner signs are still up.”  He said some Maine voters “think that this is Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries and the Washington establishment coming to get him.”   Scarborough later warned Democrats about the Platner switch and said many Maine voters “think that this was cooked up in Washington DC. He then explained how he and Brzezinski were “scratching their heads” as they received calls about “Platner needing to be off the ballot.” https://t.co/OD0sc4VJtz pic.twitter.com/JbdijJ5xgh — Nick (@nspin310) July 9, 2026   Scarborough later said he and Brzezinski have been bombarded by phone calls and text messages from people who want Graham Platner off the ballot, who are high up in Maine politics.” Scarborough then added he was not saying there was a conspiracy to get Platner, but that he and Brzezinski had been “scratching our heads for the last couple of weeks” as they wondered, “Why are we getting all these calls about Graham Platner needing to be off the ballot?” For a show that did many softball interviews with Platner during his campaign, amidst the many controversies, it is not a surprise that Scarborough, a man who seemed to admire Platner as he compared himself to the now-disgraced candidate, was poised to defend him.  The transcript is below. Click "expand": MS NOW’s Morning Joe July 9, 2026 6:08:57 AM Eastern (...) JOE SCARBOROUGH: So, Willie, a couple things. First of all, he denied these charges as clearly and as strongly as you can deny these charges.  Got to say, it's fascinating that there are people in the media, people that we know, that are just summarily calling him a rapist now.  For Republicans listening, this is something that Mika and I also said about Brett Kavanaugh. So, saying that people would come on this network and call Brett Kavanaugh a sexual harasser or rapist without any due process at all, perhaps they needed to take a deep breath. That said, regardless of how this was going to play out, the Democratic Party said, we're not going to support you. They weren't going to fund him. So he had no pathway for it. I just want to say, really. I mean, Republicans that are spending their time on Fox News and social media -  MIKA BRZEZINSKI: Oh yeah. SCARBOROUGH: Outraged that Democrats would support - dare support a candidate who was accused of sexual impropriety, even when that candidate vehemently denied that. That is beyond hypocritical. That that is that is just sheer farce. This is even beyond South Park levels of farce.  What I am reading on X, what I am reading in social media, what I am seeing on TV after the past decade. And by the way, if you want to talk about morally challenged candidates, you don't have to look at the White House. You don't have to look at Republicans bowing and scraping for the past decade. Just look at Texas! Look at who Republicans are behind as they're trying to suggest that Talarico is gay? But look at Paxton. He's not.  I mean, the hypocrisy. You know, Republicans should just really just shut up. They really should just shut up. If they're going to be critical of Democrats for supporting a morally challenged candidate or one who has been accused of doing things that are morally challenged, it is so hypocritical. Willey, and they should just leave this to the Democrats to clean up their own house. (...) 6:13:21 AM Eastern JACKIE ALEMANY: I mean, we've had a bunch of reporters who have been on the ground in Maine over the last few weeks, Kevin Frye has been there all week, who are hearing that for voters they have sort of crossed the Rubicon here.  This has been sort of one infraction too many, with this obviously being the most serious of a lot of these allegations. But as we walk through yesterday from the stories about his Nazi tattoo to all of these Reddit posts to then allegations of infidelity, sexting, to now this sexual assault allegation, there is a trust deficit that has emerged amongst voters.  It might not have appeared in the polling just yet, but I'm not sure that Graham Platner has as much leverage as he thinks he does. And in the process, he is making, again, not just establishment Democrats, but other Democrats even angrier because he is poisoning the well going forward, he is not necessarily setting up his replacement for success. BRZEZINSKI: It's just funny because for that list that Jackie just made, I mean, for some Republicans, that's just a Tuesday. But whatever, you know. There are so many hypocrisies here that we could go through, but that's not constructive. (...) 6:17:40 AM Eastern SCARBOROUGH: But I will say this. And this is just a word of warning to Democrats in Washington DC. Graham Platner was losing support with independents, no doubt about it. But I will tell you, Mika and I have heard nothing. Let me underline that: nothing but support from Maine Democrats on the ground for Platner. Platner signs are still up. They think that this is Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries and the Washington establishment coming to get him. They all have the same story. They started hearing ten days ago that people were coming up to Maine, and they were desperate to try to get Platner off the ballot, because they thought Susan Collins had too much on him and would destroy him.  I will tell you, without revealing any names, that we have been bombarded by phone calls and text messages from people who want Graham Platner off the ballot, who are high up in Maine politics. And we've been getting that for the last two weeks.  So, why do I say this? Because there's a conspiracy? No, not at all. Go back to what I said at the beginning: A warning to Washington Democrats.  You do need to listen to Graham Platner, because whether it's true or not, just as Katty said about her son, who has been working on this campaign, rank-and-file Democrats who have been supporting Platner from the very beginning, think that this was cooked up in Washington, D.C. with a lot of money behind it, to find anything that could be found to get graham Platner off the ballot.  And I will say, we know nothing about that. We just - Mika and I have been scratching our heads for the last couple of weeks, going: Why are we getting all these calls about Graham Platner needing to be off the ballot? BRZEZINSKI: A 73-year-old woman who is just - SCARBOROUGH: - Like constant, constant calls. So, anyway, that's what Democrats on the ground in Maine believe. So Washington needs to stay out of this. And Maine Democrats need to figure out who is going to replace graham Platner on the ballot. BRZEZINSKI: Soon. SCARBOROUGH: And if Washington thinks they can micromanage this and fix this, they need to listen to what Katty’s son said, because they're going to piss off their base, and their base won't come out and vote in the general election. They just won't. (...)

According to Comedy Central’s The Daily Show host-of-the-week Ronny Chieng, Graham Platner had to end his Senate campaign after being credibly accused of rape and sexual assault because nobody would vote for him except the woman who would have been his opponent: Sen. Susan Collins. In order to make such a claim, Chieng simply assumed the evidence against Planter is as strong as the evidence against Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh was, but that is simply not true. After playing a part of Platner’s announcement video where he insisted that withdrawing from the race does not mean he is admitting the allegations against him are true, Chieng retorted, “Okay, I mean, it is a little suspicious. It's like being at a party where the toilet's overflowing and all of a sudden, I'm like, ‘Okay, everyone, I have to leave immediately. No one read into this, please!’"   Ronny Chieng claims Graham Platner had to drop out because "the only person in Maine who might still vote for him is Susan Collins" as he put up a picture of Collins next to Brett Kavanaugh pic.twitter.com/s0GMqW1Y1w — Alex Christy (@alexchristy17) July 10, 2026   Moving on to Collins, Chieng added, “Obviously, Platner had to drop out once there was credible sexual assault allegations. I mean, at that point, the only person in Maine who might still vote for him is Susan Collins.” As Chieng was talking, The Daily Show’s graphics team put a picture of Collins side-by-side with a picture of Kavanaugh, but Chieng never elaborated. Instead, he moved on to mocking those who recruited Platner, “The question is, how could this happen? How could the people in Maine have picked this guy to run in the first place?” Chieng probably chose not to elaborate because the evidence against Platner is overwhelming, but the evidence against Kavanaugh was much weaker. Platner had multiple accusers with multiple people verifying their version of events from something that happened relatively recently. Christine Blasey Ford, on the other hand, could not even get her friends to verify her story from the 80s. Kavanaugh does not have the history of fetishizing rape that Platner does that points to a wide personal problem. For a long time, Democratic Party hacks tried to defend their support for Platner by claiming the GOP’s defense of people like Kavanaugh means morality does not matter in politics anymore, only power does, but the difference between Platner and Kavanaugh is night and day, and The Daily Show cannot rewrite history. Here is a transcript for the July 9 show: Comedy Central The Daily Show 7/9/2026 11:03 PM ET RONNY CHIENG: Okay, I mean, it is a little suspicious. It's like being at a party where the toilet's overflowing and all of a sudden, I'm like, "Okay, everyone, I have to leave immediately. No one read into this, please!" Obviously, Platner had to drop out once there was credible sexual assault allegations. I mean, at that point, the only person in Maine who might still vote for him is Susan Collins. The question is, how could this happen? How could the people in Maine have picked this guy to run in the first place?

Having been given the “abandon ship” order from the Kriegsmarine ship Graham Platner, MS NOW’s The Brief host Jen Psaki blasted the now-former Maine Senate candidate as a sexual predator who refuses to accept accountability for his actions. The problem for Psaki is that even after Lindsey Fifield’s original allegations of violence, she was one of the MS NOW allies Platner went running to in order to try to help him change the subject. Psaki attributed Platner’s demise to Fifield and Jenny Racicot, “But now it is over. It's over. Because—not of all the people who are out there patting themselves on the back. And there are a lot of them on Twitter, believe me, it's driving me crazy. It's because of the bravery of the women who came forward to tell their stories. That is why.”   Jen Psaki abandoned the KMS Graham Platner last night, a noticeable difference in tone from her interview with him a month ago "Those are the women who should be patting themselves on the back. Nobody else. And tonight, the video that he recorded and posted online announcing his… pic.twitter.com/m8ZMsgHlKl — Alex Christy (@alexchristy17) July 9, 2026   Introducing a portion of Platner’s announcement video, Psaki continued, “It is these women, and because there was no longer a path forward for Graham Platner. Once they did, of course, there wasn't. It is because of those women. Those are the women who should be patting themselves on the back. Nobody else. And tonight, the video that he recorded and posted online announcing his decision, which was more than 11 minutes long, and it took quite a long time to get to the point, showed us more of who Graham Platner actually is. Someone who, in the face of incredibly serious and extremely credible allegations, seemed to blame everyone but himself.” That all sounds nice, but Fifield’s original allegations were published in The New York Times on June 4. Fifield’s condemnation of The New York Times for not including others' sexual assault allegations against Platner was posted to X on June 5. Psaki’s interview with Platner was on June 10, where she marveled at how Platner had managed to get “under Donald Trump’s skin," and together they ridiculed the idea that Trump was going to lecture anyone on morality. The only possible reference Psaki made to Fifield was extremely vague allusions to “allegations about the way you treated women you dated in the past.”   Psaki's June interview, for all intents and purposes, ignored Lyndsey Fifield, but here she claims "I started my career on the campaign trail. I was a campaign rat for many, many years through many campaigns, I have never witnessed a member of any political establishment,… pic.twitter.com/IptEVgCL32 — Alex Christy (@alexchristy17) July 9, 2026   Back in present day, Psaki continued: But what you just heard, there is a part that really stuck out to me, which is repeated denials and a repeated blame game. Now, I worked in politics for a very long time. I started my career on the campaign trail. I was a campaign rat for many, many years through many campaigns. I have never witnessed a member of any political establishment, whatever the heck that means, forcing a woman to come forward and falsely accuse someone of sexual assault in order to tank a specific campaign. You know why? Because that doesn't happen. Because, again, it is so difficult for these women to come forward. Sometimes it takes years to come forward. All that does is raise the question: Why didn’t Psaki press Platner on that when he was on her show? Here is a transcript for the July 8 show: MS NOW The Briefing with Jen Psaki 7/8/2026 9:02 PM ET JEN PSAKI: But now it is over. It's over. Because—not of all the people who are out there patting themselves on the back. And there are a lot of them on Twitter, believe me, it's driving me crazy. It's because of the bravery of the women who came forward to tell their stories. That is why. It is these women, and because there was no longer a path forward for Graham Platner. Once they did, of course, there wasn't. It is because of those women. Those are the women who should be patting themselves on the back. Nobody else. And tonight, the video that he recorded and posted online announcing his decision, which was more than 11 minutes long, and it took quite a long time to get to the point, showed us more of who Graham Platner actually is. Someone who, in the face of incredibly serious and extremely credible allegations, seemed to blame everyone but himself. … But what you just heard, there is a part that really stuck out to me, which is repeated denials and a repeated blame game. Now, I worked in politics for a very long time. I started my career on the campaign trail. I was a campaign rat for many, many years through many campaigns. I have never witnessed a member of any political establishment, whatever the heck that means, forcing a woman to come forward and falsely accuse someone of sexual assault in order to tank a specific campaign. You know why? Because that doesn't happen. Because, again, it is so difficult for these women to come forward. Sometimes it takes years to come forward. Now, we already knew, thanks to the Washington Post, that Platner had struggled with this decision, in part because he believed he should have a say in the process to replace his name on the ballot, something that the Maine Democratic Party has said loud and clear, is not going to happen. 

The “independent fact checkers” at PolitiFact did something truly shocking on July 2. They tagged a Democrat with their harshest judgment, “Pants On Fire.” It’s shocking because it’s been almost two years since the last time they lit pants for a Democrat. On July 31, 2024, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker was flagged for suggesting J.D. Vance had sex with a couch. The lying Democrat in this case is Abdul el-Sayed, who is running for the Democratic nomination for the U.S. Senate in Michigan, hoping to face former Rep. Mike Rogers in the fall. PolitiFact’s Caleb McCullough reported that in multiple interviews and recent social media posts, El-Sayed claimed Rogers "took a $14 million payout as a pharma lobbyist." Rogers isn’t a registered lobbyist for anyone. He did “paid consulting work for technology companies” after leaving Congress, but not for Big Pharma. The Rogers campaign sent a letter to el-Sayed saying his statements "constitute defamation under Michigan law." In reply, el-Sayed partially walked back the statement, but then suggested Rogers was so pro-Big Pharma as a member of Congress he confused him with a lobbyist. This could be a real excuse since el-Sayed confuses himself with a physician, even though he’s never acquired a license to practice medicine. In between those two rare “Pants On Fire” tags for Democrats, PolitiFact threw that fiery tag at Republicans and conservatives more than 50 times. I counted 32 of them for Donald Trump alone in that time span. Twice, they launched three “Pants On Fire” attacks on Trump within a two-week period – in September 2024 and in July 2025. No one should claim that Trump doesn’t unload whoppers, but it’s the dramatic difference in how rarely Democrats are pinned as “pants on fire” liars. Kamala Harris never received one. Bernie Sanders has zero. Joe Biden has seven, Hillary Clinton has nine, and Trump has 225. In the first quarter of 2026, PolitiFact looked incredibly partisan by never finding a Democrat elected or appointed official as “Mostly False,” “False,” or “Pants On Fire.” In May and June, they corrected that course, putting Democrats on the False side in 8 of 16 fact checks, or 50 percent of the time. In those same two months, Republican officials were tagged on the False side in 15 of 18 fact checks, or 80 percent of the time. It’s sad to say that this is “progress” for PolitiFact, but it’s suggesting they’re no longer pretending Democrats never say anything that’s wrong. Overall in the first half of 2026, the Republicans were tagged as false in 71 percent of “fact checks,” and the Democrats are now up to 31 percent. Leftists feel free to unload wild charges with zero fear of fact checkers. The radical-left streamer Hasan Piker (one of those who believes America deserved 9/11) just proclaimed “Fox News is Rape TV…the pro-rape network.” He claimed “some of the most prominent hosts on the network were such prolific rapists that other women who were on the network had successfully sued them.” Piker claimed Pete Hegseth “was such a prolific rapist his own mother sent him an email begging him to stop.” Oh, and Hegseth has a “Nazi tattoo.” None of that is true. Fox News has settled several lawsuits for sexual harassment, but that is not the same as rape. Hegseth was accused of rape once, and no criminal charges were filed by police. He denied it, then settled with the accuser for $50,000. This underscores that leftists can feel a sense of impunity that the “independent fact checkers” aren’t going to challenge their wildest, most potentially damaging smears. 

An arrest was made after a series of disturbing Molotov Cocktail bombings of houses of worship in New York City. The sole national evening newscast to report the bombings was NBC Nightly News. Below is that report in its entirety as aired on Thursday, July 9th, 2026:  WATCH: @NBCNightlyNews is the first to report on the Molotov Cocktail bombings of NYC houses of worship. pic.twitter.com/h3kcprD5BK — Jorge Bonilla (@BonillaJL) July 10, 2026 TOM LLAMAS:  And take a look at this disturbing video. Surveillance catching a man caught on camera throwing a Molotov Cocktail at a Jehovah's Witness building in Queens, New York. Police say this was one of two attacks on houses of worship that happened last night, and that the 26-year-old man was charged- was linked to a third incident as well. Charges are still pending.  It was the tiniest of briefs, but at least NBC made time for the story. That is more than can be said for CBS and ABC who instead covered things like a man spraying a bear in Lake Tahoe, two sea lions charging a crowd in San Diego, and the upcoming culinary offerings at the Iowa State Fair. In the case of ABC, this is particularly rich because they’re infamous for taking a local New York City story and sticking it on the A-block. Rooftop fires, yes. Molotov church fires, not so much. Even so, NBC’s brief missed a critical element of the story- that there is a suspect in custody. And there’s more. Per The New York Post: A twisted Queens firebug was busted for allegedly hurling Molotov cocktails at two Queens churches late Wednesday – part of what prosecutors believe was a disturbing seven-incident spree.  Yogesh Sayrange, 36, – who ranted like a madman in federal court on Thursday – admitted to tossing fiery projectiles at the Iglesia Bautista El Mesias church in Ozone Park, and the Kingdom Hall of Jehovah’s Witnesses on in Woodhaven, along with other locations, according to cops and the feds. … Sayrange – a Guyanese citizen who is considered “unauthorized” in the US because his childhood arrival protection expired – was ordered held without bail.  On the bright side, this doesn’t immediately appear to be part of a systemic effort to burn down houses of worship, at least for the time being. On the other hand, this is clearly the work of a deranged and likely homeless illegal alien who should have been deported a long time ago. Now that these fires are known to be the handiwork of an illegal alien, will the Elitist Media report them? Will NBC follow up? Or will the story be memory-holed? We’ll be watching.