On Wednesday's The Moment with Katy Tur, MS NOW political analyst Molly Jong-Fast came on to discuss Platner’s decision to step out of the race and how he plans to use “leverage” with a future candidate. Jong-Fast claimed that the media was “sold an arc” by Platner and his team and questioned whether or not he is a changed man. In other words, she bought Platner's claims, and now feels like she was duped. Tur began the segment by stating Platner wants to have some “leverage” by finding a candidate who can “take up the mantle that he was pushing,” someone who is “more progressive, more focused on working-class issues” and who can be a “change candidate," and not someone “like a Janet Mills,” who Platner defeated in the primary. MSNBC Reacts to Platner: ‘We Were Sold an Arc!’#msnow #msnbc #news #platner #democrat #newsbusters #republican pic.twitter.com/4LTi1zq9Go — Sarah (@scbpoli) July 10, 2026 Jong-Fast quickly emphasized that they need to “pull back” and focus on how they got to this point, mentioning that she interviewed Platner on her Fast Politics podcast. She noted that when the first New York Times article concerning Platner 's behavior with women was published, it read “sort of funny.”   On her podcast, Jong-Fast asked Platner and his team whether there was “something else coming out,” but was told “absolutely not.” She added that, from the Platner’s team’s perspective, the situation was “clearly a misunderstanding.” Still fired up, Jong-Fast argued that “we were sold an arc” but more specifically the “character arc of a person who had blacked out, but now no longer did that behavior.” She regretted not asking Platner on her podcast whether or not “he was drinking still, because there's only one way you get those blackouts and that's from drinking.” Jong-Fast concluded that the media bought into this narrative that Platner had changed and had become a better person, but she questioned that maybe he wasn’t better after all. She can't seem to imagine that the media desperately wanted Platner to be a changed man, so they would defeat Sen. Susan Collins. She added that “the fact that he feels he has so much capital still is sort of striking to me.” Click "Expand" to view transcript: The Moment With Katy Tur  7/8/2026 2:29:24-2:30:57 pm KATY TUR: Yeah. I mean, the reporting is that Plattner wants to have some leverage here. He wants somebody who can take up the mantle that that he was pushing. More Progressive, more focused on working class issues, working class policies, more of a change candidate, not a mainstream democratic party person. Maybe like a like a Janet Mills. MOLLY JONG-FAST (Political Analyst and Host of “Fast Politics” Podcast): So I would like to pull back here for a minute and just talk about how we got here because you know, a lot of us, I interviewed him for my podcast. I've talked to his team. When the first New York Times article came out, I said, this reads sort of funny - what else is there? Is there something else coming out? And everyone told me up and down, absolutely not. And I, and I think all of us heard that same thing from him, from his team, nothing else coming out. This is clearly a misunderstanding. There's nothing more coming out. We were sold an arc, right? A character arc of a person who had blacked out, but now no longer did that behavior. Now, I should have asked him when I interviewed him if he was drinking still because there's only one way you get those blackouts and that's from drinking. And so the idea we were sold this, this character arc, this, this person who gets better, who got better, but he wasn't maybe better. And so, I just think the fact that he feels he has so much capital still is sort of striking to me.