MS NOW host Jonathan Capehart joined PBS News Hour on Friday to recap the week’s news, which naturally highlighted Graham Platner’s decision to exit the Maine Senate race after being accused of rape amid a long list of other scandals. In contrast to what he said a month ago after the first accusations of violence towards women came out, Capehart declared he was happy to see Platner go because he had become an electoral liability. Host Geoff Bennett began by wondering, “So, Democrats have this immediate challenge trying to replace Graham Platner in this critical Maine Senate race. The larger question is why these serious controversies increasingly fail to disqualify political candidates until the pressure becomes overwhelming. But, Jonathan, starting with the practical question, what do Democrats need to do now?” Capehart declared that Democrats “need to get a nominee who can best go up against Susan Collins.”   On PBS, MS NOW host Jonathan Capehart does a 180 on Graham Platner and throws him overboard, "They [Democrats] need to get a nominee who can best go up against Susan Collins. Now, with Graham Platner finally out of the race—I was happy to see that he submitted the papers to fully… pic.twitter.com/Emdo7QbVaL — Alex Christy (@alexchristy17) July 11, 2026   For Capehart, it was clear Platner is no longer that candidate, “Now, with Graham Platner finally out of the race—I was happy to see that he submitted the papers to fully get out of the race this afternoon. That is the first step that needed to happen. Now they have to have—the Democrats have to have the convention, and a bunch of people are going to jump into that race and be a part of the process to become the nominee.” A month ago, shortly after Lyndsey Fifield’s original allegations were published in The New York Times and on X, Capehart was asked on News Hour if Platner should drop out. He spent several words dodging the question before suggesting the answer is no because of accusations against Trump and that Democratic leaders would have no say in the matter anyway: But the issue here is, it's not going to be congressional — it's not going to be congressional Democrats, national Democrats who are going to tell Platner to get out of the race. Folks in Maine are still behind him. Some of the interviews that we have had on MS NOW, you have had folk — Mainers saying, he's not perfect, he's not this, he's not that, but we need a change. And so that's the one thing he has going for him. And, again, I look at Platner through the prism of where we are in terms of the Trump administration and the Trump world, given who Trump is, given the allegations against the president, given the way that lots and lots of people in the Republican Party just turned a blind eye and decided, we still want to vote for this guy. What did remain constant was Capehart’s warning to Democrats to take Collins seriously, “But, again, no matter who the nominee is, they are going up against a formidable candidate in Susan Collins. We have talked about this many times before. How many elections have we seen her either down in the polls, potentially losing to the Democrat, but, on Election Day, she blows the doors off the election?” He further warned, “That scenario is still at work. So, whoever becomes the Democratic nominee, whoever the Maine Democrats pick, they better pick the person and then circle the wagons around them to give that nominee the best possible shot they can to defeat Susan Collins.” That was Capehart’s main concern: defeating Susan Collins, the most liberal Republican senator. Before, Capehart thought the Nazi-communist fan/alleged abuser of women was the best shot at that. Now he thinks the Nazi-communist fan/alleged rapist is not. Hence, his shift. Here is a transcript for the July 10 show: PBS News Hour 7/10/2026 7:32 PM ET GEOFF BENNETT: So, Democrats have this immediate challenge trying to replace Graham Platner in this critical Maine Senate race. The larger question is why these serious controversies increasingly fail to disqualify political candidates until the pressure becomes overwhelming. But, Jonathan, starting with the practical question, what do Democrats need to do now? JONATHAN CAPEHART: They need to get a nominee who can best go up against Susan Collins. Now, with Graham Platner finally out of the race—I was happy to see that he submitted the papers to fully get out of the race this afternoon. That is the first step that needed to happen. Now they have to have—the Democrats have to have the convention, and a bunch of people are going to jump into that race and be a part of the process to become the nominee. But, again, no matter who the nominee is, they are going up against a formidable candidate in Susan Collins. We have talked about this many times before. How many elections have we seen her either down in the polls, potentially losing to the Democrat, but, on Election Day, she blows the doors off the election? That scenario is still at work. So, whoever becomes the Democratic nominee, whoever the Maine Democrats pick, they better pick the person and then circle the wagons around them to give that nominee the best possible shot they can to defeat Susan Collins.