Salon.com⁠76%

MAGA influencers exploit Graham Platner scandal to win back men ⁠67%

By Amanda Marcotte⁠93%

7/15/2026, 10:45:44 AM

BS Summary: This article contains 37 faulty reasoning types, including Hasty Generalization, Biased Writer Voice, and Politically Right Leaning Bias, with Negativity Bias as the most egregious example at 42.5% saturation with 522 hits. Analysis detected 3,389 faulty-reasoning hits from 1,229 analyzed words, generating a BS Score of 61% and a BS Rank of ⁠67% (6,989 of 21,168 articles). This article is worse (more manipulative) than 67.00% of the article peer group.

Graham Platner has already <a href="https://www.salon.com/2026/07/08/it-cant-be-me-platner-drops-out-of-maine-senate-race-following-assault-allegation/">quit the race</a> to be the next senator from Maine, but defenses of the once-rising Democrat are only growing. 
Many of them aren’t coming from the progressives who had boosted the working class oyster farmer-turned-politician, but from people who typically loathe the left. 
“Most every guy I know did what he’s being accused of at one point or another with their girlfriend at some point after a night of drinking,” complained the <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/media/adam-carolla-pushes-back-after-joe-rogan-says-trump-supporters-feel-betrayed-iran-strikes">Donald Trump-loving</a> comedian Adam Carolla on <a href="https://www.mediaite.com/media/adam-carolla-co-host-pushes-back-after-he-calls-graham-platners-alleged-rape-a-basic-drunken-dude-thing/">Sunday’s episode</a> of his eponymous podcast. 
“It’s basically like: I’m drunk, I’m horny, I weigh 50 pounds more than you, we’re gonna have sex, it’s not really rape because we sleep in the same bed.” 
Platner officially dropped out of his race on July 10 after Jenny Racicot, an ex-partner, <a href="https://www.salon.com/2026/07/06/troubling-serious-false-platner-says-hell-take-time-to-reflect-following-assault-allegation/">accused him</a> of breaking into her home in the middle of the night in 2021 while drunk, and forcing her to have sex. 
When Carolla’s producer asked if he considered what he described as rape, the podcaster replied, “That’s standard drunken blue collar dude behavior.” 
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Carolla insisted he still didn’t like Platner, calling him a “weirdo” and a “deviant.” 
But when it came to Racicot’s allegations, he was a lot more forgiving. 
“We’ve been calling everything rape and I don’t think that’s a good idea,” the podcaster concluded. 
Carolla may be among the most famous, but he’s far from the only MAGA figure who is rushing forward to defend Platner from Democrats who called on him to step down after Racicot’s serious and credible allegations were first <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2026/07/06/graham-platner-sexual-assault-allegation-00987737">reported in POLITICO</a>. 
While plenty of Republicans are joining in condemning Platner — hypocritically, considering their allegiance to Donald Trump, who was found <a href="https://www.salon.com/2026/05/29/e-jean-carroll-still-terrifies-trump/">liable by a grand jury</a> for a similar assault — some on the right seem to spy an opportunity to appeal to young men, who voted for Trump in large numbers in 2024, but have been drifting away in recent months. 
Right-wing dirty trickster Christopher Rufo <a href="https://youtu.be/ACrnW7nLzqs? 
si=xmAOEf_2G8tTrvZn">released</a> an “emergency podcast” last week and opened with a provocative question: “Did Graham Platner rape Jennifer Racicot, or did the political establishment rape Graham Platner?” 
Michael Tracey, Rufo’s guest who purports not to be a Republican but is nonetheless a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Tracey_(journalist)">regular Trump defender</a>, has also been outraged over Platner’s resignation. 
On X, Tracey <a href="https://x.com/mtracey/status/2074498193539080444">said</a> that “LOTS of people” have “‘messy’ dating/romantic histories,” but they shouldn’t be “excluded from public service because scoundrels will exaggerate/distort stuff.” 
He produced zero evidence of this alleged distortion from Racicot. 
But Rufo <a href="https://christopherrufo.com/p/the-platner-affair">continues to falsely insist</a> that her allegations are being accepted “without any kind of scrutiny.” 
(POLITICO corroborated the story with emails and text messages provided by Racicot.) 
Related 
Platner’s campaign implosion highlights the hollowness of America’s political parties 
“He should have stayed in,” MAGA gadfly Mike Cernovich <a href="https://x.com/Cernovich/status/2075301671748636857">tweeted</a>. 
“Now he’s a zero.” 
Nick Fuentes, the white nationalist and Trump’s one-time <a href="https://www.salon.com/2022/11/28/taking-us-all-for-fools-leaders-called-out-for-silence-on-trumps-dinner-with-nick-fuentes/">dining companion</a>, ridiculed Racicot’s story by saying it’s not rape just because you say “stop, stop, I don’t feel like it.” 
Because sometimes, he explained, people “get drunk and want to have sex.” 
Fuentes added, “If it were a true rape, she would go to the cops.” 
(In reality, researchers have <a href="https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9136376/">long established</a> that many victims don’t report precisely because they don’t want to face the abuse and disbelief Racicot is now receiving.) 
Despite trying to establish herself as a friend of sexual abuse survivors, former GOP Georgia Rep. 
Marjorie Taylor Greene answered the siren’s call of rape denial. 
A proper rape victim, she <a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/5956801-marjorie-taylor-greene-graham-platner-post/">tweeted</a>, should “<span>report it immediately . . . 
And if you had consensual sex with him years ago, don’t turn it into rape for politics.” 
Greene later deleted the post, likely after being reminded that she’s tanking her own goal to be seen as an advocate for the victims of deceased predator Jeffrey Epstein, most of whom also stayed silent for years. 
<strong><em>Start your day with essential news from Salon.<br> 
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Men under 30 voted for Trump <a href="https://circle.tufts.edu/2024-election#youth-vote-+4-for-harris,-major-differences-by-race-and-gender">by 56% in 2024</a>, a dramatic change from 2020, when the same age group only backed the Republican president by 41%. 
Shortly after the election, Trump’s support with the demographic <a href="https://www.gelliottmorris.com/p/chart-of-the-week-trump-has-lost">started slipping</a>, and early polling suggested they could <a href="https://youthpoll.yale.edu/spring-2026-results#disapprove_of_trump">swing wildly back</a> to the Democrats <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch? 
v=iQxAiKQ-z-s">by the November midterms</a>. 
Many self-proclaimed leftists saw Platner’s rise as an opportunity to win over young male voters with overt messages that he could lead the way toward dramatically reducing women’s role in Democratic politics, pulling them out of leadership and silencing feminist concerns especially. 
(It’s important to note Platner himself did not endorse this view, despite admitting to having said sexist things in the past.) 
“Graham Platner represents a rejection of Dem HR lady politics,” presumed progressive Matt Stoller <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/10/opinion/republicans-democrats-women-ambition.html">wrote</a> in a now-deleted X post a few weeks ago. 
Left-wing journalist Ken Klippenstein wrote a blog post <a href="https://www.kenklippenstein.com/p/graham-platner-loses-washingtons">in early June</a> celebrating Platner for <a href="https://www.kenklippenstein.com/p/graham-platner-loses-washingtons">ending the</a> “era of smoothgroin politicians.” 
He tried to justify the metaphor by suggesting he’s saying they’re not plastic dolls, but most people recognize that “smoothgroin” describes the genitals of most women as well. 
“If they had any f**king whispers” of sexual assault, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch? 
v=CQ7PS26zGKY">declared leftist podcaster</a> Kyle Kulinski in June, “they would have had them b****es front and center.” 
He accused the New York Times, which broke <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/04/us/politics/platner-maine-senate-girlfriends-relationships.html">an earlier story</a> about Platner’s alleged behavior, of being “desperate” to take down his campaign. 
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Plenty of people backed Platner through past scandals without calling women names like “HR lady” or the B-word. 
These supporters were willing to overlook some flaws because they believed in his message — at least until this more serious allegation came out. 
These guys, however, couldn’t help but express their support with overtly sexist language that frames women and their concerns as an albatross around the Democrats’ neck. 
Clearly, many ostensible leftists believe that male voters would be so easily won to their side with overt contempt for women. 
Platner himself <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jul/10/graham-platner-maine-suspension-video">resigned with sour grapes</a>, insisting he’s being unfairly treated and implying he’s the victim of a conspiracy. 
So it’s no wonder many on the right see an opportunity. 
The size of the audience for people like Stoller, Klippenstein and Kulinski shows that there are some men who are intrigued by the promise of a leftism that leaves women, who are slightly more than half the population, behind. 
Platner’s fall shows that while feminists are hardly triumphant, the belief that women deserve respect hasn’t been totally abandoned by Democrats. 
Men who are grumpy about that fact may be more open right now to the message that it’s time to turn MAGA, or go back if they left. 
No wonder these right-wing influencers are pouncing. 
Read more 
about Graham Platner 
* <strong>Democrats say they want a fighter. 
Does it have to be a white man? 
</strong> 
* <strong>After Platner’s exit, other working-class Democrats offer hope</strong> 
* <strong>People keep voting for scandal-plagued candidates because they don’t want the other party to win</strong> 
Article reasoning-pattern comparisonThis article: 7.6%Amanda Marcotte: 7.3%Salon: 5.2%Confirmation Bias7.6%This article: 0.0%Amanda Marcotte: 0.2%Salon: 0.4%Anchoring Bias0.0%This article: 10.7%Amanda Marcotte: 3.4%Salon: 3.1%Availability Heuristic10.7%This article: 5.2%Amanda Marcotte: 0.9%Salon: 1.1%Representativeness Heuristic5.2%This article: 1.7%Amanda Marcotte: 1.1%Salon: 1.0%Hindsight Bias1.7%This article: 0.0%Amanda Marcotte: 1.0%Salon: 1.8%Overconfidence Bias0.0%This article: 5.0%Amanda Marcotte: 5.7%Salon: 7.3%Framing Effect5.0%This article: 0.0%Amanda Marcotte: 0.0%Salon: 0.4%Loss Aversion0.0%This article: 0.0%Amanda Marcotte: 0.2%Salon: 0.3%Status Quo Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Amanda Marcotte: 0.1%Salon: 0.2%Sunk Cost Effect0.0%This article: 2.2%Amanda Marcotte: 0.7%Salon: 1.4%Optimism Bias2.2%This article: 3.9%Amanda Marcotte: 2.8%Salon: 2.2%Pessimism Bias3.9%This article: 42.5%Amanda Marcotte: 17.3%Salon: 10.8%Negativity Bias42.5%This article: 6.4%Amanda Marcotte: 1.0%Salon: 0.7%Self-Serving Bias6.4%This article: 10.7%Amanda Marcotte: 6.0%Salon: 2.1%Fundamental Attribution Error10.7%This article: 0.0%Amanda Marcotte: 0.4%Salon: 0.2%Actor-Observer Bias0.0%This article: 2.0%Amanda Marcotte: 4.5%Salon: 1.9%In-Group Bias2.0%This article: 4.4%Amanda Marcotte: 6.0%Salon: 1.4%Out-Group Homogeneity Bias4.4%This article: 0.0%Amanda Marcotte: 0.4%Salon: 2.4%Halo Effect0.0%This article: 0.0%Amanda Marcotte: 1.2%Salon: 0.5%Horn Effect0.0%This article: 0.0%Amanda Marcotte: 0.1%Salon: 0.0%Dunning-Kruger Effect0.0%This article: 4.8%Amanda Marcotte: 0.6%Salon: 1.3%Recency Bias4.8%This article: 0.0%Amanda Marcotte: 0.4%Salon: 0.5%Primacy Effect0.0%This article: 0.0%Amanda Marcotte: 0.1%Salon: 0.1%Blind-Spot Bias0.0%This article: 11.1%Amanda Marcotte: 13.9%Salon: 3.4%Ad Hominem11.1%This article: 3.4%Amanda Marcotte: 4.6%Salon: 1.4%Straw Man3.4%This article: 4.5%Amanda Marcotte: 3.3%Salon: 3.1%Appeal to Authority4.5%This article: 9.8%Amanda Marcotte: 2.8%Salon: 2.3%False Dilemma9.8%This article: 3.0%Amanda Marcotte: 3.0%Salon: 1.5%Slippery Slope3.0%This article: 0.0%Amanda Marcotte: 0.1%Salon: 0.2%Circular Reasoning0.0%This article: 31.3%Amanda Marcotte: 21.4%Salon: 10.6%Hasty Generalization31.3%This article: 0.9%Amanda Marcotte: 0.2%Salon: 0.2%Red Herring0.9%This article: 4.4%Amanda Marcotte: 0.4%Salon: 0.6%Bandwagon4.4%This article: 5.9%Amanda Marcotte: 6.0%Salon: 5.9%Appeal to Emotion5.9%This article: 2.4%Amanda Marcotte: 1.7%Salon: 1.4%Begging the Question2.4%This article: 5.4%Amanda Marcotte: 2.7%Salon: 2.3%Post Hoc (False Cause)5.4%This article: 5.0%Amanda Marcotte: 0.6%Salon: 0.3%Tu Quoque5.0%This article: 4.6%Amanda Marcotte: 1.1%Salon: 0.5%Burden of Proof4.6%This article: 0.0%Amanda Marcotte: 0.3%Salon: 0.2%Appeal to Nature0.0%This article: 5.7%Amanda Marcotte: 1.3%Salon: 0.6%Composition/Division5.7%This article: 3.5%Amanda Marcotte: 3.5%Salon: 2.5%Anecdotal3.5%This article: 1.4%Amanda Marcotte: 0.2%Salon: 0.1%No True Scotsman1.4%This article: 5.3%Amanda Marcotte: 1.2%Salon: 1.4%Ambiguity (Equivocation)5.3%This article: 0.0%Amanda Marcotte: 0.0%Salon: 0.0%Gambler’s Fallacy0.0%This article: 0.0%Amanda Marcotte: 0.0%Salon: 0.1%Middle Ground0.0%This article: 0.0%Amanda Marcotte: 0.4%Salon: 0.1%Personal Incredulity0.0%This article: 0.0%Amanda Marcotte: 0.0%Salon: 0.1%Special Pleading0.0%This article: 0.0%Amanda Marcotte: 0.5%Salon: 0.3%Genetic Fallacy0.0%This article: 3.8%Amanda Marcotte: 3.1%Salon: 2.1%Unattributed Quote3.8%This article: 5.5%Amanda Marcotte: 2.6%Salon: 1.6%Quote-first Misdirection5.5%This article: 24.6%Amanda Marcotte: 33.0%Salon: 15.1%Biased Writer Voice24.6%This article: 2.3%Amanda Marcotte: 3.0%Salon: 2.7%Indoctrination2.3%This article: 8.3%Amanda Marcotte: 18.6%Salon: 7.1%Politically Left Leaning Bias8.3%This article: 13.9%Amanda Marcotte: 0.7%Salon: 0.2%Politically Right Leaning Bias13.9%This article: 2.8%Amanda Marcotte: 1.8%Salon: 1.6%Attempt to Sell a Product or S…2.8%

1229 words analyzed.

Speakers

10speakers34%attributed speech806writer words
Voice mapSelect a segment to jump to its words
Writer's voice • 10 words • 100.0% coverageWriter's voice • 24 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 24 words • 100.0% coverageAdam Carolla • 43 words • 0.0% coverageAdam Carolla • 29 words • 100.0% coverageWriter's voice • 39 words • 0.0% coverageAdam Carolla • 22 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 4 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 16 words • 0.0% coverageAdam Carolla • 14 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 13 words • 100.0% coverageAdam Carolla • 16 words • 100.0% coverageWriter's voice • 43 words • 100.0% coverageWriter's voice • 62 words • 100.0% coverageChristopher Rufo • 7 words • 100.0% coverageChristopher Rufo • 26 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 26 words • 100.0% coverageMichael Tracey • 26 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 10 words • 100.0% coverageWriter's voice • 18 words • 100.0% coveragePOLITICO • 12 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 1 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 10 words • 100.0% coverageMike Cernovich • 11 words • 0.0% coverageMike Cernovich • 4 words • 0.0% coverageNick Fuentes • 30 words • 100.0% coverageNick Fuentes • 12 words • 0.0% coverageNick Fuentes • 14 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 27 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 16 words • 100.0% coverageWriter's voice • 10 words • 100.0% coverageMarjorie Taylor Greene • 14 words • 0.0% coverageMarjorie Taylor Greene • 17 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 37 words • 100.0% coverageWriter's voice • 8 words • 100.0% coverageWriter's voice • 2 words • 100.0% coverageWriter's voice • 11 words • 100.0% coverageWriter's voice • 28 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 27 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 4 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 42 words • 100.0% coverageWriter's voice • 21 words • 0.0% coverageMatt Stoller • 25 words • 0.0% coverageKen Klippenstein • 22 words • 100.0% coverageKen Klippenstein • 28 words • 0.0% coverageKyle Kulinski • 11 words • 0.0% coverageKyle Kulinski • 16 words • 0.0% coverageKyle Kulinski • 24 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 4 words • 100.0% coverageWriter's voice • 4 words • 100.0% coverageWriter's voice • 4 words • 100.0% coverageWriter's voice • 18 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 24 words • 100.0% coverageWriter's voice • 26 words • 100.0% coverageWriter's voice • 21 words • 100.0% coverageWriter's voice • 20 words • 100.0% coverageWriter's voice • 11 words • 100.0% coverageWriter's voice • 39 words • 100.0% coverageWriter's voice • 21 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 28 words • 100.0% coverageWriter's voice • 7 words • 100.0% coverageWriter's voice • 2 words • 100.0% coverageWriter's voice • 3 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 7 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 8 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 1 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 9 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 16 words • 0.0% coverage
Selected voice

Michael Tracey

100%flagged-word coverage
26 attributed words6.1% of attributed speech89% writer coverage
0%20.0%40.0%Biased Writer Voice-36.6 ptsWriter: 36.6%Michael Tracey: 0.0%0.0%Politically Right Leaning -17.5 ptsWriter: 17.5%Michael Tracey: 0.0%0.0%Politically Left Leaning B-12.7 ptsWriter: 12.7%Michael Tracey: 0.0%0.0%Unattributed Quote-5.8 ptsWriter: 5.8%Michael Tracey: 0.0%0.0%Attempt to Sell a Product -4.3 ptsWriter: 4.3%Michael Tracey: 0.0%0.0%Indoctrination-3.5 ptsWriter: 3.5%Michael Tracey: 0.0%0.0%

Attribution is sentence-level. Pattern percentages are calculated only from words assigned to that voice.

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Analysis

Hover over highlighted words in the article to view the associated bias or fallacy analysis.