As America celebrates 250 years this July, several Democratic Senate candidates are marking the occasion by expressing just how much they hate the country.Their behavior isn’t exactly shocking. Recent polling found only 18% of Democrats say they are proud to be American. Yet rather than celebrating the nation’s birthday, these candidates are hoping a hatred of America will win them votes. Maine’s Democratic Senate nominee Graham Platner, in now-deleted Reddit posts, agreed with a user criticizing the U.S. strike in 2020 that killed Iranian terrorist Qassem Soleimani, the man responsible for the deaths of hundreds of American soldiers. A Reddit user with the handle “RevolutionaryCommie” called the American response to Soleimani’s death “ghoulish” and “disgusting,” and said the United States is “a disgraceful country.” Platner, under the username “P-Hustle” replied: “I’m an American and I can’t disagree with you tonight.”
This comment is only the latest installment in a series of critical and demeaning comments scandal-ridden Platner has made both toward the U.S. and its military service members on the platform.Platner admitted he became disillusioned with American patriotism after his service, writing again on Reddit: “After the war, I’ve pretty much stopped believing in any of the patriotic nonsense that got me there in the first place.” And while he has tried to shake these incidents, they shouldn’t be easily forgiven.Democratic Senate nominee James Talarico of Texas claims to be a “Christian who hates Christianity.” And if that didn’t seem backward enough, in 2019, Talarico told an audience the American flag is “such a complicated symbol for most of us.” He likened it to the cross of Christ, suggesting it had been “co-opted” and that its “true meaning has been betrayed.” A man who hates his own faith probably would find the flag complicated. But it’s not. It is a symbol of the most powerful nation in the history of the world, whose citizens have fought and died for 250 years to defend its principles of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness for all its citizens. There’s nothing all that complicated about that.Graham Platner, Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate, speaks to an overflow crowd outside a campaign event Sunday, June 7, 2026, in Portland, Maine. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)
