Key events17m agoTrump called 'irresponsible and dangerous' over election commission firingsDavid Smith“Always give your best, never get discouraged, never be petty. Always remember, others may hate you, but those who hate you don’t win unless you hate them, and then you destroy yourself.”These were the parting words of Richard Nixon after he was forced to resign the presidency over the Watergate imbroglio in 1974. For Graham Platner on Wednesday, the stakes were somewhat smaller. But when it came to suspending his Senate campaign in Maine, the Democrat had plenty of hate to go around.The scandal-plagued Platner was forced to step down after a woman who dated him said he drunkenly forced her to have sex despite her telling him to stop, an allegation he denies. It spelled doom for an insurgent campaign that had begun 323 days earlier with a glossy horizontal video that showed Platner farming oysters, chopping wood and gruffly talking about “hardscrabble” folk in Maine.On Wednesday the video was vertical and, according to the Politico news site, recorded at 4pm outside Platner’s home in Maine in the company of aides including Ben Chin and Morris Katz, a 27-year-old adviser to New York’s mayor, Zohran Mamdani.“Several of [Platner]’s closest advisers pleaded with him Wednesday to strike a ‘conciliatory’ tone in the announcement terminating his Senate campaign,” Politico reported. “But the progressive bucked their advice and made it a condition of dropping out of the race that he get free rein to assail establishment Democrats and blame them for the ignominious end to his rapid political rise.”Trump called 'irresponsible and dangerous' over election commission firingsHello and welcome to the US politics live blog.The Trump administration has been branded “irresponsible and dangerous” after the president terminated the remaining members of the independent, federal commission (EAC) that assists election administration officials nationwide.Trump’s “deeply concerning” move comes just a few months before the midterm elections, with remaining three commissioners of the four-member bipartisan commission forced out on Thursday in different ways.The one Republican appointee resigned and the other ⁠two, Democratic appointees were notified of their terminations via email from ​the White House presidential personnel office.“On ‌behalf of President ‌Donald J Trump, I am writing to inform you that your position ‌as Commissioner of the Election Assistance Commission is terminated, effective immediately. Thank you for your service,” the email, seen by Reuters, said.The terminations follow Trump and top administration officials’ advocacy to change vote-by-mail requirements and investigations into the 2020 election outcome, which Trump lost to Democrat Joe Biden.“It is ⁠irresponsible and dangerous that this Administration remains dead set on ​causing chaos for ​our election officials across this ​country,” Arizona secretary of state Adrian Fontes said in a statement. “This ‌move undermines the integrity ​of nonpartisan ​election administration.”Senator Mark Warner of Virginia posted on X that the dismissals “should concern every American regardless of party,” adding “removing every remaining commissioner just months before the 2026 midterm elections is an extraordinary step that demands an immediate explanation from the administration.”The Brennan Center for Justice’s CEO Michael Waldman called the firings “deeply concerning in light of president Trump’s relentless efforts to try to interfere in elections.”Read the full story here:In other developments: