“The View” co-host Alyssa Farah Griffin criticized the Democratic Party for what she described as a "botched" vetting of Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner, who is currently facing multiple scandals, including allegations of sexual abuse.
Griffin stated on Wednesday that the Democratic Party mishandled the situation, particularly given Maine's importance for their path to regaining control of the Senate. "The path to Dems taking the Senate, I think, always ran through Maine," Griffin said. "That was always going to be one of the important pickup seats. They had six years to recruit against Susan Collins and to vet somebody and to look into their past statements, to look into the tattoos that they might have."
She questioned how, with such high stakes, the party was unable to uncover issues with Platner's past. "When the stakes are so high, and when the path to the Senate runs through this, how were they not able to find this?" Griffin asked. She suggested that consultants and individuals close to Platner may have been aware of "whispers" about his past issues with women, but chose to ignore them.
Co-host Whoopi Goldberg indicated that information about Platner's past had been discussed previously, suggesting that some people may have overlooked concerns due to the current political climate. The hosts generally agreed that parties are not sufficiently vetting candidates based on character.
Sunny Hostin, another co-host, has previously characterized Platner as a racist, homophobe, and antisemite. However, Hostin also stated that she would support him due to the perceived critical state of the country. During a discussion, Griffin questioned Hostin about her comfort level voting for Platner if she resided in Maine. Hostin countered by criticizing the Republican Party, asserting they could not claim a moral high ground.
Despite the differing perspectives on supporting a candidate with allegations against him, all hosts on "The View" agreed that Platner should withdraw from the Senate race.