President Trump blasted the Democrats’ scandal-plagued Senate candidate Graham Platner as a “major sleaze bag” in an interview with The Post’s “Pod Force One,” but said Texas Senate candidate James Talarico is worse.
The president gave a blunt assessment of the Democrats’ top Senate contenders in an interview with The Post’s Miranda Devine in the latest episode, which is out Wednesday.
“They don’t appeal to anybody,” he said of Democratic candidates, calling them by his new nickname: “The Dumocrats.”
He expressed astonishment that Platner is beating Republican Sen. Susan Collins in the polls in their Maine Senate matchup. The embattled Democrat holds a 7.8% edge over Collins, according to the latest RealClearPolitics polling average.
“He’s a major sleaze bag. I mean, you look at him, you can’t imagine that, but yet he’s up in the polls against Susan Collins,” Trump said.
Still, he expressed optimism about Collins, whom he’s clashed with in the past. “But she’s always down in the polls, and she survives.”
Democrats, including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, are standing by Platner even after a deluge of recent reports on the candidate’s racy text messages with other women while he was married.
Platner met with party officials behind closed doors in Washington, DC, on Tuesday, slipping in and out of a back entrance to avoid questions from the media.
Meanwhile, Trump has even harsher words for Talarico, who is running against state Attorney General Ken Paxton for John Cornyn’s Texas Senate seat. Paxton beat Cornyn for the GOP nomination after receiving Trump’s endorsement.
“I think Talarico is worse,” he said. “Of the two of them, I think Talarico is worse.”
“Talarico is horrible,” the president said, repeating his charge that the Texas Democrat is a vegan. Talarico had denied the vegan claim, although his girlfriend does follow the strict no-animal products diet, The Post revealed.
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“Now he’s having a barbecue,” Trump joked of Talarico.
He said Jasmine Crockett, the Democrat Talarico defeated in the primary, was a “better candidate.”
Talarico is leading Paxton in early polls of their matchup as Democrats pour money into the race. Talarico is trying to become the first Democrat to hold the seat since Sen. Bob Krueger in 1993.
In his concession speech, Cornyn said he would support Paxton in his race against Talarico despite the bruising primary campaign.
“I’ve spent most of my time in the Senate building the Republican Party in Texas … and I’ve always supported the Republican ticket, and I intend to do so again in this general election,” Cornyn said.
Both the Texas and Maine Senate races will go a long way in determining whether Republicans can maintain control of the Senate next year.
Overall, the president was not impressed with the 2026 Democratic field.
“These people are crazy. There’s something wrong with them,” Trump said.
In the interview with Devine, the president also discussed the conflict with Iran and his thoughts on Jill Biden’s new memoir.
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