Category: Politics

The leaders of Maine’s Democratic Party are calling on Senate candidate Graham Platner to withdraw from the race, after POLITICO reported Monday that a woman who he dated said he forced her to have sex with him.

Their call for Platner’s exit is notable, given the state party has the ability to replace him on the ballot, should he choose to drop out before the July 13 deadline outlined in Maine law. Leaders would then need to select his replacement by July 27.

“The Maine Democratic Party leadership stands with women and survivors, and that principle does not bend based on party affiliation,” Chair Charlie Dingman, Vice Chair Imke Schessler and Executive Director Devon Murphy-Anderson said in a joint statement posted to social media.

Maine Democrats join several prominent party members — including former Platner supporters Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) and Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) — in pushing for the progressive oysterman to drop out or condemning his actions after POLITICO reported new allegations of him sexually assaulting a former partner.

Platner has denied the accusation, saying that the allegations are “troubling, serious, and false. Any accusation of non-consensual behavior is categorically untrue.” However, he also said on social media that he was “taking the time to reflect” on his candidacy.

Jenny Racicot, a 41-year-old Maine resident, had told POLITICO that Platner entered her home uninvited five years ago and forced himself on her despite her repeatedly telling him to stop. She said she cut off contact with him after telling him that his actions that night were not consensual.

“We are entrusted with deciding who represents our values and who carries our banner,” Dingman, Schessler and Murphy-Anderson wrote in the Monday statement. “That responsibility requires judgment, leadership, and a willingness to act when circumstances demand it.”

The Maine Democratic leaders said it is their “responsibility to hold every candidate who seeks to represent our state to the highest standard” and that it is imperative the party defeats GOP Sen. Susan Collins in November.

“This Senate race comes at a pivotal moment in the struggle against a government, supported by Senator Collins, that serves the interests of the wealthy and powerful at the expense of ordinary Maine people,” they wrote. “It is essential that we refocus this campaign on that struggle.”

Other prominent Maine Democrats — including state Senate President Mattie Daughtry — called on Platner to exit.

“Sexual violence has absolutely no place in our society, and it cannot be tolerated from those seeking our highest positions of power,” Daughtry said on X. “To that end, I am calling on Mr. Platner to withdraw his candidacy immediately. Maine deserves a nominee for U.S. Senate with the dignity, judgment, and personal character this seat demands.”

​Politics

Belgium recognizes three official languages: Dutch, which is dominant in Flanders; French, spoken in Wallonia; and German, spoken by a distinct community of around 70,000 people along the country’s eastern border.

Much of Belgian public life, including education, health care and the media, is organized separately along these linguistic lines. International sport is a notable exception, providing one of the few occasions when Belgians — regardless of whether they speak Dutch, French or German — rally behind the same flag.

Belgian soccer is “a sharp contrast to how the country is organized politically and culturally” Jeroen Scheerder, professor of sports politics and sports sociology at KU Leuven told POLITICO, adding that aside from chocolate, beer and the King, he struggles to “list any other aspects of life with which people identify to feel like a Belgian … I call it the 90 minutes of nationalism.”

Professor Jef Brouwers, who worked as performance psychologist under former Belgium coach Roberto Martínez between 2015 and 2018, agreed.

“The team is one the few things that cuts through the linguistic barriers,” he said. “You cannot participate as a Flemish athlete or as a Walloon athlete or a Brussels athlete. We have those three governments, but you cannot participate in one of those shirts.”

Roughly half of Belgium’s national soccer team, the Red Devils, are native French speakers, while the other half speak Dutch as their first language. Yet communication has rarely posed a problem because English has become the team’s neutral working language.

“There are French- and Flemish-speaking (players), so it’s the habit, the necessity to speak English … when (the coach) is talking, giving an explanation on the game plan, he will speak in English so that everybody can understand,” Brouwers said.

Language, therefore, has never become a major point of contention within the squad.

“I’m quite sure they don’t even think about the language,” Brouwers said. “It is absolutely not a point of attention.”

Scheerder said the arrangement comes naturally because most Belgian internationals already use English in their club soccer careers.

“Most of (the players) if not all of them are quite familiar with (English). Most of them are playing abroad in international clubs … so its not really an issue or a topic,” he added.

If Belgium’s linguistic divide is not an issue during training and after kick-off, there is one moment when it becomes impossible to ignore: the national anthem.

Belgium has not one but four official versions of “La Brabançonne”: French, Dutch and German versions, as well as a multilingual version that alternates between the three languages. Of course, using English as a neutral language provides no solution here!

Fans watching closely during World Cup matches may notice that the lyrics displayed on stadium screens are shown in three rows — one for each official language.

Players and fans can choose which line to sing, meaning that multiple different versions of the same song are being sung at the same time.

Some players, including Kevin De Bruyne, the superstar from Ghent in Flanders, often do not sing the lyrics at all. Scheerder said this is “not at all a statement” and may even reflect a desire to avoid choosing between Belgium’s different official languages.

So, while the Red Devils may spend 90 minutes speaking the same language as their American opponents on the pitch, they begin the evening with a uniquely Belgian chorus: one anthem, three languages — and no single unified version everyone sings.

​Politics

It’s hot outside. But the DSA is hotter.

Fresh off major primary wins in Colorado and New York, the Democratic Socialists of America is looking to prove that it can translate its momentum beyond deep-blue House primaries and into competitive statewide races.

DSA officials and allies told POLITICO they’ve already shifted organizers, volunteers and resources toward battleground Michigan and Wisconsin, where progressive Abdul El-Sayed is locked in a hotly contested Democratic primary for Michigan Senate and DSA-backed Francesca Hong is gaining steam in her primary for Wisconsin governor.

Both El-Sayed and Hong are planning a series of major rallies ahead of their primaries, and their campaigns and DSA organizers are currently discussing bringing many of the movement’s biggest stars — including recent winners from New York and Colorado — to generate attention and shore up the broader national effort. That will likely include a trip to Michigan for Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who just made a major endorsement for El-Sayed.

“It’s DSA summer. We can’t stop racking up wins,” said Emma Vigeland, co-host of the long-running progressive program The Majority Report, who has campaigned for DSA candidates this primary season. “We’re seeing the culmination of 10 years of democratic socialism becoming more mainstream.”

Sustaining that summer momentum will be a tall task, as the DSA and the insurgent left try to harness the infrastructure they need to extend their wins into the battlegrounds.

But popular Twitch streamer Hasan Piker and Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) are already planning to hit the trail to boost DSA picks in Michigan and Wisconsin ahead of the August primary.

And DSA membership has surged, according to national co-chair Megan Romer, with more than 7,500 new members signing up nationally since the sweeping victories in the Big Apple.

The DSA held a national members call Thursday night to rally the troops featuring two of the organization’s newest stars: Pennsylvania congressional nominee state Rep. Chris Rabb and Melat Kiros, who this week scored a major primary upset in Colorado over longtime Rep. Diana DeGette. Members also addressed Speaker Mike Johnson’s recent attacks on the group.

“This is a movement moment,” Hong said in an interview, pushing back on skeptics who question whether democratic socialists can win statewide in a state President Donald Trump carried twice. “More and more folks are recognizing that the system is rigged and they deserve a more democratic economy, where the power and control are with the workers and not the establishment, the elites and the mega corporations.”

The democratic socialist surge has been building since Sen. Bernie Sanders’ 2016 presidential campaign brought the movement into the mainstream. But it’s been supercharged by progressive voters’ frustration with Democratic leadership, especially following former President Joe Biden’s late exit during the 2024 race and the party’s tepid response — in the eyes of many in the base — to the second Trump administration.

That anti-Washington sentiment has now resulted in DSA’s most successful primary season yet, putting democratic socialists on pace to have at least eight aligned members of Congress next year, not to mention the mayorships of New York City, Washington and Seattle — with more races still ahead.

But it hasn’t all been smooth sailing. In California, DSA-backed Sean Dougherty lost his blanket primary against Rep. Jimmy Panetta, while Chris Bennett fell short against Rep. Kevin Kiley, losses that point to a bigger question ahead: How far can the movement translate its surge of national attention and energy? Especially as establishment Democrats and outside groups look to blunt its momentum — and as Republicans ramp up efforts to turn the group into a campaign boogeyman.

“One of the biggest challenges of organizing is helping people channel their organic excitement — positive or negative — into movement growth,” Romer said. “We’ve built these structures and now we get to help people find their way into them so they can use them to win what they want.”

In Wisconsin, Hong is mounting one of the group’s clearest tests yet of whether a democratic socialist can win statewide, running on affordability and opposition to data center expansion — a message that has boosted her into a leading position in some polling heading into next month’s contest.

Public polling in the Wisconsin governor’s race has been sparse. A Marquette University Law School poll from March showed Hong leading the Democratic field at 14 percent among voters who named a candidate, ahead of Mandela Barnes at 11 percent, with 65 percent still undecided.

Hong, who last week appeared on Piker’s stream and raised over $50,000 from viewers in under an hour, says she plans to try unconventional ways of meeting voters heading into the primary.

“We will continue to be campaigning in creative ways, where people are meeting a candidate where they weren’t expected to meet a gubernatorial candidate — bike rides and dive bars,” she said.

Nearby Michigan is shaping up to be perhaps the most important state on the primary calendar this August for the strength of the insurgent movement in the Democratic Party. El-Sayed is not explicitly backed by DSA, but he’s widely viewed within the movement as part of the same progressive project, and organizers are going all in behind El-Sayed’s Senate campaign.

Ocasio-Cortez, who endorsed El-Sayed during his 2018 gubernatorial bid, joins Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who previously backed him in this campaign, in lining up two of the most influential voices on the left behind him.

“Everybody in the coalition is on the same page, whether it be Justice Dems, whether it be [Working Families Party], whether it be DSA,” said Vincent Vertuccio, Egret Strategies, a consulting firm that has worked with leftists running for office this cycle. He said Michigan is “absolutely the next focus of this national movement.”

Piker, who has become a highly sought-after surrogate for insurgent candidates this primary season, told POLITICO that he was headed to Michigan soon to rally support: “Abdul El-Sayed is not DSA affiliated, but he’s a progressive fighter. He’s a Berniecrat, and I’m excited to help him out to the best of my ability.”

A recent Quantus Insights poll from late June found El-Sayed leading Rep. Haley Stevens 41 percent to 36 percent, with state Sen. Mallory McMorrow trailing at 8 percent. McMorrow dropped out of the race on Sunday after failing to gain traction.

The DSA has another target in Michigan: Ousting incumbent Rep. Shri Thanedar, a former democratic socialist member whom the organization says it expelled over what it described as a “substantial disagreement with the values of DSA.” Thanedar at the time claimed he had renounced his membership, citing the organization’s promotion of a pro-Palestinian rally in New York City in the days immediately after Hamas’ attack on Israel in October 2023.

The representative now faces a DSA-backed challenger in state Rep. Donavan McKinney in Michigan’s 13th District.

Tlaib, an original member of the Squad, is working hard in her backyard to boost both McKinney and El-Sayed. In an interview, she said that the current momentum behind insurgent candidates reminds her of the 2018 wave that first brought her into Congress along with other Squad members, and their frustration once Democrats won unified control in the 2020 elections.

“Democrats had the trifecta and we couldn’t even get the Voting Rights Act passed. We couldn’t even get Build Back Better passed that was about child care and housing,” she said. “These are not years that we can get back for our residents, and especially our children.”

McKinney has hit Thanedar over taking corporate PAC money and questioned his progressive credentials. Tlaib and DSA are banking on their organizing efforts to propel the challenger to victory.

“[Mckinney] was raised in Wayne County all his life. He understands what it feels like to smell like rotten eggs when you go outside because the air is so polluted,” Tlaib added. “People are hungry for folks that will move with urgency.”

CLARIFICATION: This article was updated to reflect McMorrow’s Sunday decision to suspend her Senate campaign.

​Politics

LONDON — The U.K.’s current and next prime minister will both skip the pub to watch England’s match against Mexico at their homes, advisers confirmed.

Keir Starmer — the outgoing PM who promoted his move to let English pubs stay open till 5 a.m. for the late-night kickoff — will watch with his family in London. Andy Burnham, who is set to succeed Starmer in two weeks, will watch with his family in Greater Manchester.

But the question is whether both make it to the bitter end — particularly after the game was delayed an hour due to adverse weather, moving kickoff to 2 a.m. local time. That would appear to pose a particular sleep-related challenge for Burnham, who is due in Westminster on Monday for access talks with senior officials as he prepares to take charge of the government.

​Politics

Watching the World Cup or scrolling on social media, you may have noticed England fans serenading the players with renditions of “Wonderwall” at the end of their matches.

Fans of “Sweet Caroline” may feel aggrieved that the Oasis classic has taken top spot for England sing-alongs at this World Cup. But it is hard to imagine lyrics more apt for the ears of star striker Harry Kane than: “You’re going to be the one that saves me” … given England’s captain has, at times, appeared to drag his team through this tournament almost single-handed.

“Wonderwall” remains Oasis’ best-known anthem — arguably transcending the band itself, much to singer Liam Gallagher’s occasional irritation.

But it is not the first time the now-reunited Gallagher brothers have featured in an unexpected setting this summer.

Andy Burnham, Britain’s prime minister-in-waiting, is always keen to lean heavily into his Manchester roots. Earlier this year, he secured permission from the Gallagher brothers to use Oasis’ “Some Might Say” in his online campaigning for the Makerfield by-election.

Burnham is due to replace Keir Starmer as prime minister on July 20 — one day after the World Cup final.

He will be hoping to arrive in Number 10 riding a wave of national euphoria, with England world champions and the words of his fellow Mancunians ringing in his ears.

Including one lyric that might feel less like inspiration and more like a warning. “By now, you should’ve somehow realized what you’ve got to do.”

​Politics

FIFA’s decision to suspend Folarin Balogun’s one-match ban has sparked anger inside European soccer, with both continental confederation UEFA and the Royal Belgian Football Association discussing possible next steps, according to a high-ranking UEFA official. The official, who was granted anonymity to discuss ongoing deliberations, said no final decision had been taken.

As of Sunday evening, UEFA’s plan was to release a statement on Monday in response to FIFA’s ruling, according to a person familiar with the matter. The statement is expected to support the Belgian association, which was directly affected after Balogun was permitted to play against Belgium despite having been sent off in the previous match. Belgium is a member of UEFA.

“In order to safeguard the legitimate rights of all participating teams and to protect the fundamental principles of fair play in our sport, both at this FIFA World Cup and at future editions of the tournament, the RBFA is investigating all potential options,” the Belgian association said in a statement released after FIFA’s ruling.

FIFA’s ruling has also prompted criticism from inside soccer’s global governing body. One of the organization’s vice presidents, asked by POLITICO for his view of the Balogun case, described it in a WhatsApp message as an “utter disgrace.” The vice president was granted anonymity to speak candidly about the matter.

​Politics