The Rise & Fall of Graham Platner

**Josh Holmes** (0:00)
They're willing to go out and tell everybody, you are misunderstanding Graham Platner.

**Comfortably Smug** (0:06)
I want to pat us all on the back. We knew this is gonna end very badly.

**Josh Holmes** (0:09)
They tried to pretend as though an alleged rapist with a Nazi tattoo was a suitable candidate for United States Senate.

**Michael Duncan** (0:18)
And so now they're all on the record defending this guy, and oh, another scandal.

**Josh Holmes** (0:24)
You have a bunch of Democrats who are saying he has no leverage. He's done, there's nothing he can do.
No, there's basically gonna be three things, right? One is, wife's not going to jail. Two, he is going to have a say in who it is that they back going forward. Third, they're gonna have to find something for this guy to do.

**Comfortably Smug** (0:45)
There's gonna be some insane information you're gonna get in this episode that you will not get anywhere else. The value add on this episode is gonna be off the job.

**SPEAKER_4** (0:55)
American energy is growing. With a renewed focus on American oil and natural gas, we're rebuilding our industrial strength and driving investment. Energy demand is rising. The United States has the resources to meet it. Here's the challenge.
If we can't build the infrastructure to move that energy, pipelines, transmission lines, and power plants, Americans won't feel the benefits. And while projects stall, China moves faster. Not because America lacks energy, but because Washington's permitting system is outdated and broken. Energy affordability depends on getting energy where it's needed, when it's needed. Yet critical projects remain stuck for years in delays and endless litigation. We have the energy. We have the workforce. Now it's time to build.
Let's secure American energy leadership for generations to come. When America builds, America wins. Pass permitting reform now. Learn more at permittingreformnow.org.
Paid for by the American Petroleum Institute.

**SPEAKER_6** (2:02)
This program has become one of the most influential podcasts in America.

**SPEAKER_7** (2:07)
I love the personality. You guys are killing it.

**Michael Duncan** (2:08)
I just saw your number one.

**SPEAKER_7** (2:10)
Congratulations.

**Josh Holmes** (2:11)
It's an honor and a pleasure to welcome the great Sean Hannity.

**Sean Hannity** (2:16)
Guys, I love you.

**SPEAKER_9** (2:18)
Congratulations on all your success.

**SPEAKER_7** (2:20)
This is why you listen to The Ruthless Podcast, because nobody else would ask that question.

**Sean Hannity** (2:23)
The only political podcast worth listening to is The Ruthless Podcast.

**SPEAKER_10** (2:27)
It's time for our main event.

**SPEAKER_6** (2:30)
The Ruthless Podcast.

**Josh Holmes** (2:33)
Good Thursday to you. Welcome back to the Ruthless Variety Program. Josh Holmes along with Comfortably Smug, Michael Duncan and John Ashbrook, left to right across your radio dial. Listen, about the only thing that anybody's talking about in Washington DC today, yesterday and the day before, is how Graham Platner has Democrats over a barrel, but not in a gay way as he's assured us. Right.
Not in a gay way.
He has created an awful lot of problems for this party. And, you know, shoot.

**Comfortably Smug** (3:16)
Let me tell you, I hate to see it.

**Josh Holmes** (3:17)
Oh, you hate to see it, don't you?

**Comfortably Smug** (3:19)
I woke up today, I jumped out of bed, ready for today's episode. I was like, this is gonna be an all-timer.

**Josh Holmes** (3:26)
Well, what had happened was, Democrats accidentally allowed their voters to determine who their nominee was going to be. Something, a practice that they are unaccustomed to over the last day.

**Comfortably Smug** (3:37)
They tried a new thing and it really didn't work out well.

**Josh Holmes** (3:41)
It did not work. They have become comfortable with the idea that there's just a smoke-filled room that sort of determines who they're going to run that does an Abigail Spanberger routine because they can lie with certitude about what it is they intend to do.
Bernie has fucked it all up for them. Elizabeth Warren and everybody else, the Democratic Socialist mom, Donnie, where you actually have to tell the people what it is that you intend to do. They recruited a whole bunch of candidates all over the place and they're running against all the Democratic establishment. We've seen this time and time again, but Platner was the one I think we were on to first.

**Comfortably Smug** (4:23)
Right on. Right from the beginning. I want to pat us all on the back.
We knew this is going to end very badly.

**Josh Holmes** (4:30)
Like seven months ago, the guy rolls in with a Nazi tattoo. We're like, you know, I don't know, but I don't have a lot of friends with those.