Republicans are licking their chops over the opportunity to take on Graham Platner, the Democrats’ presumptive nominee for Senate in Maine, according to a new report from Semafor’s Burgess Everett.

Governor Janet Mills (D) dropped out of the Democratic primary contest to take on Senator Susan Collins (D-ME) on Thursday, and, “top Republican groups are pivoting quickly to launching a negative barrage at Platner,” per Everett.

“I can just tell you that we should have an all-out assault on the concept that somehow, some way, Graham Platner will squeak through. He has to be exposed,” Senator and National Republican Senatorial Committee Chair Tim Scott (R-SC) told the outlet. “Frankly, I care about the future of our country, and what is clear is Graham Platner should not, cannot, and will not be the future of the party or the country, because we’re going to stop that from happening.”

“Senate Republicans’ primary super PAC, the Senate Leadership Fund [SLF], has reserved $42 million in fall ads. A sister nonprofit group, One Nation, is running a suite of ads now totaling $18 million,” reported Everett.

SLF executive director Alex Latcham delivered the money quote: “It’s a good thing Graham Platner isn’t a real oysterman from Maine because he’ll no longer be able to live in the state after we thoroughly beat the sh*t out of him.”

Platner recently had a large tattoo of a Nazi symbol — an SS Totenkopf — covered up on his chest after its existence became public knowledge.

He has also retweeted infamous anti-Semite Stew Peters and told a conspiracy theorist who has blamed Israel for the assassinations of John F. Kennedy and Charlie Kirk.

On Reddit, Platner once urged women concerned about sexual assault to “take some responsibility for themselves and not get so f*cked up they wind up having sex with someone they don’t mean to?”

New: The Mediaite One-Sheet "Newsletter of Newsletters"
Your daily summary and analysis of what the many, many media newsletters are saying and reporting. Subscribe now!