Bernie Sanders joins Democrats’ calls for Graham Platner to drop out of Maine Senate race as window to replace him narrows – live

The second day of the preliminary hearing in the case against Tyler James Robinson – the man accused of murdering Charlie Kirk – is under way in Provo, Utah.

On Monday, former Utah state bureau of investigation agent David Hull was brought to the stand. He said that hundreds of hours of video were reviewed by investigators as they sought to track the suspect’s movements. They used university surveillance footage and Ring home security video, captured from the doorway of a nearby home, along with cellphone videos of the incident shared by the public.

Hull was testifying again on Tuesday, and new security footage was entered into evidence that shows Robinson arriving at Utah Valley University’s amphitheater, hours before Kirk was shot, and speaking to Turning Point USA supporters.

As my colleagues Dani Anguiano and Gabrielle Canon note, unlike the more definitive proof required to return a guilty verdict, the bar for moving a case to trial is much lower, and legal experts believe prosecutors will be able to clear it throughout this hearing.

While speaking to reporters at City Hall on Tuesday, Zohran Mamdani weighed in on the sexual assault allegation against Graham Platner, and called for the Democratic nominee to end Senate bid.

“I believe that it’s time for him [Platner] to drop out of the race,” the New York mayor said. “I think the focus of today should be to respond to the gravity of what so many of us have read, and I think that the only appropriate response is for the campaign to come to an end.”

While Mamdani had not backed officially endorsed Platner throughout the midterm cycle, the two have shared strategists and campaign officials, including close adviser Morris Katz.

As we discuss the mechanics of how Democrats could replace Graham Platner as the Senate nominee, it’s worth digging into some of the names that are floating around as potential candidates.

Many of the contenders who have gained traction from national Democrats and state operatives appear to be the runners-up in the crowded Democratic gubernatorial race which former Maine House speaker Hannah Pingree won in June. Nirav Shah, the former deputy director of the Maine Center of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), current secretary of state Shenna Bellows an former state Senate president Troy Jackson are all names that have been floated.

All three have called on Platner to step down in the wake of a sexual assault allegation, so the party can select a replacement. “For too long, women who survive sexual violence have been told to stay quiet, to protect the men who hurt them, to think about the campaign, the party, the cause. We cannot ask women to trust us with their futures while looking the other way when one of our own hurts them,” said Jackson, who campaigned alongside Platner.

Speaking to the Bangor Daily News, Jackson said that he had “never considered” stepping into the race, but if Platner ends his bid, Jackson – a logger and former state lawmaker – said he is “very interested” and “the best person to replace him”. The outlet also reported that Shah and Bellows received “numerous encouraging calls of support Monday as potential Platner replacements”, according to people familiar with the conversations.

On Tuesday, a grassroots effort to “draft” Jackson as the Democratic Senate nominee was launched – which included a campaign-style video meeting with voters and local businesses. While Shah issued a statement saying that “anyone running for this nomination should agree to at least one televised debate and hold multiple public town halls across every corner of the state”.

The former public health director added that he is “committed” to doing that should he run.

Jordan Wood – a former congressional staffer who initially ran against Platner before switching to a competitive House race and losing to Matt Dunlap – has also reportedly been fielding calls about potentially entering the Senate race.

Ninety-five per cent of Americans believe the US is suffering an affordability crisis, as many report trouble with the rising cost of groceries and gas, according to an exclusive new poll conducted for the Guardian.

The survey, conducted by Harris Poll, paints a bleak picture of how people feel about the US economy amid the war in Iran and ahead of the key midterm elections this fall.

Despite stable employment and record-high stock markets, more Americans believe the overall economy is getting worse (۵۷%) than in February (۴۶%), when the poll was last conducted and before the war in the Middle East sent gas prices soaring. Fewer people today also believe the economy is getting better (۱۶%, compared with ۲۸% in February) and more say their financial security has gotten worse.

The affordability struggle crosses party lines: about half of all Democrats, Republicans and independents say they are having trouble affording everyday necessities like gas and groceries. Two-thirds of Americans – including ۴۹% of Republicans – said they have little faith that the federal government will improve the cost-of-living crisis they face.

Though Republicans have been far more optimistic about the economy than Democrats and independents under Donald Trump’s second term, the war in Iran seems to have soured those in the president’s base.

While ۴۹% of Republicans said the economy was getting better in February, just ۲۷% said the same in the new poll. Meanwhile, ۳۸% of Republicans say the economy is now getting worse compared with ۲۲% who said the same in February.

A reminder that it is possible for Democrats to replace their party’s Senate nominee in Maine.

However, the clock is ticking for this to be a possibility. In order to have a new candidate on the ballot for the general election, Graham Platner would have to end his campaign by ۱۳ July at ۵pm ET, according to state law.

Democrats would then have a two week window – until ۵pm ET on ۲۷ July – to pick a replacement.

Following the recent sexual assault allegation reported by Politico on Monday, Maine Democratic party leaders called on Platner to step down. The powerful Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee has already said that it would no longer invest in the Maine Senate race as long as Platner remains on the ballot.

State law doesn’t dictate the exact process for selecting a replacement nominee, but there has been consternation among Democrats about a closed-door party selection, which would bypass a competitive process that effectively allows voters to repeat the primary process.

“If a process for selecting a new nominee becomes necessary, it will be open, transparent, and inclusive,” said Devon Murphy-Anderson, the Maine Democratic Party’s executive director, in a statement. “[The party] hopes that we have broad participation of Mainers and Democratic voters in what happens next. In no scenario is there a legal possibility for a nominee to be selected by an individual campaign.”

Donald Trump said he had a “very good talk” withVladimir Putin, ahead of arriving in Turkey.

This comes amid a wave of recent Russian strikes across Ukraine that have killed at least ۲۱ people. The US president said that he also spoke with Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy ahead of the Nato summit.

“I think they both want to make a deal. It’s too bad it took so long,” Trump said, despite insisting that he would resolve the conflict on his first day back at the White House. “I think we’re going to get it settled, hopefully soon.”

Donald Trump, once again, said he was “very disappointed” in Nato member countries today while fielding questions from reporters in Ankara.

While meeting with Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Trump repeated his frustration with the alliance, and said that if the Nato summit “weren’t held in Turkey, where my friend happens to be a very strong leader, a very strong person, it’s possible that I wouldn’t have attended”.

Trump also criticized member states for their decision to stay out of the conflict with Iran. “We weren’t treated well,” the US president said. “I didn’t even want their help, as they said they wouldn’t be there, we’ve invested trillions of dollars in Nato to protect European countries and others.”

He also said that the decision from outgoing UK prime minister Keir Starmer – to belatedly allow US forces to use UK airbases for “defensive” strikes on Iran – was “a very unpopular thing”. In actuality, there were several other factors – not the Middle East conflict – that dented Starmer’s standing in the UK.

“I was testing people, I was testing to see whether or not they’d be there. Because I’ve long said that we help them, but I’m not sure that they’d be there for us,” Trump added. “Italy turned us down, and Germany turned us down, and France turned us down, and it’s OK, but you know, why are we spending hundreds of billions of dollars, and they’re not there for us? We’ve always been there for them.”

Trump received a welcome from Erdogan full of pomp and circumstance, ahead of their meeting in Ankara.

A turquoise carpet was laid out for the president’s arrival, and members of the Turkish military were here as well for the arrival.

The two men talked for a few moments and posed for photos.

We’ll bring you the latest lines as their meeting gets under way.

President Trump has landed in Ankara for the Nato summit in the Turkish capital.

The US leader is due to hold talks with Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdoğan at his sprawling presidential palace before joining an official leaders dinner ahead of the main session of the summit on Wednesday.

Trump landed at ۱.۵۱pm local time after making his first foreign flight aboard his new Qatari-gifted Air Force One plane, where he was awaited on the tarmac by a presidential guard dressed in blue.

He was greeted by Erdogan, who was accompanied by his wife Emine, and the two men talked, as well as stopping to pose for photos.

Democratic leaders in Congress will soon face tactics and pressures from their left similar to what the Republican right used to bring down one speaker and make life hell for another, a former top GOP aide predicted.

“If Democrats take the House,” John Leganski said, of the midterm elections in November, “you see these socialist candidates rising. I saw a candidate in Colorado say, ‘I’m not voting for anyone for leadership that took corporate Pac money.’ I guarantee you, [minority leader] Hakeem Jeffries’ office is reading that comment and sweating, because that’s what we were doing in the lead up to the [۲۰۲۲ midterm] election as well. It’s just a tight margin, and every vote counts.”

Leganski watched from Washington as Colorado candidate Melat Kiros, a ۲۹-year-old democratic socialist beat ۱۵-term incumbent Diana DeGette last Tuesday in a primary shaped by surging opposition to Israel and support for universal healthcare, similar to the sweep of wins in New York the week before. He surmised candidates like Kiros may not vote Jeffries for speaker if Democrats win the majority in the House this November.

From Illinois, Leganski was already a longtime aide to Kevin McCarthy when the California Republican, a relative moderate in a party marching right, was elected speaker in January ۲۰۲۳. Leganski became the youngest floor director in House history but all too soon he and his boss were out of a job. Now a lobbyist, Leganski has written Glory, Grief, and the Gavel, a book about how far-right Republicans first tortured McCarthy through ۱۵ votes for the speakership, then brutally ejected him eight months later.

George Chidi

Moments after Donald Trump rang the ceremonial opening bell on Monday, starting the trading day from the Oval Office, ۲۳۲ miles north on Wall Street, the US senator Ted Cruz celebrated the president’s new savings accounts as his administration’s “New Deal”.

“But instead of having government taking care of everyone,” the Republican senator declared, “Trump accounts are about making every child and every American a capitalist.”

In the wake of primary election wins by democratic socialists and their close progressive allies in New York and elsewhere, Trump and his Republican allies are leading a broad push to brand Democrats as communists, using John Birch Society language that has grown dusty with disuse.

While Trump often conflates democratic socialism with communism – a well-worn Republican tactic that aims to weaponize voters’ fears of Marxism against liberal policies – he has increasingly made the accusation distinct and clear.

“Communism is the exact opposite of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. It’s death, tyranny, and the pursuit of evil,” Trump said, speaking at Mount Rushmore for an address marking the ۲۵۰th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. “The godless communist morality states that anything is justified to bring about inhuman visions … They don’t want good. They don’t love God and they don’t want God. They don’t love religion and they don’t want religion, and they won’t have it, but we will not let them win.”

No president had rung the bell from the White House before Monday’s event, perhaps because no president had wanted to associate state power so closely with financial markets.

But while Trump has ramped up his attacks against communism, the self-styled business mogul president has overseen the most significant extension of government control over private industry since the start of the cold war, if not before.

President Donald Trump and his Nato counterparts are gathering in Turkey today for a two-day summit that comes at a turning point in the organization’s history as the United States steps back from its traditional security role in Europe.

Ahead of the meeting in Ankara, Trump has insisted on “loyalty” after some Nato countries balked at allowing U. forces to use their bases for attacks on Iran, AFP reports.

He listed big European members Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Spain for criticism.

The summit is a symbolic moment when the ۳۲ member countries of the world’s biggest military alliance underline their unshakeable commitment to one another’s security.

Shrai Popat

In a video message on Monday published after the Politico report, Platner again said the accusations were false, but that he was mindful of the political reality the accusation will carry.

“We are taking the time to reflect on the best path forward for the state that I love, the people that I love, the movement I belong to and the goal of defeating Susan Collins,” Platner said.

He thanked the voters who helped propel him to the nomination as a political newcomer.

“You never turned your back on me, and I will not turn my back on you now,” he said. “Every one of you deserves to see that vision come to fruition, and see Susan Collins defeated, and we will use every tool at our disposal to do so. As Maine goes, so goes the nation.”

Collins herself weighed in on social media: “These allegations are appalling. Nevertheless, it is not up to me to choose the Democratic nominee for Senate.”

Shrai Popat

In the Politico report, published on Monday, Jenny Racicot, ۴۱, who previously dated Platner, said he forced her to have sex despite repeated objections.

Platner denied the claims in a statement to Politico. “These allegations are troubling, serious, and false. Any accusation of non-consensual behavior is categorically untrue,” he said.

Racicot told the outlet she had an on-and-off relationship with Platner for more than two years. She alleges that in late ۲۰۲۱, an intoxicated Platner entered her home uninvited and forced himself on her. Racicot said she terminated contact after the encounter.

The report cited accounts from a man Racicot later confided in, as well as recent therapist emails, and messages where she warned an acquaintance about Platner in ۲۰۲۳.

Platner, an oyster farmer and former marine veteran, who secured the Democratic nomination and faces the Republican senator Susan Collins in the general election, has faced a series of scandals before this week.

Platner has cast himself as a populist everyman with an anti-oligarchy message. Before his run for public office, he made controversial comments on social media and got a Nazi-linked tattoo, which has since been covered up. Platner has said he did not initially understand the meaning of the tattoo.

Hello and welcome to the US politics live blog.

Maine’s Democratic party leadership has called for US Senate candidate Graham Platner to withdraw from the race, as the scandal-hit Marine veteran loses support from his previously most vocal backers.

It comes as Politico reported that Jenny Racicot, a ۴۱-year-old Maine resident who previously dated Platner – whose insurgent rise has drawn comparisons to president Donald Trump – accused him of forcing her to have sex in late ۲۰۲۱.

Platner rejected the allegation and, in a video message posted to X after the report was published, called the allegations “troubling, serious and false.”

However, many top Democratic figures have called on the beleaguered nominee to step down. In a joint statement, Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer and Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee chair Kirsten Gillibrand said Platner should “immediately withdraw”.

Ro Khanna, the California representative who has been one of Platner’s most vocal supporters, also said he should drop out. “I’ve been very clear that sexual assault or violence against women is a red line,” he wrote on X. “These allegations are very serious and credible. Graham Platner should drop out from the race. I am withdrawing my endorsement.”

Elizabeth Warren, the Massachusetts senator who endorsed Platner in March, said in a statement “there can be no tolerance for sexual assault”. She said: “With so much at stake, the best path forward is for Graham Platner to step aside as the Democratic nominee and address these serious allegations outside this Senate race.”

The allegation lands at a perilous moment for Democrats, who view Maine as a central battleground in their effort to regain control of the Senate in November’s midterm elections.

Read the latest story here:

In other developments:

• Trump’s latest attempt to delay payment of a $۵.۸m judgment for defaming a magazine columnist whom a jury determined he sexually abused has been emphatically rejected by a federal court judge. More here.

• Trump rang the bell of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) from the White House to mark the first trading day for Trump accounts, a government initiative that provides children with a $۱,۰۰۰ investment account. It is the first joint opening of the exchanges, and the first time the bell had been rung at the White House. More here.

• National guard soldiers on patrol in Memphis shot and killed a man that authorities in the Tennessee city said turned and pulled a gun on the troops during a chase. The shooting took place at about ۴am on Sunday as the soldiers responded to a report of gunfire. The Tennessee national guard was deployed controversially by the state’s governor, Bill Lee, in October to support the federal push by Donald Trump, his fellow Republican, to tackle perceived crime surges in Democratic-run cities. More here.