British reality TV personality Jordan Wright, who starred on ITV’s “The Only Way Is Essex,” has died. He was 33.

A spokesperson for ITV confirmed Wright’s death to Fox News Digital on Thursday.

“Everyone at TOWIE sends their deepest sympathies to the family and friends of Jordan Wright at this very sad time,” the network said in a statement.

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Wright was found dead in a drainage canal near Bang Tao Beach in Phuket, Thailand, on March 14, according to local reports, per Deadline.

British reality star Jordan Wright has died at the age of 33.  (Jordan Wright Instagram )

Local Thai police said a worker discovered Wright’s body face down in still water. According to reports, a hotel key was found in his pocket.

Authorities said there were no immediate signs of foul play and an autopsy is underway to determine his cause of death.

Police Lt. Col. Sutthirak Chuthong of the Choeng Thale Police Station told the Daily Mail that Wright had been staying at a nearby hotel and was due to check out shortly before he was found. Chuthong said staff reportedly became concerned after he failed to check out as scheduled.

Wright starred on season 7 of the British reality show “The Only Way Is Essex” in 2018.  (Beretta/Sims/Shutterstock )

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“The guest was identified as Mr Jordan Wright, a British national, whom the hotel had been unable to contact,” Chuthong said in a statement. “A search of the room revealed no signs of forced entry or other irregularities.” 

“Hotel records showed that he had checked in alone and was due to check out on March 13, but staff reported that he never checked out,” the police chief continued. “CCTV footage showed that he appeared restless and was moving back and forth in front of the hotel before leaving the area.”

“His movements eventually led to the location where his body was later discovered,” Chuthong added. “We are still waiting for the autopsy results from Vachira Phuket Hospital to determine whether drugs were present in his system.”

Chuthong also told the Daily Mail that investigators believe Wright had been dead for less than two days before his body was discovered.

Wright’s body was found in a canal in Thailand on March 14. (Jordan Wright Instagram)

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“The case remains under investigation while we wait for the official autopsy results. CCTV footage related to the incident is part of the case file and cannot be released at this stage,” he said “We cannot confirm the exact cause of death until the autopsy results are released. If relatives or friends have concerns about the cause of death, they can contact the police station.”

Fox News Digital has reached out to the Royal Thai Police for comment. 

Wright made his reality TV debut when he joined the cast of the MTV dating show “Ex on the Beach” for its seventh season in 2017. The following year, he went on to star in ITV’s long-running reality series “The Only Way Is Essex,” which follows the personal and professional lives of a group of young people living in Essex, England. 

According to the Daily Mail, Wright left the show after one season to return to his job as a firefighter. In Instagram posts shared prior to his death, Wright indicated that he had recently moved to Thailand.

Wright’s Instagram page indicated that he recently moved to Thailand.  (Jordan Wright Instagram )

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 In his final Instagram post on March 6, Wright shared photos and videos of himself relaxing in an infinity pool while drinking a glass of wine, scuba diving, riding a motorbike and exploring Thailand. He captioned the post, “I’m Home” alongside a Thai flag emoji. 

Following Wright’s death, fellow reality TV stars and friends paid tribute to him in the comments section of his final post.

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“Rest in Peace,” “TOWIE” star Chloe Brockett wrote, alongside a heart emoji. 

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“Rest in peace Jord,” “Love Island” alum Chloe Crowhurst commented, adding emojis of a white heart and a cloud.

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Rykard Jenkins, who also starred on “Love Island,” shared prayer hands and a heart emoji.

“Lost for words bro. Amazing memories with you mate. Rest easy brother,” influencer Brandon P Myers wrote, while DJ Saffron Stone left a string of red heart emojis. 

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy bashed Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom over an unfinished wildlife crossing bridge in the Golden State that is running $21 million over budget.

Duffy shared a post from the X account End Wokeness showing video of the unfinished project stretching across 10 lanes of the 101 Freeway in Southern California. The video shows the incomplete bridge, which is intended to provide safe passage for animals such as cougars to cross over the highway.

“Bridges to nowhere. Trains to nowhere. Leave the building to us @GavinNewsom,” Duffy wrote on X.

Construction of the Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing (WAWC) was supposed to be wrapped up by 2025, with the total cost of the project estimated at $92 million. That cost estimate has since jumped to $114 million. A press release from the governor’s office states the project should be completed by fall 2026.

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In an aerial view, the Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing, the world’s largest wildlife bridge, crosses 10 lanes of U.S. Route 101 on in Agoura Hills, California. (Kevin Carter/Getty Images)

At the groundbreaking ceremony held in April 2022, Newsom pledged $54 million of state funding to build the crossing and later added another $10 million. However, in February, the California Transportation Commission announced it was allocating an additional $18.8 million to complete construction.

Wallis Annenberg and the Annenberg Foundation, the namesake of the bridge, provided $25 million for its construction in 2021. Beth Pratt, director of the National Wildlife Federation and part of the leadership team overseeing the project, attributed delays in the project’s construction to rising costs in a video posted to X.

Pratt said in a statement to Fox News Digital that the crossing project “experienced significant increases in costs” related to “tariffs, inflation and other factors” that were responsible for delayed construction.

Sean Duffy, U.S. Secretary of Transportation, arrives at BlackRock’s 2026 Infrastructure Summit in Washington, D.C., on March 11, 2026. ( Daniel Heuer/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

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She added that these increased costs were consistent with other construction projects, citing the FHWA National Highway Construction Cost Index, which shows highway construction costs have increased by 67% since 2021. Pratt said the project team took steps to reduce costs as part of a “rigorous redesign process” funded by private donations, not public funds.

Newsom’s press office rejected criticism of the project’s ballooning costs, also pointing to tariffs from the Trump administration as the culprit.

“The cost estimate held until last year when inflation — in part driven by TRUMP’s TARIFFS — increased construction costs. The increase is vastly LOWER than the 67% national average increase in highway construction costs,” Newsom’s team wrote on X.

The governor also said the delay was due to “severe weather.”

“The timeline shifted by just ONE YEAR largely due to severe weather last year — five years of work is far from a ‘boondoggle,” Newsom’s press office wrote on X.

Governor of California Gavin Newsom speaks during the Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing Groundbreaking Celebration on April 22, 2022 in Agoura Hills, California. (Jon Kopaloff / Getty Images)

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Heightened attention on the construction of the wildlife crossing bridge comes as the state faces continued scrutiny over other failed projects. Last year, the Department of Transportation canceled $4 billion in federal funding after the state spent $15 billion in funding for high-speed rail construction projects despite never laying a single track.

Newsom, a 2028 presidential prospect, is also having to navigate a projected $2.9 billion budget deficit for the 2026–2027 fiscal year.

Democrats are facing a reckoning after casting César Chavez as a near-sacred figure of the American left for decades— honoring him in DNC statements, White House proclamations and annual public tributes — but that long-running celebration is now colliding with newly surfaced abuse allegations.

Allegations that a 45-year-old Chavez sexually abused and groomed minors and adults, including one girl who was as young as 13 at the time of the abuse and another who became pregnant twice following their encounters, broke earlier this week after the New York Times published allegations from Chavez’s victims who largely remained silent for decades. 

After the news, the labor union César Chavez helped found, United Farm Workers, called the allegations “profoundly shocking” and decided to cancel its upcoming annual celebrations honoring him. Meanwhile, the César Chavez Foundation opted to do the same, describing the allegations as “disturbing” and noting they were “deeply shocked and saddened.” 

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Cesar Chavez speaks to demonstrators in Washington, D.C. (Frank Hurley/NY Daily News Archive via Getty Images)

In 2010, President Barack Obama issued a presidential proclamation declaring March 31 César Chavez Day. You would have to go back to Bill Clinton, before César Chavez Day even existed, to find a Democratic Party president who did not honor him during the month of March. Obama began the tradition in 2009, issuing an official White House statement explicitly commemorating “César Chavez’s birthday” and praising his legacy as a civil rights and labor leader. 

The following year, he announced the first official César Chavez Day to be held March 31 every year, and then subsequently, every year thereafter, put out a statement in honor of him. The tradition was then picked up when former President Joe Biden took office in 2021.

“The hypocrisy is rich, and Democrats’ praise for an abuser and rapist has-been is now exposed,” a national GOP strategist told Fox News Digital. “Any refusal to apologize or retract statements will be taken as Democrats supporting his disgusting behavior.”

After the allegations broke Wednsday, Fox News Digital reached out to a slew of Democrats, as well as the Democrat National Committee (DNC), all of whom recently professed public praise and support for Chavez.   

“A movement is about the people—not any one person—and its strength lies in the values it upholds. We can honor the farmworker movement—and the generations who sacrificed to build it—while also confronting painful truths,” said Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi, who touted Chavez as a “champion for justice and dignity” on César Chavez Day in 2024. “No legacy is above accountability.”

“The farm workers movement and a labor movement are much bigger than one man — and we celebrate that and that will be our focus as we process what the next steps are,” said California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who, alongside his wife Jennifer, posted a video tribute to Chavez on March 31 of last year praising him as “a leader who fought for justice, dignity and fairness.” 

However, in light of the new allegations, a source familiar with Newsom’s thinking said the governor was open to conversations with California lawmakers about proposed statutory changes in response. 

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Los Angeles Mayor KAren Bass posted this photo of her younger-self next to Cesar Chavez on Cesar Chavez Day last year. (Mayor Karen Bass)

“I am keeping Dolores Huerta, Ana Murguia, and Debra Rojas in my heart, and I honor their strength and that of every woman and girl horrifically harmed by those in power,” said Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, who posted a photo of herself with the late civil rights and labor union leader last year on his March 31 day of remembrance instituted by Obama. 

“The sickening reality is that what Dolores, Ana, and Debra endured is not isolated, nor is it of the past. Real progress requires more than moments of reckoning – it demands sustained action to dismantle social, cultural, economic, and political structures that have hurt women throughout our history,” Bass continued.  “Dolores and leaders like her inspired so many of us to activism. Mr. Chavez’s crimes do not diminish the courage of farm workers and workers everywhere who fight for their rights, equality for Latinos, and a stronger nation for everyone.”

On Thursday, Bass signed a proclamation of her own to rename César Chavez Day to “Farm Workers Day.” Meanwhile, Colorado Democrat Gov. Jared Polis, who also praised the activist on March 31 last year, said his state would not be celebrating the honorary holiday for Chavez “this year.” 

“Nor does he plan to direct state agencies to take action to celebrate Cesar Chavez in light of these heinous allegations,” a Polis spokesperson added. “Further, he would encourage the legislature to consider drafting legislation to change the optional state holiday, which is in law.”  

Other Democrats scrambled to put out statements after news of the accusations broke, with many mirroring the language from top Democrats that the movement Chavez helped create is bigger than just him. 

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The allegations against Chavez remained out of the public’s eye for many years, although, per the New York Times, there were earlier signs. According to their reporting, the victims they spoke to were not only embarrassed but also scared of tarnishing the reputation of someone so important to so many others and to the labor union and civil rights movements.

Cesar Chavez, then-president of the United Farm Workers, speaks in California in 1988. (Bob Riha, Jr./Getty Images)

On Wednesday afternoon, Republican Governor of Texas, Greg Abbott, said that Texas will no longer be observing César Chavez Day on March 31, and that he was instructing all state agencies to comply. The Texas governor added that he plans to work in the upcoming legislative session to remove the day of remembrance from state law completely.

“Reports of the horrific and widely acknowledged sexual assault allegations against Cesar Chavez rightfully dismantle the myth of this progressive hero and undermine the narrative that elevated Chavez as a figure worthy of official state celebration,” Abbot said. 

Iran’s supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, has been linked to two luxury apartments overlooking the Israeli Embassy in London, a location that security experts said could provide “permanent surveillance,” according to multiple reports.

The multimillion-dollar Kensington properties sit next to the high-profile embassy compound and were identified by UK media, drawing on findings from a yearlong probe into Khamenei’s potential overseas assets.

The Times of London reported on March 5 that the one building “sits next to the Israeli Embassy on Palace Green,” placing the residences in exceptional proximity to one of Israel’s most sensitive diplomatic sites.

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Media investigations linked Mojtaba Khamenei to London apartments near the Israeli Embassy in Kensington, with experts warning the location could enable Iranian surveillance of the site. (Michael Crabtree/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

The revelations stem from a Bloomberg investigation that alleged that the Khamenei portfolio could span multiple countries and include high-value real estate in London, totaling around $138M as well as assets in Europe and the Gulf.

The two London apartments were reportedly acquired in 2014 and 2016 via intermediaries and occupy upper floors of the building, offering a direct vantage point toward the rear of the Israeli embassy compound, UK media reported.

A terrorism specialist quoted in reports said the positioning effectively means “Iran owns the view into the back of the Israeli Embassy from less than 50 meters away,” describing the situation as a potential “serious security breach.”

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In this picture obtained from Iran’s ISNA news agency, Mojtaba Khamenei, son of Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, looks on in Tehran on October 13, 2024.  (Hamed JAFARNEJAD / ISNA / AFP via Getty Images)

Roger Macmillan, a former director of security at the Iranian dissident satellite channel Iran International, also said the two apartments had “a direct line of sight, held through Mojtaba Khamenei. That’s not a property portfolio — it’s a permanent surveillance platform.”

“This is a serious security breach,” he added.

Further details from Bloomberg’s investigation indicated that a businessman acted as a financial conduit, buying up high-end properties on Khamenei’s behalf and channeling funds through a network of investments.

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Mojtaba Khamenei has been linked to two London apartments overlooking the Israeli Embassy, which a security expert says form a permanent surveillance platform, reports say. (Vudi Xhymshiti/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

The investigation also found that 11 mansions on London’s “Billionaire’s Row” were purchased using an Isle of Man shell company.

The Financial Times has also similarly reported on links between Khamenei’s associates and luxury assets across Europe.

Khamenei, 56, has been viewed as a powerful figure within Iran’s ruling establishment, ultimately becoming the leading successor to his father, who was killed in a Tehran compound strike on Feb. 28. 

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So far, since he was selected by Iran’s Assembly of Experts, he has not been seen in public.

CNBC’s Sara Eisen clashed with her fellow co-hosts during a guest appearance on “The View” Thursday, defending President Donald Trump’s economic policies amid the conflict in Iran.

Twenty days into the Trump administration’s military operation in Iran, Americans are lamenting rising prices, particularly at the pump. Vice President JD Vance has argued that this acute moment of economic strain is a mere “blip” in the current economy, but co-hosts of “The View” were divided on their expectations.

“If you have filled up a tank of gas you are paying 80 to 90 cents more per gallon than before this war began. That’s a sharp increase. It’s painful. You feel it, and it will impact your spending everywhere else. It’s an economic hit,” Eisen said, acknowledging the economic pain felt by many Americans. 

“The good news, there are many reasons to believe that it is short-lived and that it is temporary,” Eisen added.

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NEW YORK, NEW YORK – APRIL 26: Sara Eisen attends the Room to Read 2023 New York Gala at Gotham Hall on April 26, 2023 in New York City.  ((Photo by Cindy Ord/Getty Images for Room to Read))

Eisen went on to argue the spike will probably be temporary, as oil prices should fall if tensions ease or if Iran’s ability to disrupt key shipping routes like the Strait of Hormuz is reduced. She added that markets are already signaling lower oil prices later this year.

“That’s a lot of ‘ifs,’” co-host Whoopi Goldberg replied.

“It’s a lot of ‘ifs!’” co-host Sunny Hostin agreed, going on to blast the war as a use of money that would be better spent on Americans at home. 

Co-host Sara Haines objected to rhetoric downplaying the current economic strain as a mere blip, saying, “Many people voted Donald Trump in because they were promised that gas, eggs, everything was going down.”

This never materialized, she said, “but now it’s so far up, gas specifically, remember, people get to work by transportation. Whether it’s a bus, a train, these all run on diesel.” 

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“The View” co-host Sara Haines argued sympathetically that Trump voters voted to ease the economic strain on them, as promised by President Donald Trump’s campaign, but his administration has failed to deliver and actively made things worse. (ABC/TheView)

Haines went on to refer to a video they showed of a TSA officer lamenting that she is having to ration gasoline just to commute to work, and denounced the administration’s rhetoric, saying “You know, the lack of understanding of what real people go through every day is the part that continues to kind of rub salt in the wound as we – I watch them speak.”

“They’re not being empathetic, sure,” Eisen said. “But if you look at the facts, you know, the economy is generally in pretty good shape and I know it doesn’t feel that way for everybody, and we do have this phenomenon which we’ve talked about where, you know, the rich have gotten richer –”

“Much richer,” Hostin interjected.

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Joy Behar asked if guest host Sara eisne forgives “everything” because the economy is in good shape. (Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images for Tribeca Festival)

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Behar asked Eisen if she would forgive everything because “the economy is in good shape?”

“No, no, I don’t forgive anything. I’m just saying, sometimes when it comes to President Trump, you know, you have to separate the character from the policies,” Eisen said, going on to praise the Trump accounts policy for children born in the US.

Haines objected, saying, “The problem is those policies won’t benefit anyone in the near term and people are really hurting. I believe a government’s first priority is to protect its citizens, but that’s not just at borders, that’s also their paychecks.”

The Justice Department (DOJ) has subpoenaed former FBI Director James Comey over his role in the 2017 Intelligence Community Assessment (ICA) on Russian election interference, a source familiar confirmed to Fox News Digital. 

The subpoena marks a new escalation after Fox News Digital previously reported that Comey and former CIA Director John Brennan were under criminal investigation related to the probe.

Sources at the time said the investigations were examining potential wrongdoing tied to the creation of the 2017 assessment and possible false statements to Congress.

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Former CIA Director Brennan and former FBI Director Comey in split image. (Getty Images)

The 2017 ICA concluded that Russia sought to influence the 2016 election, but a later review found the process was rushed and included “procedural anomalies.”

The subpoena was first reported by Axios.

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This is a developing story, check back later for updates.

Nicola Sturgeon, the nationalist firebrand who dominated Scottish politics for almost a decade, has bowed out with an emotional valedictory speech.

Addressing the Scottish parliament for the final time, the former first minister said it was a wrench to leave Holyrood, but the time was right to move on.

She was elected to the newly devolved parliament in 1999, and was Scotland’s first minister from 2014 until she quit in 2023 amid a Scottish National Party (SNP) financial scandal – but was later cleared.

“I’ve been here for 27 years – that’s almost exactly half my life,” she said in her farewell speech. “So even though the time is right to move on, I won’t pretend that leaving isn’t a wrench. It is.”

She was the political protege of Alex Salmond, and served as his deputy from 2007 until she succeeded him as first minister after the SNP lost the 2014 independence referendum.

But they fell out in a spectacular feud linked to allegations of sexual harassment against him. He was later acquitted, but she was not invited to his funeral when he died in 2024.

The high point of her career came when she led the SNP to a landslide in Scotland in the 2015 UK general election, when her party won 56 of the 59 Scottish seats at Westminster.

At the time, she was one of the most formidable campaigners in British politics, and ruled her party with an iron discipline, aided by her husband, Peter Murrell, who was the SNP’s chief executive.

But in 2023, Police Scotland launched a fraud inquiry over SNP cash, raised for independence campaigning, that it was alleged was used to buy a £125,000 camper van and luxury items.

The pair, who first met in 1988, became a couple in 2003 and married in 2010, but separated in 2025. He was charged with embezzlement and is due to appear at Edinburgh High Court in May.

‘Opponents need not be enemies,’ Sturgeon tells MSPs

In her emotional speech which saw her wipe away tears, Ms Sturgeon said during her time in Holyrood she had seen politics change almost beyond recognition “and not always for the better”.

She said she accepted a share of responsibility for that but, in offering her parting thoughts, said MSPs must not take the parliament for granted.

And despite being seen as tribal during her SNP leadership, she said politicians should make friends in other parties, adding: “Opponents need not be enemies.”

Offering advice as she signed off as an MSP, she said: “No matter the depths of your loyalty to your own political tribe, don’t forget to think for yourself.

“Keep a sense of perspective, you know if everything is a scandal or an outrage, nothing is. And then those who deserve to be held to account, they get off scot-free.”

And despite having 1.3 followers on X, nearly 450,000 on Facebook and 130,000 on Instagram, she warned: “Don’t live life on social media.

“Use it, but never forget there is a real world out there and it is the people in it you are here to serve.

“And, finally, every day you walk through these doors and into this magnificent chamber, remember that it is a privilege, a rare privilege.

“For 27 years it has been my privilege, one that I must now draw to a close.”

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass, is throwing her weight behind newcomer Graham Platner in Maine’s high-stakes Democratic primary in June, a pivotal showdown that will determine who will face incumbent Republican Sen. Susan Collins in November.

Warren’s endorsement, announced Wednesday in a video statement posted by Platner’s campaign, is a significant boost for Platner as he continues to gain traction in the race against his chief rival, Gov. Janet Mills, who has the full backing of party leadership.

Citing his roots as an oyster farmer and his service as a combat veteran, Warren framed Platner as a hard-working outsider who would be a natural disruptor in Washington. 

By emphasizing that he will not simply “go along to get along,” she drew a sharp contrast with Mills, whom progressives have increasingly labeled a creature of the party establishment.

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U.S. senatorial candidate from Maine Graham Platner speaks at a town hall at the Leavitt Theater Oct. 22, 2025, in Ogunquit, Maine.  (Sophie Park/Getty Images)

“I endorse Graham Platner because I know he is a fighter on behalf of working families and because he doesn’t take any corporate PAC money, and we need more people here in Washington who are less about go along to get along and more about fighting to make the kind of changes that families need,” Warren said.

“Graham knows the consequences of Donald Trump sending our service members to fight endless wars in the Middle East,” she added. “He’s a combat veteran who was deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan.”

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Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., speaks during a Senate Armed Services Committee confirmation hearing in Washington Jan. 14, 2025. (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Warren’s endorsement comes at a critical moment for Platner’s populist, progressive campaign after a series of controversies that surfaced in recent weeks and added new scrutiny to his bid.

The Mills campaign recently launched a massive ad buy highlighting controversial comments Platner allegedly made on Reddit over a decade ago, including crude remarks about sexual assault, and a tattoo on his chest that resembled a Nazi symbol. 

Platner has since apologized and addressed the tattoo, while also firing back at Mills, calling her ad a “desperate” reach from a governor “who is trailing an oyster farmer in every recent poll.”

Warren also acknowledged Platner’s Reddit posts during an interview with HuffPost Thursday, noting she believes his apology was sincere.  

“Look, he has apologized for that, and he’s out there talking to the people of Maine every single day,” Warren said.

The victor of the June 9 primary will challenge Collins, a Republican senator in a state that did not vote for Donald Trump in any of his three presidential campaigns.

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Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, leaves the chamber at the Capitol in Washington July 24, 2025. (J. Scott Applewhite/AP Photo)

With Republicans holding a narrow Senate majority, Democrats view Maine as one of their best opportunities to flip a seat, prompting national groups to pour millions into the race and turn the contest into a proxy battle for control of the U.S. Senate.

Amid broader concerns about the current political climate in Maine and the state’s ranked-choice voting system, Collins faces a significant challenge in her bid to secure a sixth term.