Donut-Wielding Stefany Shaheen Staffer Puts NH Democrats' Platner Problem On National TV

By Michael Graham, NH Journal

A doughnut-wielding staffer trying to block a video camera with a breakfast pastry put Stefany Shaheen in the national news and shone a spotlight yet again on Granite State Democrats dodging questions about their Nazi-tattooed neighbor, Graham Platner.

For weeks, U.S. Senate candidate Rep. Chris Pappas and his fellow Democrats have refused to answer questions about Platner’s problematic behavior, including his Nazi SS tattoo, his statements praising a Hamas attack on Israelis, his insults targeting Black people and gay people, and, most recently, his sexting with multiple women in recent months despite being a married man.

Shaheen, who is seeking the NH-01 Democratic nomination, was confronted by a Republican tracker asking whether she supported Platner’s Senate campaign. Shaheen did not answer. Instead, according to video of the incident, a campaign staffer repeatedly shoved a pastry into the camera as the tracker pressed the question.

“Nepo baby Stefany Shaheen had the chance to condemn Graham Platner’s vile behavior. Instead, she chose to stay radio silent while her staffer attacked a questioner with a donut,” National Republican Congressional Committee spokeswoman Maureen O’Toole said. “Granite Staters deserve a representative who doesn’t glaze over simple questions and whose team knows not to weaponize a baked good.”

The controversy has spilled across the Piscataqua River into New Hampshire politics because Platner could be serving alongside whoever wins the state’s open U.S. Senate seat next year. Pappas, who is running to succeed retiring U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, has repeatedly declined to denounce Platner, Republicans say.

Former U.S. Sen. John E. Sununu, one of the Republicans running for the seat, said Pappas’ silence is telling.

“Look, I do believe character matters,” Sununu said on The Pulse of New Hampshire radio Wednesday.

“You’ve got a socialist with a Nazi tattoo who denigrates veterans, denigrates women, and Chris Pappas can’t summon the courage to at least say this is wrong. That he has done things that are unacceptable, he has said things that are unacceptable,” Sununu added. “It’s a lack of courage, maybe fear of people in his own party. Chris is worried about his own political future.”

Former U.S. Sen. Scott Brown, also seeking the GOP nomination, told NHJournal Wednesday that the question about Platner should be put to the state’s Democrats.

“I think we should have Chris Pappas and our entire delegation answer that question,” Brown said. “They’re avoiding it. We’re working on it. It’s a no. They’re not going to answer you. He’s going to say, ‘I’m running in New Hampshire.’ Well, if he’s a senator, he’s going to work with this guy.”

Brown said Platner is “not representative of the people of Maine, but more importantly, the people of this country,” citing his comments about veterans and the tattoo controversy.

“This is what the Democratic Party is like right now,” Brown said, pointing out that when Elon Musk and others merely raised their arms to wave at a crowd, they were accused of engaging in Nazi symbolism.

“This guy [Platner] has the actual tattoo, we all know what it means. And yet, they [Democrats] are going to kiss his rear end. It’s really obscene, quite frankly.”

Republicans argue the silence is part of a larger problem for Democrats in 2026. Their candidates are eager to talk about moderation and bipartisanship at home but reluctant to criticize the party’s progressive base.

The result is a simple question New Hampshire Republicans say Democrats should be able to answer: Is Graham Platner fit to serve in the U.S. Senate?

So far, Shaheen and Pappas appear to be taking a pass.

Or, in Shaheen’s case, a pastry.

This story was originally published by the NH Journal, an online news publication dedicated to providing fair, unbiased reporting on, and analysis of, political news of interest to New Hampshire. For more stories from the NH Journal, visit NHJournal.com.