Platner says Collins is lying about the Dobbs vote count
Graham PlatnerDemocratic nominee for U.S. Senate in Maine
Graham Platner said Collins was lying when she said Roe was overturned 6-3. He said Kavanaugh was the deciding vote in a 5-4 decision and that Collins was the deciding vote to confirm Kavanaugh.
Responding to
Collins's 2018 vote to confirm Kavanaugh remains justified despite his vote to overturn Roe and Casey in Dobbs.
“Susan Collins is lying through her teeth. Roe v. Wade was not overturned 6-3. That is a lie. It was 5-4.”
Original post
Reporting
Where this statement fits
Was Susan Collins's 2018 vote to confirm Brett Kavanaugh justified after Dobbs?
In 2018 Susan Collins supported Brett Kavanaugh's Supreme Court confirmation, citing his discussion of precedent and Roe v. Wade. He joined the 2022 Dobbs opinion overruling Roe, which Collins said conflicted with what he had told her about long-standing precedent. In June 2026 she said she did not regret the confirmation vote while disagreeing with his Dobbs vote. Her critics argue that the confirmation enabled the loss of nationwide abortion protections.
Source and context
Original post
About this source
Platner, then the Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate in Maine, posted this response to a clip of Collins saying Roe would have been overturned whether or not Kavanaugh was confirmed.
Reporting
About this source
Bangor Daily News report on Collins's June 22, 2026 Fox News interview, in which she said Roe would have been overturned with or without Kavanaugh. The report notes that the Dobbs vote to overturn Roe was 5-4 and quotes her campaign's response.
Archived copy (opens in a new tab)Before the quotation
Platner quoted a clip of Collins telling Fox News that Roe would have been overturned whether or not Kavanaugh was confirmed, given what she called a 6-3 vote.
After the quotation
The post continues that Roberts did not support overturning Roe, that Kavanaugh was the deciding vote to overturn it, and that Collins was the deciding vote to confirm Kavanaugh. Kavanaugh was confirmed 50-48.
How this statement is classified
The label describes this statement's response within the context above.
Why this label?
The reference point is Collins's 2018 vote to confirm Kavanaugh and whether it remains justified after Dobbs. Platner rejects Collins's claim that her vote did not matter and says she was the deciding vote to confirm the justice who decided Dobbs. That criticizes the vote itself, so we used Condemned. Challenged the characterization is close because he disputes her vote count, but he goes on to blame the confirmation. The quote is from his own X post.
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- People and groups discussed
- Susan Collins
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The Dispute Index. "Platner says Collins is lying about the Dobbs vote count". First published: 2026-10-06. Last updated: 2026-10-06. https://disputeindex.com/events/4777-graham-platner-said-collins-was-lying-when-she