David Brooks calls Graham Platner moral degenerate then gets trolled for leaving wife for younger research assistant

David Brooks is facing a wave of online backlash after the longtime columnist branded Maine Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner a “moral degenerate” on national television — prompting critics to dredge up Brooks’ own personal history.The Atlantic writer and former New York Times columnist unloaded on Platner during Friday’s PBS NewsHour roundtable, where he was asked about allegations involving the Democratic candidate, including reports of sexually explicit messages sent to women while married as well as claims by former romantic partners that he was physically rough during arguments.Platner has denied allegations of violence.“The guy is a moral degenerate,” Brooks declared.“The abuse of women, the sexting, the Nazi tattoo, I don’t even need to say anything beyond his Reddit posts,” Brooks said, adding that Platner was “a pathetic empty guy who postures in a way that’s kind of repulsive.”Brooks argued that Democrats risked abandoning basic standards of character in pursuit of a Senate seat.“There are 330 million Americans, and there are 100 senators,” Brooks said.

“We can’t have a decent human being in those 100? Like, we have got to settle for this?”But the veteran pundit’s broadside quickly ricocheted back at him.Social media users flooded X with reminders of Brooks’ own complicated personal history, accusing the columnist of hypocrisy for positioning himself as an arbiter of morality.“David Brooks left his wife for his young assistant, I don’t want to hear about character from him at all,” journalist Zaid Jilani wrote in one widely shared post.The backlash revived a long-running debate surrounding Brooks, whose personal life became a subject of public discussion during the publication of his 2019 book “The Second Mountain.”Brooks was married to his first wife, Sarah Brooks, for 27 years before their divorce was publicly reported in 2013.He later married Anne Snyder, a writer who had previously worked wit...