BOSTON – Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Graham Platner’s effort to turn a Boston Red Sox-themed political advertisement into a populist campaign moment took an unexpected turn Saturday, after Dave Portnoy, founder of Barstool Sports and a nationally recognized media personality with deep ties to New England sports culture, publicly questioned why Platner’s campaign believed he would help promote the candidate.
Platner’s campaign said it began airing an advertisement during Friday night’s Red Sox game attacking private equity and Red Sox ownership, claiming the team had been “stripped for parts.” The ad ended with Platner saying he approved the message because he missed former Red Sox star Mookie Betts. According to the campaign, the ad was taken down by the station midway through the game.
The campaign apparently also attempted to bring Portnoy into the effort, seeking support from one of the most recognizable figures in sports media and a personality with a significant following among Boston and New England sports fans.
Portnoy responded publicly by posting what appeared to be an email exchange involving the Platner campaign’s outreach.
“And I’m still wondering why your team thought I’d want to play footsy with a guy who is a Nazi?” Portnoy wrote.
The remark appeared to reference the controversy surrounding Platner’s tattoo, which resembled a symbol associated with the Nazi SS before the candidate covered it during the campaign. Platner has denied knowing the symbol’s meaning when he received the tattoo and has said he is not a Nazi.
Portnoy’s response carried particular political weight because he was not simply a celebrity commentator pulled randomly into a campaign dispute. As the founder of Barstool Sports, Portnoy has built a national following around sports, popular culture and commentary while maintaining an especially strong connection to Boston sports fans, precisely the type of audience Platner’s Red Sox-themed ad appeared designed to reach.
The episode also arrived at the end of a damaging week for Platner’s campaign, as additional posts from a deleted Reddit account he has acknowledged owning drew renewed scrutiny.
Fox News reported Tuesday that archived posts from Platner’s former Reddit account included graphic sexual comments about masturbating in portable toilets and explicit praise for vulgar graffiti found in a military portable restroom. Platner has previously responded to questions about controversial posts by saying he was joking and engaging in online provocation.
A day later, Fox News reported that another deleted post from Platner’s account appeared to mock Army Pfc. Ted Daniels, who survived being shot four times during a 2012 firefight with Taliban fighters in Afghanistan and later received the Purple Heart.
In the 2019 post, Platner reportedly commented on helmet-camera footage of the incident and wrote that Daniels “didn’t deserve to live.” Fox News reported that the post remains available through the Maine Monitor’s database of Platner’s deleted Reddit history.
The comments prompted backlash from veterans, including Rob O’Neill, the former Navy SEAL credited with killing Osama bin Laden, who told Fox News that Platner was “way out of line” for speaking about a wounded soldier in that manner.
When Fox News Digital confronted Platner near his home in Sullivan on Saturday and asked whether he owed Daniels or Maine voters an apology, Platner did not apologize. Instead, he cited his own military service.
“I did four tours in the infantry, any attempt to say that I disrespect veterans is slanderous and offensive,” Platner said, according to Fox News.
Platner, a Marine Corps veteran who also served in Afghanistan with the Maryland Army National Guard, has previously apologized more broadly for offensive online comments that surfaced during his Senate campaign, saying in October that those posts were not reflective of who he is today.
The Portnoy exchange was amplified on X by Jon Seaton, who argued that it cut directly against Platner’s effort to present himself as an ordinary, working-class Mainer capable of reaching voters outside traditional Democratic political circles.
Platner’s Red Sox advertisement was designed to position him as a populist critic of wealthy ownership and private equity, using the frustration of Boston sports fans as a vehicle for his political message.
Instead, the campaign’s apparent effort to draw Portnoy into the discussion placed renewed attention on controversies Platner has been trying to put behind him, including the tattoo controversy, the graphic portable toilet comments and the reported attack on a wounded Purple Heart recipient.
For Platner, the attempted sports-media crossover became another reminder that a campaign built heavily around authenticity can also face serious questions about judgment when a candidate’s own words continue returning to the public record.
If this is a conservative site what ya’ll so worried about the democrat candidate for? This rag isn’t promoting Susan Commie Collins even a little bit. So what gives?
Ugly Girl Commies are not welcome here .
Go wave your little homemade hate poster down on the bridge .
Nobody here is interested or impressed by your ignorant comments .
Go find your own friends .
Louisewoods is an ugly girl commie just like short haired RINO Sue.
Every once in a while a candidate comes along who seems like he is trying his level best to
…lose.
No doubt “Jackboot Janet” is waiting in the wings to un-suspend her campaign after this Commie loser implodes further. Although I don’t particularly care for the RINO, Collins, either one of these two creeps should be easily smacked down by her in November if Maine people have any remaining common sense (unfortunately , that’s a big “if”).
it would appear that graham crackler is crumbling ………… maybe he and gollum can crawl hand in hand back under the rocks they crawled out from under ……………
Susan is an ugly girl commie:
Because with RCV, Amazon ballots, and stupid cows this POS could end up “representing” us on the national stag. As if Collins and King weren’t bad enough. Some of us like to know what’s going on and not live in an echo chamber.
“Not Ready for Primetime Platner”
He’s slipping from B Team status along with his “team”
What a joke. Democrats should be ashamed. I forgot. They have no shame.
Planter’s defense is apparently going to be that because he served in the military he’s immune from scrutiny. People are smart enough to know that everyone who served is not a saint or above reproach, and there are a lot of low-lifes who served.
Samuel Johnson said in 1775: “patriotism is the last refuge of scoundrels” .
In the long run voting is a charade. Ultimately it makes no difference as history has proven time and time again. Empires come, empires go. The decline of the US continues right before our eyes if they are open. Adams wasn’t the only founding father who understood this either.
“Democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts and murders itself. There was never a democracy that did not commit suicide.”
John Adams
Just when I thought I couldn’t love Portnoy more, he goes and does this. He is the man, love him and what he stands for. Planner clearly doesn’t know Portnoy ir he doesn’t know how to read a room. Guessing its both though, giving all he had said.
Disgusting egomaniacs run Maine and try to get elected! It’s pretty funny that the mermaid hair, big glasses wearing fatties with snot barbells really don’t know what they’re talking about, whether it be protesting or downstairs in the basement with caffeine fueled keyboard courage rage fits.
Democrats accuse President Trump of being a nazi, without any proof, while ignoring or defending one of their own that has an actual nazi ss brand. SMH. Democrats will fiercely defend anyone who parrots the Party line, like 1930’s Germany.