SULLIVAN, Maine – Just when it seemed Graham Platner’s controversies had reached what some at The Maine Wire jokingly call a “Platner plateau” — the point where keeping track of the reasons voters are being told not to trust him becomes exhausting — another story dropped.
And once again, the campaign of Maine’s presumptive Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate is being dragged back into the national spotlight.
Platner, the oyster farmer, Marine veteran, and progressive candidate seeking to challenge Republican U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, is facing renewed scrutiny after Fox News reported on graphic posts allegedly tied to his since-deleted Reddit account, “P-Hustle.” The posts, some dating from 2017 to 2021, include crude comments about military porta-potties, vulgar references to sex acts, and praise for explicit graffiti reportedly found inside a portable toilet at a U.S. military hub in Kyrgyzstan.
For a candidate who has tried to sell himself as an authentic man of the people, the latest revelations add to a growing list of self-inflicted distractions.
Platner’s campaign has already been defined in large part by one major admission: he acknowledged having a tattoo resembling a Nazi symbol. That tattoo was old enough to vote before he finally covered it up.
Now comes another round of disturbing material from his online past.
According to Fox News, one 2017 post attributed to Platner included a graphic comment about being “conditioned” by the smell of porta-potty blue water. Another post from March 2021 reportedly praised explicit drawings inside a deployed military toilet in unusually vivid terms.
Platner has previously dismissed controversial online comments as crude, context-dependent joking and “s—posting,” arguing that he used online arguments as an outlet before he ever intended to run for public office. But the steady drip of Reddit material has raised serious questions about whether his campaign can move beyond his online history, or whether each new revelation simply reinforces the Republican case that Platner is too erratic and extreme for statewide office.
His political brand has always rested on a carefully crafted image: the working-class veteran, the oyster farmer, the straight-talking outsider ready to take on the wealthy and powerful.
But critics have long questioned that branding. A rich kid whose father reportedly helped pave the way does not exactly fit the image of a blue-collar man of the people. What world is that?
Despite the controversy, national progressives have continued to rally around Platner. Sen. Bernie Sanders has reportedly defended him amid the backlash, while many on the left have framed the criticism as an attempt to derail an anti-establishment campaign.
Republicans, however, see something different: a pattern.
From the Nazi tattoo controversy, to the deleted Reddit posts, to the latest graphic military porta-potty comments, Platner’s opponents argue the issue is no longer one isolated mistake. It is judgment. It is temperament. It is whether Maine voters can trust what they are being sold.
Platner effectively became the frontrunner for the Democratic nomination after Gov. Janet Mills suspended her own Senate campaign, clearing the field for a candidate whose baggage is now becoming impossible for Democrats to ignore.
That leaves Maine Democrats with a problem.
Platner wants voters to believe he is the man of the people.
But every new revelation makes that sales pitch harder to swallow.
shocking, a guy with nazi tattoo that made some questionable choices
Platner is just a common lowlife disguised as the next savior of Maine .
Democrats will grasp for anything they think will maintain their power
What a dope.
Keep in mind that Mills merely ‘suspended’ her campaign. I’m reasonably sure that her name is STILL on the (D) Primary ballot!
I don’t put anything past her! She’s always plotting and scheming.
We haven’t heard the last of her!
Who new drinking the blue kool-Aid
was a aphrodisiac.
Bernie says next time he’ll bring his sock puppets and him and planter can have a real house party.
All I can say what ever floats your boat.
Party on
It’s the age old question which came first the lunatic or the liberal
This story is hard to beat. Democrats will still vote for him, I did see a campaign sign on a local porta potty.
Platner’s scandals aren’t negative factors for his Democratic supporters, they’re resume enhancers.
This guy has some serious mental issues, imo.
It will be interesting to see and sorta fun to watch in an odd way what’ll happen if he wins, not that I think he will. Could he be any worse than what we’ve had for the last decade? Sure! The gov’t is a clown show so why not give a clown the chance to run it for a bit. You can always get rid of him after four years. Maybe a few porta pottys at the state house will be needed. For an old guy like me when you get the urge to pee you don’t want to be very far from a toilet. So when I’m there to protest I’ll feel better that there’s a relief station nearby.
Jeffery Toobin says hold my …
Alana Goodman of the Washington Free Beacon has an interesting article today:
”[Graham Platner] declined to provide further information about his benefits, including whether he falls under a designation known as Total Disability Based on Individual Unemployability (TDIU), which is granted when the V.A. determines that a veteran cannot maintain “substantial gainful employment.”
Such a designation is significant because those who receive benefits under TDIU are generally barred from working a job that provides income above the federal poverty level of $15,960 annually.”
The question Alana raises is if the salaries that Platner’s paid his wife salaries out of both the oyster farm and his campaign budget violates any VA rules. It’s a interesting question…
WOW what a nice little hit piece on a candidate that really scares you guys. Susan Collins will lose to Graham no matter how much of this slop you put out so keep going ahead!
Has Mills thrown her hat back in the ring, now that Platner’s in trouble?