Senate candidate Graham Platner won the Maine Democratic primary on Tuesday night with an overwhelming showing from voters fired up over prospects of replacing longtime Republican Sen. Susan Collins and retaking Congress this fall.
Collins has proven unbeatable over a 30-year career in the Senate under five presidents. Her first was Bill Clinton, whose campaign and presidency were plagued by the same kind of concerns over “bimbo eruptions” that Platner is currently facing over homophobic Reddit posts, a provocative tattoo, and accusations of infidelity.
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Platner’s wife is standing by her man.
“No marriage is perfect, and I don’t want a perfect marriage,” Amy Gertner said after The New York Times trumpeted private concerns over sexual text messages he had sent to other women, which were covered in an article two weeks ago. The Times followed up last week with claims of misogyny from some of the many women who’ve dated Platner, including a Republican campaign operative.
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“I want my marriage, and I want to be married to Graham,” Gertner said.
Others not so intimate with Platner are also standing by him. After the first-time candidate’s big win, Senate Minority Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said, “In November, Maine voters will elect Graham Platner, and we will win a Senate majority.” Schumer said this despite having encouraged an inexplicable and short-lived challenge to Platner from fellow septuagenarian, Maine Gov. Janet Mills (D).
Platner, an Army and Marine veteran with an oyster farm on Frenchman’s Bay in Sullivan, Maine, has attracted massive crowds and support with his progressive, working-man message. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) was an early and enthusiastic supporter.
Platner also supports LGBTQ+ rights. He supports passing federal anti-discrimination legislation and opposes bans on transgender athletes participating in sports. While he previously used anti-gay slurs online, he has apologized, describing his past language as abhorrent
In October, Platner apologized for his authorship of posts on Reddit that used homophobic language, which he described as “indefensible.”
“I made a lot of comments over the years and talked a lot of s**t on the internet. I have no reason to doubt that at some point I used language that I would not be using today,” Platner said.
The admission came after weeks of similar disclosures, including a drunken wedding video with the candidate singing in his underwear, and numerous articles about his tattoo of the “Totenkopf” (a Nazi symbol that he has since covered up). Platner had already apologized for his use of racist and misogynistic language.
The veteran posted to Reddit under the handle P-Hustle between 2016 and 2021, four years after he returned from multiple tours of duty in Afghanistan. He freely used terms like “gay” and “f*g” in recollections of his time in the Army and Marines.
In a 2016 post, Platner described guard duty as a Groundhog Day of boredom and masturbation: “No, seriously. Flog that f**ker as often as possible … write gay poetry about how gay your current job is … Congratulations! You’ve made it through one shift! Now do it all again in 12 hours. Welcome to the world of standing post, where sanity is a sliding scale.”
A “gay chicken” “gay off” gone wrong In Bahrain, homophobic slights directed at officers, and advice to “top bros” to “party on” were among Platner’s other uncovered observations about military life.
The latest Reddit revelations, published by Fox News in May, include Platner’s admission concerning a Pavlovian response to porta-potties brought on by his wartime service.
“I still have to jerk off every time I sit in a portash**ter,” he wrote. “That blue water smell conditioned me.”
None of the revelations seem to have bothered voters, who rewarded Platner with almost 75% of the vote as of early Wednesday morning, with Mills still on the ballot.
“Over the last nine months, I have seen Mainers come together behind a vision to take back our power from corporations and billionaires,” Platner told supporters on Tuesday night, sticking with his message.
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