Platner Faces Backlash Over Resurfaced Reddit Posts

Deleted Reddit posts from 2013–2021 by Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner have resurfaced showing racist and inflammatory remarks — including asking why Black people “don't tip” — downplaying sexual assault in the military, ableist slurs, calls for an armed working class or political violence, and harsh language about Jan. 6 participants. The posts were removed before he launched his campaign; Platner has acknowledged authorship, apologized, disavowed the rhetoric, attributed much of it to post-war disillusionment and PTSD and to “f---ing around on the internet,” and said he largely stopped posting by 2020–21. Platner, a Marine and Army veteran turned oyster farmer who is endorsed by Sen. Bernie Sanders, is competing in a crowded Democratic primary that includes Gov. Janet Mills and hopes to challenge Republican Sen. Susan Collins. The revelations have prompted damage control and raised questions about how the controversy could affect Democrats’ chances of flipping Collins’s seat in the midterms.