Maine Democratic Senate hopeful faces backlash over old Reddit posts

Graham Platner, the presumptive Democratic nominee for Senate in Maine, is facing backlash over old Reddit posts that include slurs, crude remarks about race and comments endorsing political violence.

Platner, a 41-year-old Marine Corps veteran, said the posts reflected depression and PTSD from his service in Iraq and Afghanistan. He said he grew used to crude humor and offensive language as an infantryman.

“I’m sorry for this. Just know that it’s not reflective at all of who I am,” Platner said. “I don’t want you to judge me on the dumbest thing I ever wrote on the internet. I would prefer if people could judge me on the person I am today.”

The posts, written under the username p-Hustle, were compiled by the Maine Monitor. They include a 2013 comment asking why Black people tip less and a 2020 post saying rural white Americans are racist and stupid.

Platner used variations of a slur for people with mental disabilities at least 18 times between 2013 and 2021. He also used a slur for gay people in several posts, though he separately wrote in support of greater acceptance of gay service members.

In a 2013 post, Platner wrote that there are times when “for the good of tolerance and humanity, you need to kill a motherf---er.” In 2019, he mocked a video of an American soldier being shot by the Taliban, calling the soldier a “dumb motherf---er” who did not deserve to live.

Platner also posted that he was a member of the Socialist Rifle Association and described himself as a “vegetable-growing, psychedelics-taking socialist.” He later told CNN he is not a communist or a socialist.

Other posts showed him suggesting he had experience with Latin American sex workers and proposing to kill mice by dropping a 53-pound kettlebell on their heads.

Platner is seeking to unseat Republican Sen. Susan Collins. The National Republican Senatorial Committee called the comments disqualifying. Platner’s campaign did not respond to a request for comment.