Maine Democrat Graham Platner has landed endorsements from Senators Bernie Sanders and Martin Heinrich
Maine Democrat Graham Platner, who is seeking his party’s nomination to run against Sen. Susan Collins (R.) in next year’s midterms, called himself a “communist,” claimed to own guns because he doesn’t “trust the fascists to act politely,” and accused “white rural America” of being racist and stupid in a series of social media posts, CNN reported.
Platner posted on Reddit under the name “P-Hustle,” according to the now-deleted posts. In a 2021 response to a post about people getting more conservative as they age, Platner wrote, “I got older and became a communist.” He made the post on a far-left subreddit called r/Antiwork that recommends Karl Marx books to readers.
The candidate also said that white people are racist and stupid. Replying to a post titled “White people aren’t as racist or stupid as Trump thinks,” Platner, who is white, wrote, “Living in white rural America, I’m afraid to tell you they actually are.”
Maine, a purple state, is one of the most rural states in the country and has a population that is more than 90 percent white.
Platner in a statement to CNN tried to downplay the severity of his social media posts. “That was very much me fucking around the internet,” he said. “I don’t think any of that is indicative of who I am today, really.”
“When asked about the comment, Platner said he didn’t recall the specific exchange, but suggested it reflected an argument he was having online at the time,” CNN reported.
Platner, a Marine veteran turned oyster farmer, has campaigned on his military service and work to “fight for working people.” He has brought in more than $4 million since entering the race in August, according to CNN, and earned the support of Sens. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.) and Martin Heinrich (D., N.M.).
Platner also sparked controversy in September, when the Washington Free Beacon uncovered an op-ed he wrote after 9/11 in which he argued that “one man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter” and lamented that “every terrorist is portrayed as evil.”
In the Reddit posts, Platner also described himself as “a vegetable growing, psychedelics taking socialist these days.” The former vet said that after serving in the military, “I’ve pretty much stopped believing in any of the patriotic nonsense that got me there in the first place.”
“Still got the guns though,” he went on. “I don’t trust the fascists to act politely.”
Platner reserved some of his most incendiary comments for the police, writing, “Fuck these cops,” and replying to a comment saying “Cops are bastards” with “All of them, in fact.”
The candidate told CNN that he does not actually hold the positions he expressed on Reddit. “I’m not a communist,” he said. “I’m not a socialist. I own a small business. I’m a Marine Corps veteran.”
