Maine’s presumptive Democratic Senate nominee is facing considerable backlash over unearthed social media posts where he made controversial statements about race, sexuality, political violence and his own ideological beliefs.
Graham Platner, a 41-year-old Marine Corps veteran, attributed his online behavior to depression and PTSD stemming from serving in combat in Iraq and Afghanistan. He says he became accustomed to “crude humor” and “offensive language” while serving as an infantryman.
“I’m sorry for this. Just know that it’s not reflective at all of who I am,” Platner said of his previous comments posted online. “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.”
While he no longer operates under the “p-Hustle” username on Reddit, thousands of Platner’s deleted posts and comments have been made easily searchable by outlets like the Maine Monitor. It’s sparking renewed criticism in his bid to replace incumbent Republican Sen. Susan Collins and flip the Maine Senate seat blue.
Many of Platner’s old Reddit posts struck a progressive tone on race, but that didn’t stop him from making the occasional off-color comment.
“Why don’t black people tip?” he wrote in August 2013.
SCHUMER’S ‘NUMBER ONE TARGET’ SAYS VOTERS WILL SEE HER DEMOCRAT SENATE CHALLENGER AS TOO EXTREME
“I work as a bartender and it always amazes me how solid this stereotype is,” he continued. “Every now and again a black patron will leave a 15-20% tip, but usually it [is] between 0-5%. There’s got to be a reason behind it, what is it?”
It came in response to a thread on a page called AskReddit where a user prompted: “What is one question you have always wanted to ask someone of another race?”
Platner made liberal use of slurs intended to demean homosexuals and mentally disabled people on his Reddit account.
“Betcha not a single downvoter is a real combat vet,” he posted under a now-deleted post on a firearms subreddit. “Feel free to back it up with facts, f–s.”
He also used the word “gay” in a derogatory context on multiple occasions.
The Maine Monitor’s repository of Platner’s comments shows he used variations of the word “r-tard” at least 18 times between 2013 and 2021.
“If you believe that, it’s pretty clear you’re, in fact, a r-tard,” he wrote under one since deleted post.
While Platner may have used the f-slur, he didn’t express any homophobia on his account. In fact, Platner advocated for greater acceptance of homosexuals in the armed forces.
“I can see how some of the same Marines who would be accepting of gay peers would happily use their officer being a ‘f-ggot” as another reason to s–t on leadership,” Platner wrote, consoling a purported Marine officer who reported having had a negative experience being gay in the military.
“Just know this: I can’t imagine how much it must suck not being able to share who you are with the people who are supposed to be your comrades. I’m sorry that we have to work through this bulls–t,” he continued.
On Sept. 1, 2020, Platner responded to a post on the politics subreddit declaring that “White People Aren’t as Racist or Stupid as Trump Thinks.”
“Living in white rural America, I’m afraid to tell you they actually are,” Platner wrote of the people he is now seeking to represent in the U.S. Congress.
Maine is the whitest U.S. state with an estimated 91.3% of the population being non-Hispanic white as of 2024, according to the Census Bureau.
‘MAINE’S MAMDANI’: MAINE GOP CHIEF ISSUES WARNING ABOUT NEW CHALLENGER LOOKING TO OUST SUSAN COLLINS
Platner also stated that the general public only cares about certain crimes when white people are victimized.
“The vast majority of which involves handguns,” he wrote in response to a post about gun deaths. “It’s pretty absurd no one ever talks about that, although I’m assuming it’s because handguns mostly kill young black men. Nobody really gives a s–t about things until it’s well spoken white kids getting hurt.”
On multiple occasions, Platner used his Reddit account to express support for Marxism, which could be problematic in a moderate state such as Maine.
“I got older and became a communist,” he posted in November 2021 on an anti-work subreddit.
FETTERMAN CALLS OUT ‘ABSOLUTE SOCIALIST’ SEATTLE MAYOR AND ‘AVOWED COMMUNIST’ GRAHAM PLATNER
As recently as April 2020, Platner claimed on Reddit that he was a member of his local chapter of the Socialist Rifle Association (SRA) — a left-wing answer to the NRA that provides firearms training and education. He made over 100 posts to socialist subreddits between 2018 and 2021.
In one such post, Platner described himself as a “vegetable-growing, psychedelics-taking socialist.”
“I’m not a communist. I’m not a socialist. I own a small business. I am a Marine Corps veteran,” Platner told CNN when the posts first resurfaced as he continues to distance himself from the labels he previously embraced.
In September 2013, Platner expressed his support for using deadly violence against political opponents.
“There are times in this world when, for the good of tolerance and humanity, you need to kill a motherf—er,” Platner wrote. “Sadly most people who are true believers in tolerance and humanity find that activity repulsive. Which I suppose is morally good, but pragmatically a shortfall.”
BERNIE SANDERS DEFENDS MAINE SENATE CANDIDATE UNDER FIRE FOR REDDIT COMMENTS
Platner was responding to a post cheering on thousands of anti-fascist protestors attacking the offices of a far-right ultra-nationalist political party in Greece.
Describing his left-wing drift following his discharge from the armed forces, Platner stated: “Still got the guns though, I don’t trust the fascists to act politely.”
Platner has described Republican politicians as fascists.
Platner also expressed views about animals that some may find unsettling.
On a subreddit dedicated to sharing cute pictures of animals, one user posted a picture of her cat who “had to have surgery to keep her ribs from crushing her heart.”
“Why not just get a less f—ed up cat?” Platner responded.
When a user on another subreddit asked for advice on how to humanely kill mice, Platner said that he “drop[s] a 53 lbs kettlebell on their little heads.”
“Ends it right quick,” he added.
UNEARTHED POSTS SHOW DEM SENATE HOPEFUL PRAISING VULGAR GRAFFITI, MAKING CRUDE PORTA-POTTY ADMISSION
In arguing in favor of cooking lobsters alive, Platner accused those living far from nature of treating animals too much like humans.
“People who aren’t close to nature tend to anthropomorphize the hell out of everything,” he said.
In 2019, Platner reacted to a video of an American soldier being shot by the Taliban by stating that the “dumb motherf—er didn’t deserve to live.”
Platner was criticizing the soldier’s tactical approach to dealing with oncoming fire.
“This video never gets old,” he wrote under the “P]Hustle” username. “Dumb motherf–ker didn’t deserve to live. At least his stupidity and fat a– wheezing are available for all future infantrymen to witness and hold in contempt.”
“Poor marksmanship on the Taliban’s part is the only reason this mouthbreather made it home, he managed to make every possible s–t decision possible when it comes to small unit combat.”
VETERAN WHO SERVED IN MIDDLE EASTERN WARS LAUNCHES CAMPAIGN AGAINST SEN. SUSAN COLLINS
While the identity of the wounded soldier is unclear, as the video has since been deleted, commenters suggested that it was Ted Daniels, who earned a Purple Heart for his injuries.
“We don’t make jokes about our brothers and sisters dying, that’s not something we do, that’s not normal,” Adam Schwarze, a former Navy SEAL and Marine veteran running for U.S. Senate as a Republican in Minnesota, said on social media.
Platner also, at one point, implied that he had intimate knowledge regarding South American call girls.
“You don’t have much experience with Latin American hookers, do you?” he wrote, responding to another user who claimed that prostitutes in Colombia “are part of a giant sex trade and the women are effectively slaves.”
It’s possible Platner was joking, as he often did on the “P-Hustle” account.
“Platner’s perverted and bigoted comments are disqualifying and degrade women, black Americans, the gay community, and even wounded U.S. soldiers,” National Republican Senatorial Committee press secretary Bernadette Breslin told Fox News Digital “Try as he may, Platner can’t outrun his own words, and Mainers won’t excuse them in November.”
Platner’s campaign did not respond to a request for comment when reached by Fox News Digital on Wednesday on any of his previous Reddit posts.
