{"id":80490,"date":"2026-05-21T13:30:14","date_gmt":"2026-05-21T13:30:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/80490\/"},"modified":"2026-05-21T13:30:14","modified_gmt":"2026-05-21T13:30:14","slug":"top-dem-lawmakers-duck-questions-when-pressed-on-platners-reddit-scandal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/80490\/","title":{"rendered":"Top Dem lawmakers duck questions when pressed on Platner&#8217;s Reddit scandal"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Top Democratic leaders refused to answer whether <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/category\/us\/us-regions\/northeast\/maine\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"elm:link;elmt:article_link;slk:Maine;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;context_link&quot;,&quot;yModuleName&quot;:&quot;content-canvas&quot;,&quot;yLinkText&quot;:&quot;Maine&quot;}\" class=\"link \">Maine<\/a> Senate candidate Graham Platner\u2019s newly uncovered vulgar posts have become a liability for Democrats ahead of the midterm elections.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;I haven\u2019t seen no posts,&#8221; House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., told Fox News Digital when asked whether Platner had become a liability to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/category\/us\/democratic-party\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"elm:link;elmt:article_link;slk:Democratic Party;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;context_link&quot;,&quot;yModuleName&quot;:&quot;content-canvas&quot;,&quot;yLinkText&quot;:&quot;Democratic Party&quot;}\" class=\"link \">Democratic Party<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Newly surfaced Reddit posts tied to Platner \u2014 from an archive of roughly 2,000 salacious takes \u2014 include graphic sexual comments about masturbating in portable toilets and praising explicit graffiti depicting genitalia.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/politics\/unearthed-posts-show-dem-senate-hopeful-praising-vulgar-graffiti-making-crude-porta-potty-admissions\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"elm:link;elmt:article_link;slk:Unearthed Posts Show Dem Senate Hopeful Praising Vulgar Graffiti, Making Crude Porta-potty Admission;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;context_link&quot;,&quot;yModuleName&quot;:&quot;content-canvas&quot;,&quot;yLinkText&quot;:&quot;Unearthed Posts Show Dem Senate Hopeful Praising Vulgar Graffiti, Making Crude Porta-potty Admission&quot;}\" class=\"link \">Unearthed Posts Show Dem Senate Hopeful Praising Vulgar Graffiti, Making Crude Porta-potty Admission<\/a><\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"Graham Platner standing and smiling in a formal setting\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"960\" height=\"540\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" class=\"rounded-lg\" style=\"color:transparent\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/fee1a414ae5ebfa2890036c9eb822047.jpeg\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Maine Democratic Sen. candidate Graham Platner is facing renewed criticism over his deleted Reddit history.<\/p>\n<p>(Getty Images)<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">In another post, he mocked a Purple Heart U.S. soldier that was nearly killed in combat, posting &#8220;dumb motherf&#8212;&#8211;\u00a0 didn&#8217;t deserve to live.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;I still have to jerk off every time I sit in a portas&#8212;-er\u2026 that blue water smell conditioned me,&#8221; was among one of the many crude social media posts discovered from Platner\u2019s past.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\"><a href=\"https:\/\/foxnews.onelink.me\/xLDS\/mvaj7wvj\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"elm:link;elmt:article_link;slk:Read On The Fox News App;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;context_link&quot;,&quot;yModuleName&quot;:&quot;content-canvas&quot;,&quot;yLinkText&quot;:&quot;Read On The Fox News App&quot;}\" class=\"link \">Read On The Fox News App<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Progressive Sen. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/category\/person\/elizabeth-warren\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"elm:link;elmt:article_link;slk:Elizabeth Warren;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;context_link&quot;,&quot;yModuleName&quot;:&quot;content-canvas&quot;,&quot;yLinkText&quot;:&quot;Elizabeth Warren&quot;}\" class=\"link \">Elizabeth Warren<\/a>, D-Mass., declined to comment on whether she would rescind her backing of Platner after publicly endorsing him in the Maine Democratic primary for Senate against Gov. Janet Mills, who pulled out of the race last month after falling behind in the polls.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Warren\u2019s endorsement came after Platner had already been scrutinized for some of his other controversial Reddit posts \u2014 including comments praising Hamas\u2019 tactics, telling rape victims to take accountability and asking why Black people don\u2019t tip. This was also after Platner\u2019s chest tattoo resembling a Nazi symbol circulated the internet, as well as his participation on the subreddit &#8220;r\/SocialistRA,&#8221; where he described himself as a communist.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/media\/warren-confronted-calling-controversial-senate-candidate-graham-platner-her-kind-man\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"elm:link;elmt:article_link;slk:Warren Confronted On Calling Controversial Senate Candidate Graham Platner Her &#039;Kind Of Man&#039;;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;context_link&quot;,&quot;yModuleName&quot;:&quot;content-canvas&quot;,&quot;yLinkText&quot;:&quot;Warren Confronted On Calling Controversial Senate Candidate Graham Platner Her &#039;&quot;}\" class=\"link \">Warren Confronted On Calling Controversial Senate Candidate Graham Platner Her &#8216;Kind Of Man&#8217;<\/a><\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"Graham Platner pointing to a covered tattoo on his arm during an interview in Portland, Maine\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"960\" height=\"540\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" class=\"rounded-lg\" style=\"color:transparent\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/7f8ffa891c48e968496d881b0af645e3.jpeg\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Graham Platner, a Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate in Maine, points to a covered tattoo that was previously recognized as a Nazi symbol during an interview in Portland, Maine, on Oct. 22, 2025.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;Holy f&#8212;-, how about people just take some responsibility for themselves and not get so f&#8212;- up they wind up having sex with someone they don\u2019t mean to?&#8221; Platner posted to a 2013 Reddit thread.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The posts came from a deleted Reddit account with the username &#8220;P-Hustle,&#8221; which Platner has claimed ownership of. All the deleted posts can be found in the <a href=\"https:\/\/themainemonitor.org\/platner-reddit-comments\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"elm:link;elmt:article_link;slk:Maine Monitor\u2019s Database;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;context_link&quot;,&quot;yModuleName&quot;:&quot;content-canvas&quot;,&quot;yLinkText&quot;:&quot;Maine Monitor\u2019s Database&quot;}\" class=\"link \">Maine Monitor\u2019s Database<\/a>, a complete archive of all 2,014 posts from his now-deleted account.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Warren defended both Platner and her endorsement in an interview with CNBC last month after a slew of inappropriate posts resurfaced. She referenced his apology and praised his outreach with voters so &#8220;they can evaluate not who Graham Platner was, but who Graham Platner is today.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Senate Minority Leader <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/category\/person\/chuck-schumer\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"elm:link;elmt:article_link;slk:Chuck Schumer;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;context_link&quot;,&quot;yModuleName&quot;:&quot;content-canvas&quot;,&quot;yLinkText&quot;:&quot;Chuck Schumer&quot;}\" class=\"link \">Chuck Schumer<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/category\/person\/chuck-schumer\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"elm:link;elmt:article_link;slk:,;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;context_link&quot;,&quot;yModuleName&quot;:&quot;content-canvas&quot;,&quot;yLinkText&quot;:&quot;,&quot;}\" class=\"link \">,<\/a> D-N.Y., also declined to answer repeated questions about Platner\u2019s posts.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Schumer endorsed Mills, before she ended her campaign, over Platner in the face-off with longtime Republican Sen. Susan Collins. Platner told Fox News Digital last week that he wouldn\u2019t support Schumer as Senate Democratic leader going forward, even after describing their encounter as a &#8220;perfectly cordial conversation.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/politics\/schumers-number-one-target-says-voters-see-democrat-senate-challenger-extreme\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"elm:link;elmt:article_link;slk:Schumer\u2019s \u2018Number One Target\u2019 Says Voters Will See Her Democrat Senate Challenger As Too Extreme;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;context_link&quot;,&quot;yModuleName&quot;:&quot;content-canvas&quot;,&quot;yLinkText&quot;:&quot;Schumer\u2019s \u2018Number One Target\u2019 Says Voters Will See Her Democrat Senate Challenger As Too Extreme&quot;}\" class=\"link \">Schumer\u2019s \u2018Number One Target\u2019 Says Voters Will See Her Democrat Senate Challenger As Too Extreme<\/a><\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"Side by side photos of Senate Democratic Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer, right, and Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner.\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"960\" height=\"540\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" class=\"rounded-lg\" style=\"color:transparent\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/da6d72757e6db329dbc4ee858768c079.jpeg\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Senate candidate in Maine Graham Platner told Fox News Digital in an interview Monday that he would not support Senate Democratic Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer, right, remaining Democratic leader.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Platner is widely viewed as the presumptive Democratic nominee to unseat Collins in November. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/category\/us\/democratic-party\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"elm:link;elmt:article_link;slk:Democrats;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;context_link&quot;,&quot;yModuleName&quot;:&quot;content-canvas&quot;,&quot;yLinkText&quot;:&quot;Democrats&quot;}\" class=\"link \">Democrats<\/a> have so far shown little sign of distancing themselves from Platner despite the continued emergence of past obscenities.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">A super PAC backing Collins\u2019 reelection campaign has spent $4 million on attack ads against Platner. Pine Tree Results released a new ad targeting Platner this week that directs viewers to a new website highlighting his controversial internet comments.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Fox News Digital reached out to the Platner campaign for comment regarding the new posts brought to light.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\"><a href=\"https:\/\/foxnews.onelink.me\/xLDS?pid=AppArticleLink&amp;af_dp=foxnewsaf%3A%2F%2F&amp;af_web_dp=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.foxnews.com%2Fapps-products\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"elm:link;elmt:article_link;slk:Click Here To Download The Fox News App;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;context_link&quot;,&quot;yModuleName&quot;:&quot;content-canvas&quot;,&quot;yLinkText&quot;:&quot;Click Here To Download The Fox News App&quot;}\" class=\"link \">Click Here To Download The Fox News App<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Platner has previously defended himself from criticism of these posts by saying he was joking.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;You should read the comments in context. It&#8217;s very clear I&#8217;m joking,&#8221; he previously told Fox News Digital. &#8220;It&#8217;s called s&#8212;posting. It&#8217;s when you argue with people on the internet and try to bother them.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Original article source: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/politics\/top-dem-lawmakers-duck-questions-when-pressed-platner-reddit-scandal\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"elm:link;elmt:article_link;slk:Top Dem lawmakers duck questions when pressed on Platner&#039;s Reddit scandal;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;context_link&quot;,&quot;yModuleName&quot;:&quot;content-canvas&quot;,&quot;yLinkText&quot;:&quot;Top Dem lawmakers duck questions when pressed on Platner&#039;&quot;}\" class=\"link \">Top Dem lawmakers duck questions when pressed on Platner&#8217;s Reddit scandal<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Top Democratic leaders refused to answer whether Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner\u2019s newly uncovered vulgar posts have become&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":80491,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[145],"tags":[504,6147,486,706,1055,12318,6830,637,45035],"class_list":["post-80490","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-chuck-schumer","tag-chuck-schumer","tag-democratic-leaders","tag-democrats","tag-elizabeth-warren","tag-fox-news-digital","tag-graham-platner","tag-janet-mills","tag-reddit","tag-senate-candidate"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@people\/116612813864280955","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80490","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=80490"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80490\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/80491"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=80490"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=80490"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=80490"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}