Unearthed posts show Dem Senate hopeful praising vulgar graffiti, making crude porta potty admission
Editor’s note: This story contains graphic language.
FIRST ON FOX: Democratic Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner, who is already facing criticism over past Reddit posts, made graphic sexual comments on his now-deleted account about masturbating in portable toilets and explicit graffiti found in military restrooms.
In one March 2017 post on Reddit’s r/Military forum, Platner responded to a discussion about nostalgic military smells by writing: "I still have to jerk off every time I sit in a portas----er… that blue water smell conditioned me."
The archived posts were made under "P-Hustle," a now-deleted Reddit account that Platner previously acknowledged was his.
In another post from March 2021 on Reddit’s r/USMC forum, Platner described a crude penis drawing inside a portable toilet while deployed overseas.
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Responding to a thread dedicated to so-called "GWOT Dick Art," Platner launched into an extended monologue praising the explicit graffiti in unusually vivid terms, calling it "beautiful," "engorged and veiny," and moving "towards its penetrative glory."
"Oh s---!!!," Platner wrote. "You’ve got the Hot Rod C--- from Manas!"
Manas was a major U.S. military transit hub in Kyrgyzstan used during the wars in Afghanistan. Platner enlisted in the Marines in 2003 and served three combat tours in Iraq. In 2010, he joined the Maryland Army National Guard for a fourth tour, serving in the infantry in Afghanistan. He returned to Afghanistan eight years later as a security contractor.
The post accompanied a photograph of a smiling serviceman posing beside the explicit illustration inside the portable restroom.
"I sat there in sheer awe," Platner wrote. "The soul filling joy to be allowed to witness such glory."
Fox News Digital reached out to Platner’s campaign for comment on Monday.
Platner has previously responded to questions about his controversial posts by suggesting he was joking.
"You should read the comments in context. It's very clear I'm joking," he previously told Fox News Digital when asked about them. "It's called s---posting. It's when you argue with people on the internet and try to bother them. So, yeah, no, it's very obviously not true."
The posts, which are accessible in the Maine Monitor’s archive but have not been previously reported, are the latest in a series of vulgar and inflammatory social media comments that critics say raise questions about Platner’s judgment as the progressive Democrat emerges as his party’s Senate nominee in Maine.
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Republicans are likely to use the resurfaced posts, along with others, to portray Platner as too erratic and extreme for statewide office as Democrats rally behind the first-time candidate.
Mehek Cooke, a GOP strategist and senior national security and legal analyst for the Daily Signal, told Fox News Digital that, politically, Platner’s "vulgar" posts will "matter" to voters because they are "deciding whether Graham Platner has the judgment, temperament, and basic decency to represent Maine in the Senate."
"His campaign has been built around authenticity and moral seriousness. These posts undercut both," Cooke said. "Platner is not a truth-teller. He is someone whose instincts appear crude, reckless, and deeply unserious. And by the way, if they were really ‘jokes,’ why delete the posts? That sounds less like humor and more like a CYA cleanup operation."
Cooke said that "one tasteless post" can be chalked up to "immaturity" but a "years-long trail of vulgar, sexually degrading, and slur-filled commentary is a character issue."
Platner, a first-time candidate who is backed by progressive champions Sens. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, became the Democrats' presumptive nominee after his rival for the nomination, two-term Gov. Janet Mills, ended her campaign last month after trailing Platner in polling and fundraising.
Other posts Platner has been questioned about, including in a recent interview with The New York Times, include a 2013 post, which Platner later deleted, that people concerned about rape should not "get so f---ed up they wind up having sex with someone they don’t mean to."
Platner has also faced scrutiny for more recent Reddit posts, including one from five years ago in which he described himself as a "communist" and "socialist." Additionally, Platner’s posts have contained alleged homophobic slurs and praise for military tactics used by Hamas.
"Will every Democrat in Maine care? No," Cooke said. "Platner has shown he can survive controversy inside a Democratic primary. But in a general election, especially against Susan Collins, the cumulative effect of his stances, controversies, and comments matters. The Nazi-linked tattoo controversy, the homophobic slurs, the disturbing comments that have already surfaced, and now these posts create a fuller picture of a morally bankrupt candidate. Republicans will argue this is not a candidate with a few regrettable moments. This is a pattern that tells voters something fundamental about his character. And character still matters to a lot of Mainers."