Top Dem lawmakers duck questions when pressed on Platner's Reddit scandal
Top Democratic leaders refused to answer whether Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner’s newly uncovered vulgar posts have become a liability for Democrats ahead of the midterm elections.
"I haven’t seen no posts," House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., told Fox News Digital when asked whether Platner had become a liability to the Democratic Party.
Newly surfaced Reddit posts tied to Platner — from an archive of roughly 2,000 salacious takes — include graphic sexual comments about masturbating in portable toilets and praising explicit graffiti depicting genitalia.
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In another post, he mocked a Purple Heart U.S. soldier that was nearly killed in combat, posting "dumb motherf----- didn't deserve to live."
"I still have to jerk off every time I sit in a portas----er… that blue water smell conditioned me," was among one of the many crude social media posts discovered from Platner’s past.
Progressive Sen. Elizabeth Warren, 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.
Warren’s endorsement came after Platner had already been scrutinized for some of his other controversial Reddit posts — including comments praising Hamas’ tactics, telling rape victims to take accountability and asking why Black people don’t tip. This was also after Platner’s chest tattoo resembling a Nazi symbol circulated the internet, as well as his participation on the subreddit "r/SocialistRA," where he described himself as a communist.
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"Holy f----, how about people just take some responsibility for themselves and not get so f---- up they wind up having sex with someone they don’t mean to?" Platner posted to a 2013 Reddit thread.
The posts came from a deleted Reddit account with the username "P-Hustle," which Platner has claimed ownership of. All the deleted posts can be found in the Maine Monitor’s Database, a complete archive of all 2,014 posts from his now-deleted account.
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 "they can evaluate not who Graham Platner was, but who Graham Platner is today."
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., also declined to answer repeated questions about Platner’s posts.
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’t support Schumer as Senate Democratic leader going forward, even after describing their encounter as a "perfectly cordial conversation."
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Platner is widely viewed as the presumptive Democratic nominee to unseat Collins in November. Democrats have so far shown little sign of distancing themselves from Platner despite the continued emergence of past obscenities.
A super PAC backing Collins’ 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.
Fox News Digital reached out to the Platner campaign for comment regarding the new posts brought to light.
Platner has previously defended himself from criticism of these posts by saying he was joking.
"You should read the comments in context. It's very clear I'm joking," he previously told Fox News Digital. "It's called s---posting. It's when you argue with people on the internet and try to bother them."