Bill McGurn discusses Maine Democrat Graham Platner's mounting controversies
Fox News contributor Bill McGurn discusses Maine Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner's mounting controversies, including resurfaced Reddit posts, a Nazi symbol tattoo and sexually explicit messages. Democrats are now pushing Platner to exit the race following recent sexual assault allegations, raising questions about prior endorsements despite his problematic history.
U.S. Senate Democratic nominee Graham Platner ended his campaign Wednesday evening following a rape allegation by a woman he previously dated, after political allies urged him to exit the race.
"For the movement to continue, it can’t be me. For that reason, we are suspending campaign operations," Platner said in a video posted to social media.
Jenny Racicot’s rape allegations against Platner was just the latest scandal to rock Platner's campaign, which has been riddled with controversy since October. From sporting a Nazi-linked tattoo on his chest to being accused by ex-girlfriends of being physically abusive, Platner’s campaign has survived, with many of his supporters doubling down in support.
But Racicot recounted to both Politico and CNN how, in 2021, Platner, with whom she had an on-again, off-again relationship, barged into her home uninvited and intoxicated. Racicot alleged that, despite her protests, Platner had raped her.
The allegations surfaced less than a week before the deadline for Platner to withdraw from the race, after which the Democratic Party would be able to replace him with another nominee.
TOP DEMOCRATIC SENATE HOPEFULS TURN ON PLATNER AFTER BOMBSHELL RAPE ALLEGATION
Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Graham Platner participated in a television interview on May 1, 2026, in Portland, Maine, following a campaign event with the Maine AFL-CIO. (Graeme Sloan/Getty Images)
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass.; Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.; and Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., pulled their support for Platner. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., who endorsed Platner just 11 days after he launched his campaign and has stood by him through every major controversy, also called on Platner to end his candidacy Tuesday.
But Republicans have questioned why Democratic leadership took so long to revoke that support despite all the controversies surrounding him.
Here's a timeline of the allegations and controversies surrounding Graham Platner's Senate campaign.
Platner’s Reddit Posts
Platner's first major controversy erupted on Oct. 16, 2025, after CNN uncovered years of deleted Reddit posts he made between 2009 and 2021.
The posts revealed the Democratic Senate candidate once described himself as a "communist," wrote that "all" police were bastards and argued that many rural White Americans "actually are" racist and unintelligent. Other posts reflected how his combat experience in Iraq and Afghanistan had reshaped his politics, with Platner writing that America's wars had left him disillusioned and "significantly more left" than when he enlisted.
Days later, additional reporting drew scrutiny to other deleted posts, including one in which Platner appeared to downplay concerns about sexual assault. In one post, Platner wrote that people should "take some responsibility for themselves" and avoid becoming so intoxicated that they end up in compromising situations.
PLATNER IN THE HOT SEAT AS MAINE VOTERS RIP HIS 'HORRIBLE' COMMENTS AMID REDDIT SCANDAL
Graham Platner and his wife, Amy Gertner, acknowledge the crowd at his watch party after wining the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate at a YMCA in Blue Hill, Maine, June 9, 2026. Platner, who has drawn critcism for his history of having an Nazi tattoo among other transgressions, will face Republican Senator Susan Collins in the election for the seat. (Matthew Symons for Fox News Digital)
There are more than 2,000 posts by Platner on Reddit, which The Maine Monitor later compiled into a database.
Platner distanced himself from those posts, telling CNN at the time that he was "f------ around the internet" and that he was struggling in his return to civilian life after serving overseas in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.
"I don't want people to see me for who I was in my worst Internet comment — or even, frankly, who I was in my best Internet comment," Platner told CNN. "I don't think any of that is indicative of who I am today, really."
At the time the Reddit posts resurfaced, Sanders and Sen. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., stood by Platner. Gallego said Platner had "the right to grow out of his stupidity."
"There's a young man who served his country in Afghanistan and Iraq, and he went through some really difficult experiences seeing friends of his killed or whatever, and in spite of all of that he had the courage to run," Sanders said of Platner, who Sanders endorsed just eleven days after launching his campaign.
The Totenkopf tattoo
Platner faced another controversy after his campaign, seeking to get ahead of opposition research, and he released a video on Oct. 21 during an appearance on Pod Save America showing him dancing shirtless at his brother's wedding. The footage revealed a chest tattoo that critics said resembled the Nazi SS Totenkopf, or "Death's Head," symbol, prompting widespread condemnation and renewed questions about his judgment.
Platner said he got the tattoo while drinking with fellow Marines in Croatia in 2007 and believed it was simply a skull-and-crossbones design commemorating surviving combat. He said he was unaware of its association with Nazi Germany until the issue surfaced during his Senate campaign, apologized and initially pledged to have it removed before instead covering it with a Celtic knot tattoo.
The controversy intensified after subsequent reporting questioned Platner's claim that he had been unaware of the symbol's meaning, citing former acquaintances and past online activity suggesting he may have known its meaning years earlier, a claim Platner rejected.
In the aftermath, Sanders brushed off concerns over Platner’s tattoo, arguing there were more important issues.
"I'm not overly impressed by a squad of media running around saying, 'What do you think about the tattoo on Graham Platner's chest?'" Sanders told Axios.
Platner’s sexting scandal
The New York Times reported on May 30 that Platner's wife, Amy Gertner, had privately informed senior campaign officials that he exchanged sexually explicit messages with other women during the early years of their marriage, raising concerns about the political fallout.
Platner was using the app Kik to send messages and photos to women.
Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner headlines a rally in Bar Harbor, Maine, June 5, 2026 (Paul Steinhauser/Fox News)
Former campaign political director Genevieve McDonald said Gertner told her that her husband had been exchanging sexual messages with as many as a dozen women, while another campaign official said the number was lower and that the conduct had ended before the campaign launched.
The issue surfaced during an internal vetting process ahead of a high-profile Labor Day rally with Sanders.
The discovery prompted outcry from Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., who called Platner a "creeper."
However, Sanders and Schumer doubled down on their support for Platner, saying they believed he could defeat incumbent Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine.
Abusive partner allegations
Days after reports about sexually explicit messages surfaced, The New York Times published interviews on June 4, 2026, with six of Platner's former romantic partners, offering sharply different accounts of their relationships with the Democratic Senate candidate.
Three women described him as kind, supportive and someone who never made them feel unsafe, but three others painted a far more troubling picture, alleging volatile relationships marked by heavy drinking, infidelity and behavior they found emotionally damaging.
Former girlfriend Lyndsey Fifield said Platner sometimes grabbed her hard enough to leave marks and, during one argument, twisted her arm behind her back, pushed her into a bedroom and held the door shut until she "calmed down." Platner denied allegations of physical intimidation, and the Times wrote that it could not corroborate her allegations.
Susan Collins and Graham Platner (Graeme Sloan/Getty Images; Sophie Park/Getty Images)
In a lengthy X post, Fifield took fire at The New York Times for not adequately verifying her story. She claimed that she gave the reporters five phone numbers, but the Times reported it only reached out to two people.
"I actually understand why Democrat leaders didn't take our stories seriously when the Times reported them in June but are taking them seriously now," Fifield wrote on X. "It was by design.
"They called the two who I clarified would not know about the abuse but would be able to affirm our relationship timeline, events, etc.," Fifield continued. "They simply did not call the other three."
Fifield, a longtime GOP operative who dated Platner on and off from 2013 to 2015, faced scrutiny after coming forward with allegations that Platner was abusive. Platner's campaign and Platner himself argued her claims were politically motivated, pointing to her long history of working for Republican causes.
Racicot was also interviewed by the Times, and she alluded to the alleged sexual assault that she said occurred in 2021.
When asked about the allegations against Platner, Sanders said at the National Press Club on June 8 that it's a "political smokescreen."
"Republican super PACS want to defeat him," Sanders said of Platner. "He is going to be a strong voice against oligarchy."
The rape allegation
Racicot said it was the attacks on Fifield that compelled her to step forward and tell Politico the full story of her sexual assault by Graham, which was published on Monday, July 6.
Racicot said she met Platner on Bumble in 2019, and the two were in an on-again, off-again relationship for about two years before she alleged he entered her home uninvited and sexually assaulted her in late 2021.
In interviews with Politico, Racicot alleged that Platner forced her to have sex against her will about five years ago. According to the report, a man she later dated said she had previously disclosed the allegation to him, and emails exchanged with her therapist also referenced the incident. Platner denied the accusation in the Politico report.
"I remember him grabbing my pelvis and being really forceful of me," Racicot said. "I remember the specific moment where I thought to myself, like, 'This is no longer my choice.'"
Racicot also appeared in an interview with CNN where she said the assault fit the "dictionary definition" of rape.
"I thought, here's a man who was drunk and who, by dictionary definition, raped me," Racicot said. "And he's blaming drunk women."
Platner has categorically denied the allegations as false.
