Democrats accused of double standard as troubled Senate candidate remains in race
‘The Big Weekend Show’ panel examines the controversies surrounding Maine's Democratic Senate challenger Graham Platner as critics question his fitness for higher office.
Graham Platner, the presumptive Democratic nominee for Senate in Maine, bragged in newly resurfaced social media posts about doing hard drugs while on military leave – adding that he had "no regrets" about his past escapades.
Platner, a combat veteran of both the Marine Corps and the Army National Guard, claimed in a 2020 Reddit post made under the handle P-Hustle that he was "partying it up" by using drugs while backpacking through Spain on military leave. In a post made that same year, he admitted to having purchased cocaine.
"Street value," Platner wrote in July 2020. "I always wonder what street you're buying your cocaine on, because it's not the street I'm buying my cocaine on."
The Marine Corps prohibits servicemen from using illicit drugs, threatening those who violate its rules with expulsion and criminal prosecution.
PLATNER’S ONLINE PAST GETS RAUNCHIER WITH CRUDE TAKES ON ‘LATIN AMERICAN HOOKERS,’ CHEATING ABROAD
Sen. Bernie Sanders and Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner stand together during a "Fighting Oligarchy" tour stop at the Collins Center for the Arts on the University of Maine campus in Orono, Maine, on May 24, 2026. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
"Any Marine caught using or selling drugs while attached to the Battalion will be prosecuted under the [Uniform Code of Military Justice] and processed for separation from the Marine Corps," a Marine Corps memo on the topic reads.
It is unclear if Platner disclosed his drug use to his superiors. He did, however, admit to using substances while still on the Marine Corps’s payroll.
"Took two months of terminal, most of it combat leave, so I was making a pretty penny doing just about nothing," he wrote in February 2020. "Went backpacking through Europe on the government dime, walked the Camino de Santiago, did some drugs and had a blast partying it up in hostels across the continent. Then went home and went to college."
"I highly recommend it. No regrets," he added.
Graham Platner, a U.S. Marine and Army veteran and oyster farmer, launched a Democratic run for the U.S. Senate in Maine in August. (Graham Platner Senate campaign)
PLATNER CONTROVERSIES FUEL SPECULATION ABOUT LITTLE-KNOWN MAINE BALLOT REPLACEMENT PROVISION
Given that Platner enrolled at George Washington University in 2008, the backpacking trip likely occurred around that time, when he was around 24 years old.
The admission to drug use adds to a growing archive of deleted Reddit posts that have put Platner’s campaign on the defensive, with the Maine Democrat resisting calls to exit the race. Platner’s online history, alongside newfound revelations of infidelity, have become a test of how much scrutiny a candidacy can survive.
NEW WEBSITE PUTS PLATNER ON NOTICE BY AMPLIFYING SCANDALS: 'ONE RED FLAG AFTER ANOTHER'
Senate candidate Graham Platner is under fire, but it was his wife Amy Gertner coming out with a controversial five-minute social media post by the campaign to denounce the 'attacks' while she did not deny the allegations of infidelity in a new marriage. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
The Washington Free Beacon was the first to report on the unsurfaced Reddit posts related to drug use.
While Platner has explained some of his past posts — such as those where he used slurs and made explicit sexual comments — by attributing them to the "crude humor" and "offensive language" he became accustomed to in the armed forces, it is unclear if that same explanation applies to his admission of drug use.
The Platner campaign did not respond to a request for comment when reached by Fox News Digital on Wednesday.
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
Platner’s deleted Reddit posts — which include insults aimed at white rural Americans, support for communism and socialism, praise of political violence, and charges that the Army is full of "fat" and "lazy" people — have dominated the conversation online about Platner’s candidacy, though the Democratic hopeful’s prospects do not yet appear to have sunk in the polls.
As of publishing, polls generally show Platner leading incumbent GOP Sen. Susan Collins to represent Maine, though polls have historically underestimated her strength in the state.
