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Platner ripped cheaters as ‘garbage’ in unearthed posts before his own early-marriage sexting scandal
By Robert Schmad
Published July 08, 2026
Maine Democratic Senate nominee Graham Platner repeatedly criticized a lawmaker on Reddit for cheating on his wife years before his campaign confirmed he sent sexually explicit messages to women early in his marriage.
On four occasions between 2018 and 2019, Platner claimed that, while he was working as a bartender in D.C., former GOP Rep. Duncan Hunter had confided in him that he was sleeping with women who were not his wife. Platner called Hunter a "real piece of sh-t" and a "garbage person" because of that.
Platner himself, however, sent sexually explicit messages to women who were not his wife early in his marriage, his campaign confirmed. The Senate candidate also maintained an account on the messenger app Kik, where his profile image was a picture of him topless wearing nothing but a towel.
HOW GRAHAM PLATNER'S CAMPAIGN UNRAVELED: FROM REDDIT POSTS TO RAPE ALLEGATION
Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner speaks to supporters at a rally in Bar Harbor, Maine, on June 5, 2026 (Paul Steinhauser/Fox News)
The sexually explicit messages were first revealed by Genevieve McDonald, Platner’s former political director, who said that Platner’s wife had told her that he had exchanged sexual messages with up to 12 women. The Platner campaign, however, countered that he had only been communicating with as many as six women, and that their conversations were not ongoing.
"I confided deeply personal details about my marriage to someone I considered a friend. In the months since, I have had to watch as she spread malicious gossip to anyone who would take her call," Platner’s wife said in the statement. "I trusted this person with the most private chapter of our lives — the early days of our marriage before any campaign was on our mind — and I am deeply hurt by her betrayal and the invasion of our privacy."
PLATNER IN THE HOT SEAT AS MAINE VOTERS RIP HIS 'HORRIBLE' COMMENTS AMID REDDIT SCANDAL
Graham Platner, Democratic US Senate candidate for Maine, during a primary election night event at the Blue Hill YMCA in Blue Hill, Maine, US, on Tuesday, June 9, 2026. Progressive Democrat Graham Platner won the party's Senate primary in Maine after a bruising campaign which became as much about his accusations of past misbehavior as it was voters' top concerns. (Graeme Sloan/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Back in 2019, Platner, who married his wife in 2023, had harsh language to describe Hunter’s alleged extramarital conduct.
"Real piece of sh-t," Platner wrote of Hunter in a December 2019 post. "Used to come into a DC bar I worked at, get wasted and brag about all the chicks he was slaying who weren’t his wife. I’ve got a pretty flexible moral compass when it comes to those things, but he was just the epitome of the frat bro officer douchebag."
PLATNER CAMPAIGN PUTTING 'THUMB ON SCALE' TO INFLUENCE POSSIBLE REPLACEMENT, MAINE DEM ALLEGES
Graham Platner exults and points during an emphatic primary victory speech that sets him up for a race against Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine. (Graeme Sloan/Bloomberg)
In another post, Platner called Hunter a "garbage person" who "loved to brag about all the women he was f-cking who weren’t his wife."
He also criticized Hunter for heavy drinking, a problem one of Platner’s ex-girlfriends alleges that he faced as well.
Hunter was indicted in 2018 on charges that he converted more than $250,000 in campaign funds for personal expenses and falsified campaign finance records. Prosecutors later alleged that some of Hunter’s campaign spending was tied to extramarital affairs. He pleaded guilty in 2020 and was sentenced to 11 months in prison, but avoided serving his sentence after President Donald Trump pardoned him later that year.
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Platner, who has since been accused of rape by a different ex-girlfriend – an allegation he denies – is facing calls to drop out of the Maine Senate race as major Democrats rescind their endorsement of him. Democrats have until July 13 to replace him with another candidate, a fact Platner is reportedly using as leverage to name a successor.
The Platner campaign did not respond to a request for comment when reached by Fox News Digital on Wednesday.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/platner-ripped-cheaters-garbage-unearthed-posts-before-his-own-early-marriage-sexting-scandal