One of Democrats’ best pick-up opportunities in the Senate this November is an unexpected one. Graham Platner, the presumptive Democratic nominee in the race against Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME), has been scandal-prone, complete with a Nazi symbol tattoo, but is polling ahead of the five-term incumbent from Maine.Last week alone Platner, 41, faced a slew of bad headlines.First, it came to light that Platner claimed during a 2024 appearance on the Green Beret Chronicle Show podcast that American Sniper Chris Kyle was “less discriminating” during the Iraq war and allegedly increased his kill count by aiming at civilians.
Also last week, five new posts from his since-deleted Reddit account were uncovered, including one from 2019 in which the Marine veteran, whose username was “P-Hustle,” mocked a Purple Heart recipient as a “dumb motherf*****” who “didn’t deserve to live” after the soldier was shot four times during a 2012 skirmish with the Taliban in Afghanistan.
The other four contained explicit content. In one post from 2017, Platner recalls masturbating in a portable toilet while deployed during the Afghanistan war. Another one from 2018 saw Platner praise a portable-toilet graffiti drawing of a penis. Still, another post from 2020 saw Platner recall having phone sex on a cell phone network compromised by the Taliban.
