Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) on Sunday said Democratic candidate in Maine’s Senate race Graham Platner “made mistakes” after reports that his wife found sexually explicit texts with several women on his phone and brought it to his campaign’s attention. Speaking with CBS News’s Face the Nation, Murphy was asked if Platner passed the “character test” after his campaign confirmed Platner’s wife, Amy Gertner, told the campaign’s then-political director Genevieve McDonald about her husband’s extramarital engagements. Murphy said he had not been following reports closely but pointed to Platner’s military service and the different stances he has made on the campaign trail.
“Graham Platner is somebody that has served our country,” Murphy said. “He’s also made mistakes, and he has admitted that. Character also involved standing up to people who are bankrupting and corrupting this country.”
Murphy framed Platner’s competitor, Sen. Susan Collins (R-CT), as somebody who “protects” President Donald Trump, adding that Platner’s time in the Marines proves his dedication to the country.
“This race is going to be a contrast between somebody that has put his life on the line for this country against somebody that is literally empowering the moral hollowing out of our nation from the White House,” Murphy said. “I think this is going to be a pretty clear contrast in Maine between somebody who has spent his life protecting us versus somebody who seems to be protecting Donald Trump’s corruption.”
