Bernie Sanders on Tuesday defended Graham Platner, the Maine oysterman running against Republican Susan Collins in the state’s marquee Senate race, who has come under fire amid allegations of racist social media posts.
“In all due respect, alright, what I'm worried about? 50,000 Americans may die unnecessarily,” the Vermont senator told The Independent when asked about some old Reddit posts from Platner that have sparked allegations of racism.
Democrats are now fretting after the progressive insurgent oysterman vying for the party’s nomination to challenge the five-term senator has come under fire for a series of inflammatory posts on Reddit and also for having a tattoo that bears a striking resemblance to Nazi ink.
Pressed further about Platner’s comments about sexual assault, Sanders defensively shot back, “Have you served four tours of duty?”
Sanders, a socialist Independent who caucuses with the Democrats, has endorsed Platner — and he’s campaigned for him in Maine.
Last week, CNN reported that Platner, a Maine oysterman who served in the Marine Corps, had a Reddit account where he said, “I got older and became a communist” and that “all” police officers are “bastards.”
The Washington Post would later report that Platner also posted on Reddit asking why Black people did not tip and asked why women did not “take some responsibility for themselves and not get so f----d up they wind up having sex with someone they don’t mean to?”
Platner would later apologize for the posts and say they were the result of his feeling alienated after returning home from military service.
He came under even more fire as a guest on Pod Save America, the liberal podcast hosted by former Obama administration staffers. He would proceed to show a video of himself singing at a wedding in his underwear revealing that he had a tattoo on his chest that resembled the totenkopf, which means “death’s head,” a skull and crossbones-like symbol popular in Nazi Germany.
Platner has denied it was a Nazi tattoo and said that he got it while drunk in Croatia with his fellow Marines.
“We chose a terrifying skull and crossbones off the wall because we were Marines,” he told host Tommy Vietor and said he continued to receive security clearance. Platner said he eventually got wind that the tattoo had entered into opposition research.
“And I can honestly say that if I was trying to hide it, I have not been doing a very good job for the past 18 years,” Platner added.
The trove of news has quenched much of the fervor surrounding Platner in recent weeks since he announced his candidacy to challenge Collins. Up until then, few Democrats had stepped up to run against Maine’s senior senator, who is the only Republican who represents a state Kamala Harris won.
Platner’s campaign raked in more than $3 million since he announced in August. He immediately earned comparisons to Zohran Mamdani’s campaign for New York City mayor and Sen. John Fetterman’s 2022 campaign in Pennsylvania. He also shares many of the same consultants as they used.
Meanwhile, Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), who has praised Platner’s campaign on X, said he had not seen the news about Platner.
“I know a lot of people say that they haven't looked at it, and they don’t really mean it,” Murphy told The Independent. “I know he said some stuff on Reddit. I haven’t read it.”
Platner’s various controversies represents a conundrum for Democrats: Many of their voters are dissatisfied with the party leadership and want candidates who challenge the status quo. But many younger Democratic candidates of Platner’s age grew up in a time when they also documented most of their adult life online.
Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) won his race last year and is also a veteran of the Marine Corps who, like Platner, spoke about living with post-traumatic stress disorder after serving in Iraq.
When The Independent asked about the tattoo, Gallego said he had not seen it, but on Platner’s past statements said that if people grow out of their troublesome behaviors, they should be given grace.
“We have to evaluate if that's the case I think that's a legitimate conversation to be had,” Gallego told The Independent. “But, you know, everyone has a right to grow and grow out of their stupidity, essentially. And I think voters should take the opportunity to evaluate that.”
At the same time, Maine’s popular executive, Gov. Janet Mills, a more establishment-friendly candidate, also jumped into the primary last week.
During Senate Democratic leadership’s weekly press conference, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer got behind Mills when asked about Platner’s comments.
“We think that Janet Mills is the best candidate to retire Susan Collins,” he said. “She's a tested two-term governor and the people of Maine have an enormous amount of affection and respect for her.”
But some pointed out how at 77, Mills seemed to confirm the Democratic Party’s age problem that led to criticism during the 2024 election.
Collins, who has voted for most of Trump’s nominees but who voted against Trump’s “One Big, Beautiful Bill,” has yet to announce whether she will seek re-election.
