Maine Democrat Graham Platner Faces New Backlash Over 2012 Reddit Post Mocking Teen Suicide Attempt
Updated
Updated · Fox News · Jun 16
Maine Democrat Graham Platner Faces New Backlash Over 2012 Reddit Post Mocking Teen Suicide Attempt
3 articles · Updated · Fox News · Jun 16
Summary
A 2012 Reddit reply tied to Graham Platner’s old “P-Hustle” account said “Someone clearly isn’t trying hard enough” under a post about a teenage girl’s failed suicide attempt, triggering fresh scrutiny days after he won Maine’s Democratic Senate nomination.
The newly surfaced post adds to a widening record of inflammatory comments attributed to Platner, including remarks about rural White Americans, rape victims, police, political violence, a Purple Heart recipient and Hamas.
Republicans including Maine House Minority Leader Billy Bob Faulkingham, state GOP executive director Jason Savage and former White House press secretary Ari Fleischer used the post to intensify attacks on Platner’s fitness for office.
Platner, 41, has previously said he was “fooling around on the internet” while disillusioned after military service, describing himself as a small-business owner, Marine veteran and “retired shitposter.”
The controversy now shadows his general-election challenge to Republican Senator Susan Collins, whom Trump praised while calling Platner “a thug.”