In recent months, America’s political rumor mills have been grinding out whispers about Graham Platner, the Democratic candidate for the Senate in Maine. Platner, the military veteran turned oyster catcher turned left-wing populist, has somehow survived the story about having a Nazi symbol tattooed on his chest – although he says he was unaware of its meaning and has since had it covered up. And he is still on course to beat Susan Collins, the long-serving Republican, in November. His is thought to be the most obvious – yet vital – win for the Democrats as they seek to win back the Senate.
But Platner has a colorful past – to put it mildly. He underwent a dark phase following his time on combat duty with the US Marines, developed a drinking problem, and has a complicated romantic history that is still catching up with him.
Yesterday, the New York Times finally published its lengthy investigation into Platner’s ex-girlfriends. Three women told the newspaper that he could be “controlling, intimidating and disturbing.”
Lyndsey Fifield, who went out with Platner for two years, says that he was physically rough with her on occasion, had a disturbing habit of sharpening an ax in front of the television, and talked about killing people. He also referred to women as “hatchet wounds,” according to Fifield, and said he would rape any male intruder in his home – but not “in a gay way.”
Such allegations are, of course, dynamite on social media, though the fact that Fifield is now a well-known Republican operative should also be taken into account.
Platner went on MS NOW last night to deny the claims of “physicality” and to cast doubts on Fifield’s credibility. “There are things in [the article] that I absolutely will take responsibility for and have been speaking about openly for months,” Platner said. “But those serious allegations are just not true.”
Fifield, for her part, insists her allegations are not politically motivated and that she would be making them even if Platner were a Republican.
Platner has already had to swim his way out of hot water over some shocking remarks he made online as a younger man. And earlier this week, he had to face up to reports that, in the early days of his marriage, he had “sexted” various women. His wife, Amy, took to social media to defend her marriage and her man. “I find it really shameful that there’s a group of media outlets and people who are willing to spread gossip,” she said, strolling along a road in a selfie video. “No marriage is perfect, and I don’t want a perfect marriage. I want my marriage.”
But the gossip persists and the allegations keep rolling in – on MS NOW, host Chris Hayes asked Platner if all his relationships had been consensual and if “they were with adult women.” Platner adamantly insisted that they had been.
Yet he all but conceded that further damaging material is likely to emerge in the run-up to the election. Hayes asked him if there is “a text or picture of Graham Platner that is not the kind of thing that you want to see.”
“I’m sure that we are going to see, at some point, somebody attempt to do exactly that,” replied the candidate, ominously.
For now, Platner appears to have fended off a clearly well-orchestrated PR attack on his character, and his campaign has not been derailed.
On Tuesday, in all likelihood, he will still be confirmed as the Democratic nominee. Then, in November, he will face Collins, a widely admired Republican moderate who has held her seat for almost 30 years. But the polls and the prediction markets suggest that Collins would be likely to lose.
Unless, that is, something even more shocking about Platner emerges in the coming days. So – what else has he said and done?
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