A Democrat running for U.S. Senate in Maine named Graham Platner is under fire for toxic things he wrote on the internet, which are now coming to light. And it’s not as if he wrote these things as an impressionable teenager, so this doesn’t qualify as cancel culture. Platner wrote these things as a grown adult, and they say an awful lot about his character.
In his online musings, Platner classified himself as a communist, said that all cops are bastards (an Antifa slogan), and called rural Americans stupid.
Politico reported:
Maine Senate candidate promoted violent political action in since-deleted online postsGraham Platner, who is running as an insurgent Democratic candidate for Senate in Maine, once suggested in online posts that violence is a necessary means to achieving social change — comments now drawing scrutiny in an era of increased political violence.Platner, 41, a former Marine and combat veteran who now raises oysters, made the statements on Reddit in 2018, long before he emerged as a serious candidate to take on Republican Sen. Susan Collins in the midterms.If people “expect to fight fascism without a good semi-automatic rifle, they ought to do some reading of history,” he wrote in one since-deleted post. In another, he said that “an armed working class is a requirement for economic justice.”CNN first reported Thursday on Platner’s participation on the subreddit r/SocialistRA, alongside other Reddit forums where he called himself a “communist” and said that “all” police are bastards. All of the posts have been deleted.
Platner also engaged in racial stereotypes and mocked sexual abuse victims.
From The Hill:
The Bangor Daily News wrote that Platner — who has already disavowed his previous posts on Reddit — reportedly asked why Black people “don’t tip” in a thread of questions users “have always wanted to ask someone of another race.”“I work as a bartender and it always amazes me how solid this stereotype is,” Platner reportedly wrote. “Every now and again a black patron will leave a 15-20% tip, but usually it [is] between 0-5%. There’s got to be a reason behind it, what is it?”Reports also revealed Platner posted comments related to violence and sexual assault in the military, which he disavowed in separate statements to outlets.
His political director just quit over this.
Graham Platner’s political director resigns over candidate’s controversial commentsA former state lawmaker who worked for Graham Platner’s U.S. Senate campaign has resigned. Genevieve McDonald, the campaign’s former political director, says she cannot overlook the volume and nature of his past comments that Platner made as an adult, not a young man.The resignation comes as the Washington Post reported more of Platner’s past comments about sexual assault…McDonald says she cannot continue working for Platner in good conscience.”These statements were not known to me when I agreed to join the campaign, and they are not words or values I can stand behind in a candidate for the United States Senate,” McDonald said in her resignation letter.
The story has become national news.
As the Democrat Party becomes more radical, these are the types of candidates they are increasingly going to get.
Featured image via YouTube.
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