WASHINGTON — Sen.Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., is defending Senate candidate Graham Platner following news reports that the presumptive Democratic nominee in Maine exchanged sexually explicit texts with women at the beginning of his marriage.Subscribe to read this story ad-free Get unlimited access to ad-free articles and exclusive content.Sanders, who has endorsed Platner in his bid to unseat GOP Sen.
Susan Collins, said that working families face bigger issues than Platner’s marriage.“We got a housing crisis.People can’t afford healthcare, they can’t afford groceries, they can’t afford to fill up their gas tanks.
And I think it’s important for us to focus on the issues facing working families a little bit more than Graham Platner’s marriage,” Sanders told reporters on Capitol Hill.“I wish their marriage the very best.But right now, I think we should be focusing on the crises facing the working class and electing people of the guts to stand up to the oligarchs who control our country,” Sanders said.He also said that Platner’s wife, whom he called a “very lovely woman” he’s had “the opportunity to meet,” was standing by him.Platner’s wife, Amy Gertner, said in a video that Platner’s campaign released over the weekend that she was “really angry” about the reports of the text messages, and that she found it “shameful” that there were people spreading “gossip” instead of discussing the issues Platner is running on.The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal reported Saturday that Gertner told Platner’s campaign about the sexually explicit texts last year at the beginning of his Senate bid, while discussing potential opposition research on him.
The Times cited a former senior official in Platner’s campaign, and the Journal cited people familiar with the matter.Platner’s campaign confirmed he sent multiple women sexually explicit texts at the beginning of his marriage.He and his wife got married in 2023.“Amy an...