Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., ignored persistent questions about controversies surrounding Democrat Graham Platner and reaffirmed his support for the embattled Senate candidate.Platner, a Marine veteran and oyster farmer, has faced a series of controversies in recent weeks, including criticism over a tattoo with links to Nazi imagery, resurfaced Reddit posts where he made inflammatory comments about veterans and reports about sexually explicit messages exchanged with other women during his marriage.Speaking with journalists in the Capitol on Tuesday, Schumer was pressed on whether he, as the top Senate Democrat, is satisfied with Platner’s explanations of the scandals dogging his campaign.In response, he said, "I met with Graham Platner today, we're going to beat [Sen.] Susan Collins and take back the Senate."PLATNER CONTROVERSIES FUEL SPECULATION ABOUT LITTLE-KNOWN MAINE BALLOT REPLACEMENT PROVISIONSenate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., confirmed his support for Maine Democratic candidate Graham Platner on Tuesday amid mounting controversy.
(Joe Raedle/Getty Images; Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)Schumer was asked several more times whether he still supports Platner in the face of the scandals considering his endorsement came before all the controversy.He was also asked whether Democrats’ backing of Platner undermines the party’s credibility in criticizing Texas Republican Senate candidate Ken Paxton, who has faced some similar scandals.The New York senator did not respond to these questions directly.
Instead, he repeated: "We’re going to beat Susan Collins and take back the Senate."Schumer attempted to prompt reporters to ask about other topics. "Any other subjects you got?" he said.But reporters continued to zero-in on his support for Platner.After being asked about the candidate for a fifth time, Schumer finally responded, "As I said, I endorsed Graham Platner.""We're going to beat Susan Collins and take back the Senate," he reit...