Maine rank-and-file shrug off Platners alleged deeply disturbing past: Dont care what Washington says

PORTLAND, Maine — Dem Senate hopeful Graham Platner is facing a firestorm over everything from his treatment of women to rape fantasies and a Nazi-linked tattoo, but try telling that to the crowd at an Elks Lodge here Sunday.The embattled candidate took the stage to a booming hero’s welcome from supporters who referred to themselves as his “Grahamily” — as he rattled off a policy-centric stump speech while completely ignoring any mention of his growing piles of scandal in his 83rd town hall this primary-election cycle.“A lot of people who are supporting [Platner] have a lot of issues with the [Democratic] national party,” attendee Karen Lemoine told The Post.“[Party bigs] pick their guy or gal … and that’s where the money goes.“There’s a lot of anti-establishment feelings here,” she said at the jam-packed rally.

“We don’t care what Washington says.”Lemoine conceded that Platner has “clearly shown some very poor judgment” in the past but argued that he deserves a chance to prove himself in the halls of Congress and rebuild trust.Other Platner backers conveyed similar sentiments, finding ways to downplay or shrug off the horny oyster farmer’s hefty baggage.“We’re talking about things that happened 10-plus years ago at a time where he’s been very open about the trauma he’s experiencing,” Ryan Prescott, 37, of Saco said of the Marine veteran.“I like to believe that people can change.I’m not the same person I was 10 years ago.”Some of Platner’s scandals, such as extramarital sexting, took place recently.

Platner got married in 2023, and his wife informed his campaign about the sexually explicit messages to other women last year, the Wall Street Journal reported.It also was revealed early on in his campaign that he previously had a skull and crossbones tattoo on his chest that resembled a Totenkopf, or “death’s head” symbol that the German Nazi SS used.Platner has denied knowing about the Nazi ties of the ...