Maine Senate Candidate Platner Faces Scrutiny Over 2020-2021 Reddit Posts

Published 1 day ago·Updated 15 hours ago

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Above: Graham Platner, a candidate in Maine’s U.S. Senate race. Image copyright: Courtesy Photo/Graham for Senate

The Spin

Narrative A

Platner's old internet comments reflect frustration from a veteran processing trauma, not his current beliefs as a small business owner and Marine. The posts were deleted before his campaign and represent someone venting online during a difficult period, while his actual platform focuses on kitchen table issues that resonate with working Mainers struggling with costs. Social media comments from years ago shouldn’t define a candidate — people’s views change over time.

WMTW

Graham Platner on Bluesky Social

Narrative B

Platner's inflammatory Reddit posts expose him as a radical liability who called rural White Americans racist and stupid, branded all cops bastards, and proclaimed himself a communist. These deleted comments reveal someone who tried to hide his extremist views before running, making him unelectable against Collins and a gift to Republicans who will use his anti-rural rhetoric against Democrats statewide. Posts like these can't be ignored — they’re a political time bomb for Democrats.

Intelligencer Newscentermaine

Establishment-critical narrative

Outrage over old online posts has become a political weapon, punishing anyone who’s ever said something provocative on the internet — which, for millennials and Gen Z, is nearly everyone. Platner owned up to his mistakes and moved on. The obsession with digital purity tests risks driving out authentic voices and leaving politics to those too scripted or sanitized to have ever spoken their minds.

Adam Carlson on X