WASHINGTON — New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker admitted he’s involved about scandal-scarred Maine Senate hopeful Graham Platner after it emerged that he sexted a number of girls.
“Yeah, I’ve issues. The man has inquiries to reply, and that’s what campaigns are for,” Booker (D-NJ) advised ABC Information’ “This Week” on Sunday when requested if the controversy might imperil Dem hopes of flipping Maine’s seat.
Booker declined to debate the particular controversies dogging Platner forward of the June 9 main. As an alternative, he underscored the stakes of the battle for management of the Senate.
“I do know that a lot is driving on Democrats taking management of the Senate,” Booker added. “That this election, if we don’t get the votes essential to maintain the Home and the Senate, we are going to proceed to have an out-of-control president.”
Maine’s Senate seat, held by incumbent Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), is broadly seen as a must-win for Democrats in the event that they wish to retake the higher chamber.
On Saturday, it emerged that Platner’s spouse had tipped off his marketing campaign to a collection of sexting messages he made to quite a few girls throughout current years. Platner bought married in 2023.
It was additionally revealed that Platner had an account on Kik, an encrypted messaging service in style for hookups. His account seems to nonetheless be lively.
The attractive oyster farmer is believed to have messaged as much as a dozen girls, although the precise quantity is disputed, in response to studies.
Booker’s colleague, Sen. Andy Kim (D-NJ), largely sidestepped questions on whether or not he’s uneasy about Platner.
“Proper now, this info is on the market,” Kim advised CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday. “With any marketing campaign within the nation, the character and the transparency in regards to the completely different candidates goes to come back out. That’s a part of the marketing campaign. And the voters will resolve.”
Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) equally evaded questions on Platner, telling CBS Information’ “Face the Nation” on Sunday that he hasn’t “adopted this story as intently.”
Platner’s spouse, Amy Gertner, reduce a uncooked, emotional video addressing the controversy, scolding the media and the marketing campaign’s former political director over the revelations.
The previous Marine is dealing with a flurry of scandals and controversies. Final yr, it was revealed that he had a tattoo on his chest that resembled a Totenkopf or “dying’s head” image utilized by the Nazi SS.
Platner has denied realizing about its Nazi ties and claimed to have gotten it in Croatia whereas inebriated in 2007. He has since inked over it with a “Celtic knot with some imagery round canine.”
The aspiring senator has additionally confronted revelations about his since-scrubbed Reddit account, together with posts about graffiti of males’s genitalia he had seen throughout his world travels, defending troopers urinating on lifeless Taliban troopers, arguing that white Individuals “really are” racist and silly, and calling struggle “essentially the most satisfying expertise.”
Earlier this month, previous posts emerged of him mocking a Purple Coronary heart soldier who captured bonkers helmet footage of himself transferring into the open to steer Taliban fireplace away from his fellow troopers.
“This video by no means will get previous. Dumb mom—er didn’t should dwell. At the least his stupidity and fats ass wheezing can be found for all future squaddies to witness and maintain in contempt,” Platner posted on Reddit, years after the footage went viral.
Platner has a 7.8 proportion level polling edge over Collins, in response to the most recent RealClearPolitics mixture of polls. Notably, Collins dramatically overperformed the RCP mixture within the race towards Democrat Sara Gideon in 2020.
