Embattled Maine Democratic Senate hopeful Graham Platner lastly addressed the infidelity scandal roiling his marketing campaign after placing his spouse ahead to reply for him in a solo video that critics likened to a hostage movie.
Platner, 41, and spouse, Amy Gertner, spoke briefly to Information Middle Maine Sunday after a marketing campaign look in Portland, dismissing as “gossip” allegations that the attractive oyster farmer exchanged sexually specific messages with as many as a dozen girls because the couple tied the knot in 2023.
“It’s no shock to me that the institution media retailers are simply going to run gossip as a substitute of wanting to speak concerning the issues that really matter on this race, that are the fabric realities that Mainers are working with,” stated Platner, trying to pin his private failings on the New York Instances and Wall Avenue Journal for reporting them.
“Amy and I’ve a really loving and really glad marriage. They’d very very similar to to attempt to rip that aside,” he claimed earlier than rehashing his stump speech about closing hospitals, low pay for lecturers and nurses and Mainers’ paychecks not going so far as they used to.
“However in fact, the powers that be are not looking for us to speak about that, and they also’re simply going to do gossip as a substitute,” Platner concluded.
Requested immediately if the allegations have been inaccurate, Platner instructed the outlet: “The Wall Avenue Journal and New York Instances ran tales with none proof moreover the gossip from a former staffer. I’m sorry, that’s frankly, journalistic malpractice.”
The Journal broke the story Saturday about Platner’s extramarital sexting — which his marketing campaign has since admitted may embrace as many as six girls — whereas additionally revealing he had an lively account on personal message app Kik, which customers incessantly make use of to pursue hookups.
Platner’s profile picture on Kik was a toilet mirror selfie that includes him sporting solely a towel.
“We talked about issues in Amy and I’s marriage that we’ve gone by over time. We talked about that, as a result of that’s our marriage, and we mentioned it with the marketing campaign,” Platner insisted.
In a weird twist to the story, Gertner was the one who tipped off marketing campaign staffers about her husband’s actions.
Each controversies are the newest scandals to solid a shadow over Platner’s Senate marketing campaign, wherein the presumptive Democratic nominee holds a 7.8% edge over longtime incumbent Republican Susan Collins, in line with the newest RealClearPolitics polling common.
Final 12 months, revelations emerged that Platner had a tattoo on his chest that resembled a Totenkopf, or “dying’s head” image, utilized by the Nazi SS. Platner claimed to have gotten the tattoo throughout a drunken night time out in Croatia in 2007 and denied realizing its Nazi hyperlinks.
He later inked over it with a “Celtic knot with some imagery round canine,” as he described it.
The Marine Corps veteran has additionally been dogged over offensive posts on his since-scrubbed Reddit account, wherein he defended troopers urinating on useless Taliban troopers, stated white People “really are” racist and silly, and mocked helmet-cam footage of a Purple Coronary heart recipient who put himself within the line of enemy hearth to attract warmth away from his fellow troopers.
“This video by no means will get outdated. Dumb mom—er didn’t should dwell. Not less than his stupidity and fats ass wheezing can be found for all future soldiers to witness and maintain in contempt,” Platner posted on Reddit, years after the footage went viral.
Platner is anticipated to safe the Democratic nomination June 9, having no severe opponent after Maine Gov. Janet Mills dropped out of the race April 30.
