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Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., lashed out at towel-clad Republican staffers outside the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee’s (DSCC) headquarters this week after they confronted him and other top Dems over their support for scandal-plagued Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner.
Video obtained by Fox News Digital shows the Republican protesters, including staffers from the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC), dressed in towels to mock a sexually suggestive Kik profile photo of Platner that showed the Democratic Senate hopeful shirtless with a towel around his waist.
“Do you support Graham Platner even though he’s on Kik?” one protester asked Sanders outside the DSCC headquarters in Washington, D.C., where Platner and other top Dems were seen entering and exiting to meet with the embattled candidate ahead of his June 9 primary.
Platner’s campaign has been dogged by controversies, including a tattoo recognized as a Nazi symbol that he has since covered up, resurfaced Reddit posts that blamed rape victims, pushed racial stereotypes, mocked a Purple Heart veteran, and encouraged political violence, among other controversial comments on the popular blogging platform.
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Meanwhile, Platner’s issues continued just days ahead of his primary after it was reported Platner had exchanged sexually-explicit text messages with other women during his marriage and had an active Kik profile featuring a shirtless mirror selfie with a towel around his waist, a photo GOP staffers appeared to mock outside the DSCC by showing up in towels. Kik is an anonymous messaging app linked to child exploitation cases, which child-safety groups have criticized as a “predator’s paradise.”
Chants of “Platner is a creep!” and “Delete your Kik!” alongside signs that read “PEDO PLATNER MESSAGED KIDS” could be seen in video of the demonstration caught by Fox News Digital.
“Are you with the Republican party?” Sanders shot back in response to the protester’s question about Platner’s Kik account.
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“It doesn’t matter,” the protester returned before Sanders lashed out about Republican “morality” amid the heated back-and-forth.
“Are you talking about morality and corruption? With President Trump?” Sanders shouted at the protesters as he pointed back at them. “Have a nice day,” he said before walking off.
Fox News Digital has found no evidence that Platner communicated with minors on Kik. The controversy surrounding the account centers on the app’s child-safety reputation, the sexually suggestive profile photo and its emergence alongside separate reporting about Platner’s sexually explicit messages with women during his marriage.
Meanwhile, Platner has disputed portions of the reporting surrounding his personal life, while his wife has criticized the disclosure of private details about their marriage. He has also apologized for past online comments and said the tattoo, which he has since covered, was obtained years ago without knowledge of its Nazi associations.
The confrontation outside the DSCC underscored the increasingly public effort by Republicans to turn Platner’s controversies into a liability for national Democrats, including Sanders and other top party figures who have continued to stand by him ahead of Maine’s June 9 Democratic Senate primary.
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