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BAR HARBOR, Maine – Graham Platner’s past relationships were “toxic and volatile,” Rep. Ro Khanna of California says of the Senate Democratic candidate aiming to unseat longtime Republican Sen. Susan Collins in one of this year’s most crucial ballot box showdowns.
But Khanna, a progressive leader from California who along with Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont is backing Platner, argued in a Fox News Digital interview on Friday night that Platner is “taking accountability” for his past and “we need that redemption in this country.”
Platner, the military combat veteran and oyster farmer who is considered the Democrats’ presumptive nominee ahead of Tuesday’s primary in Maine, has been playing defense amid multiple controversies, ranging from inflammatory online comments made on Reddit, a well-publicized and now-covered up tattoo on his chest that resembled a Nazi symbol, to new allegations this week from ex-girlfriends of a history of rape fantasies, heavy drinking and violent episodes.
The candidate is arguably facing the roughest stretch to date of his campaign against Collins, in a race that is one of a handful across the country which will decide if the Republicans hold on to their slim Senate majority in this year’s midterm elections.
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Collins, returning to Maine on Friday after a busy week on Capitol Hill where she reached a milestone by casting her 10,000th consecutive vote in the Senate, was asked by reporters about the latest allegations facing Platner.
“The allegations in the latest story are troubling,” Collins responded. “And I believe that Graham Platner has a lot of questions to answer.”
Collins, a moderate Republican who at times votes against President Donald Trump’s agenda, is running for a sixth six-year term in the Senate in left-leaning Maine.
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Speaking with Fox News Digital ahead of a rally with Platner, progressive gubernatorial candidate Troy Jackson and congressional contender Matt Dunlap, which was organized by Khanna, the congressman was asked if he was concerned the latest allegations could sink Platner’s campaign and hurt Democrats’ hopes of winning back the Senate.
“I’m more concerned about making it clear that we’re opposed to misogyny, those relationships were toxic and volatile, there’s no excuse for that,” Khanna said. “I talked to Graham and he says he was at a very dark period, he had come back from two tours of duty in Iraq as an infantry man seeing violence and death. That doesn’t excuse it.”
But Khanna added that Platner said “he really grew as a person when he came back to Maine and he was an oyster farmer and he found peace and he is ashamed of that period. To me that suggests someone taking accountability and improving their lives and we need that redemption in this country. And I agree with a lot of his economic policies, that we should be taxing the billionaires, we should be focusing on the working class.”
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After Christine Blasey Ford accused then-Supreme Court justice nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault in 2018, Khanna tweeted, “I stand with Dr. Christine Blasey Ford. Brett Kavanaugh is not fit to sit on the Supreme Court. #BelieveSurvivors.”
Back on home turf on Friday, the rally was held in this resort town next to Acadia National Park that is close to Platner’s hometown of Sullivan, Maine, the candidate thanked a large crowd of supporters for having his back and charged the incoming fire he’s facing is “politically motivated.”
“When hurtful things I said on the internet a decade ago came out into the public as I shared my personal journey through PTSD and darkness of recovery and accountability and growth. Maine had my back,” Platner said at a rally. “Now, as every single piece of that past and journey gets dug up, litigated, and weaponized, you have my back. And when politically motivated, serious and false, false accusations are made against me. Maine, you have my back.”
Platner, who has acknowledged his battle with post-traumatic stress disorder from his multiple tours of duty in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, apologized for his controversial Reddit posts after they made headlines last fall soon after he launched his Senate campaign.
And Platner has said he got the skull and crossbones tattoo in 2007 while drinking with fellow Marines stationed in Croatia. He said that he covered up the tattoo with a new design after learning last year that it resembled a Nazi symbol. But new allegations raise questions about Platner’s timeline regarding knowledge of the tattoo.
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Platner is facing plenty of incoming political fire from Republican groups. A super PAC aligned with Collins has been blasting Platner, running ads spotlighting his multiple controversies.
The National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC), in a social media post following Friday night’s rally, took aim at Platner, charging he’s “a fraud”
“He’s preaching about living a small but decent life growing up in Maine. The truth? Graham Platner is an elitist whose parents sent him to boarding school in Connecticut and bought him a house,” the NRSC wrote.
And the Republican National Committee (RNC) also targeted Platner.
“Graham Platner says his violent and erratic past is being “weaponized” against him. Platner said he would rape someone to show his dominance and “rape was about power,” the RNC research team wrote on X, as it pointed to new allegations against the candidate.
Platner, as he runs for the Senate, is pushing an economically populist agenda as he takes aim at corporate influences and advocates for the working class.
“I agree with a lot of his economic policies, that we should be taxing the billionaires, we should be focusing on the working class,” Khanna told Fox News Digital.
Platner is considered the all-but-certain Democratic nominee after two-term Gov. Janet Mills, who was backed by longtime Senate Democratic Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer and the Democratic Party establishment, dropped out of the race earlier this spring after significantly trailing Platner in fundraising and polling.
Mills, in a recent interview, noted that her name remains on the ballot. And a source in her wider political orbit confirmed to Fox News that the governor is receiving calls urging her to get back in the race amid Platner’s controversies. But there’s no active campaign effort on behalf of Mills.
Asked about Mills, Khanna told Fox News Digital: “the great thing about democracy, you can run full steam ahead, you can kind of run ambiguously like Janet Mills, you can keep your name on that campaign. That’s why I love American democracy.”
But he predicted that “Platner is going to come out victorious. And we need to unite and realize that the goal is defeating Susan Collins. And everyone from Schumer to Sanders is unified around that goal.
Platner’s campaign said that more than 600 people attended the rally. And they touted that they had raked in $200,000 in fundraising the past 24 hours, which they said was their strongest fundraising day since Mills suspended her campaign.
WATCH: Maine residents weigh in on Platner amid mounting controversies:
Maine voters that Fox News Digital spoke with ahead of the rally were divided on whether Platner’s controversies will impact their opinions of the candidate.
Jeff from Waterboro, Maine, said, “it’s not a good situation” as he pointed to Platner. “I think it’s somebody who shouldn’t’ be in the mix. I am a conservative but he’s just got so much damage, if the Democrats want to have a winner, they’re going to have to find somebody else. He’s not the guy. It’s just too much.”
Ellen from Acton, Maine, who said she is a registered Republican, said, “is he a perfect person? Heck no.”
But she added, “I think he will go in and do a good job.”
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