Democrats Thought They Found The Perfect Conservative Archetype To Dupe Voters. Turns Out He’s Awful Just Like Them

(Photo by Sophie Park/Getty Images)

Just when Democrats thought they had found the perfect candidate, who could fit a conservative archetype and win rural voters in a very rural state, his less-than-flattering past keeps interrupting what could be a slam-dunk left-wing campaign.

Graham Platner, a progressive running for Republican Sen. Susan Collins’ seat in Maine, currently holds a rather substantial lead over his Democratic primary opponent, Maine Gov. Janet Mills. A poll released April 7 found that he leads Mills by an eye-popping 33 points. Other polls have consistently shown Platner pulling ahead by a wide margin. (RELATED: Maine Oyster Farmer’s Dad Somehow Found $60,000 To Drop On Democrats Despite ‘Working Class’ Background)

A former Marine and oyster farmer, Platner is running an anti-establishment, anti-billionaire campaign. Among other things, he wants to break up monopolies, make major reforms to the healthcare system, cut off aid and weapons to Israel, and pass a “cost-of-living” tax cut that will be paid for by increased taxes on billionaires.

Yet, for all his populist bona fides, he has repeatedly been under fire for past remarks that have resurfaced throughout his campaign.

Most recently, Platner was forced to apologize Wednesday.

OGUNQUIT, MAINE – OCTOBER 22: The marquee at Leavitt Theater promotes a town hall for U.S. senatorial candidate from Maine Graham Platner on October 22, 2025 in Ogunquit, Maine. Platner, a veteran of the U.S. Marines and an oyster farmer, is running for the seat held by Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME). (Photo by Sophie Park/Getty Images)

He used the word “retarded” in an interview with The Maine Monitor.

“I am sorry. I’m sorry that I said it. I am endeavoring to improve every single day. I am not a perfect person, and I continue to try to be better,” Platner said. “I will say that my politics is one of inclusivity and one of showing up for everybody, and I will continue every day to represent that in our policies and in our campaign.”

During that interview, Platner was quoted using the slur as he addressed a separate scandal: his now-covered-up tattoo that resembled a skull-and-crossbones emblem used by Nazi “Death’s Head” units.

Years ago I got a skull and crossbones tattoo with my buddies in the Marine Corps. I was appalled to learn it closely resembled a Nazi symbol. I altered it yesterday, into something that isn’t deeply offensive to my core beliefs. I am very sorry to all of you who had to… pic.twitter.com/RQSiRsrTiC — Graham Platner for Senate (@grahamformaine) October 22, 2025

Years ago I got a skull and crossbones tattoo with my buddies in the Marine Corps.

I was appalled to learn it closely resembled a Nazi symbol. I altered it yesterday, into something that isn’t deeply offensive to my core beliefs.

I am very sorry to all of you who had to… pic.twitter.com/RQSiRsrTiC

— Graham Platner for Senate (@grahamformaine) October 22, 2025

“I was like, ‘Well, that’s the fucking most retarded shit I’ve ever heard in my life,'” Platner told the outlet. “‘No, I don’t have a white supremacist tattoo,’ and I never thought about it again. And then it came up later on, and I was like, ‘God fucking damn it.'”

OGUNQUIT, MAINE – OCTOBER 22: Maine Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner speaks during a town hall at Leavitt Theater on October 22, 2025 in Ogunquit, Maine. Platner, a marine veteran and oyster farmer, is running for the seat held by Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME). (Photo by Sophie Park/Getty Images)

In October 2025, after Mills launched her own campaign, a series of previously deleted Reddit posts written by Platner was leaked. Writing under an online pseudonym, “P-Hustle,” Plater had described himself as a “communist,” called “all” police officers “bastards,” and, perhaps worst of all for a campaign that seeks to win over so many rural voters, smeared rural white Americans as racist and stupid. In another 2013 Reddit exchange, Platner questioned “why black people don’t tip.”

“I work as a bartender and it always amazes me how solid this stereotype is … Every now and again a black patron will leave a 15–20% tip, but usually it [is] between 0–5%. There’s got to be a reason behind it, what is it?” he asked.

Platner has drawn criticism for numerous Reddit posts about gay people, writing in August 2018, “Betcha not a single downvoter is a real combat vet. Feel free to back it up with facts, fags.” He also previously said that sexual assault victims should “just take some responsibility for themselves” and “act like an adult for fucks sake,” and defended a fellow Marine who had urinated on a dead Taliban fighter.

OGUNQUIT, MAINE – OCTOBER 22: U.S. senatorial candidate from Maine Graham Platner greets his mother, Leslie Harlow, after being introduced during a town hall at the Leavitt Theater on October 22, 2025 in Ogunquit, Maine. Platner, a veteran of the U.S. Marines and an oyster farmer, is running for the seat held by Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME). (Photo by Sophie Park/Getty Images)

“Out of curiosity, what would you say to the many Marines and Soldiers who took trophies and desecrated bodies while fighting the Japanese?” Platner reportedly wrote. “I find the urinating on bodies is a poor choice, but only because of the current state of media affairs. It’s amusing that today killing a man isn’t worthy of comment, but God forbid you display dominance. Only 50 years ago, and for the rest of the history of warfare, this stuff was pretty standard.”

Still, Platner has his defenders among the anti-establishment left, most notably Independent Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders.

“He went through a dark period. He’s not the only one in America who has gone through a dark period. People go through that. He has apologized for the stupid remarks, the hurtful remarks that he made, and I’m confident that he’s going to run a great campaign and that he’s going to win,” Sanders said of Platner’s tattoo in October 2025.

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