Senate Democrat Defends Graham Platner — Claims There’s a ‘Pretty Clear Contrast’ With Trump

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Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CN) argued Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner (D) remains the state’s best candidate to combat President Donald Trump’s “corruption,” even though Platner has “made mistakes” in his personal life.

Murphy was asked about Platner during an interview on Face the Nation on CBS on Sunday. Host Margaret Brennan brought up Platner a day after he was accused of sexting multiple women who were not his wife — a bombshell report that added to an already long list of controversies surrounding the Democratic candidate.

“The campaign for Graham Platner confirmed to CBS on Saturday that the Maine Senate candidate had sent sexually explicit texts to women other than his wife. This is in additon other past controversies,” Brennan said. “Does he pass the character test?”

Murphy did not answer her question directly.

“Yeah, I mean I have not followed this story as closely as others have,” Murphy said. “But I mean, Graham Platner is somebody who served our country, he’s served his community; he’s also made mistakes and he’s admitted that.”

He then argued Platner was still a better Senate option for Maine than incumbent Republican Susan Collins.

Murphy continued:

Character also involves standing up to people who are bankrupting and corrupting this country. And this race is going to be a contrast between somebody who has put his life on the line for this country, against somebody who is literally empowering the moral hollowing-out of our nation from the White House.

So he’s certainly admitted he’s made mistakes. But I think this is going to be a pretty clear contrast in Maine between somebody who has spent his life protecting us, versus somebody who seems to be protecting Donald Trump’s corruption.

Murphy’s answer comes after The Wall Street Journal broke the news about Platner’s sexts on Saturday. That report said Platner’s wife Amy Gertner told his campaign about the sexually explicit messages, which she discovered early in their marriage in the spring of 2025.

“In late August, as some aides were conducting opposition research on their own candidate, Gertner disclosed the texts to a campaign aide to make sure they didn’t pose a risk to her husband’s nascent campaign,” anonymous sources told the Journal. 

That was followed by a story from The Daily Wire reporter Tim Rice on Platner’s profile on Kik, which he described as the “predator’s paradise” app.

“Platner’s Kik profile features a photo of him topless in a towel, showing off his infamous tattoos,” Rice posted on X. “His username is… [almost] identical to the one he uses on his Instagram and Reddit accounts, the latter of which has caused a lot of problems for this campaign.”

Those reports add to the issues that have swamped Platner’s Senate bid. He infamously had a Nazi SS “Totenkopf” symbol on his chest, which he has since covered up. Platner has denied it was a Nazi tattoo, arguing it was merely a skull and crossbones tattoo he got while serving in the military.

A ton of unsettling posts Platner made on Reddit have also been uncovered during his campaign.

Gertner defended her husband and slammed the “shameful” reports in a video posted on X on Saturday night.

Watch above.

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