Deleted posts urging violence haunt Democratic Senate hopeful in Maine race

Old online posts that appear to promote violence to achieve political change have triggered new scrutiny of a rising star on the progressive left who's running for the Senate in Maine.

Graham Platner, a U.S. Marine and Army veteran and oyster farmer who is gaining momentum in the race to take on longtime Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, said on the social media platform Reddit in 2018 that "all" police are bastards and called himself a "communist."

In a separate post, he argued that if people "expect to fight fascism without a good semi-automatic rifle, they ought to do some reading of history."

And in another post, he said "an armed working class is a requirement for economic justice."

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The posts, which were first reported by CNN and Politico, were deleted ahead of Platner's August Democratic Senate campaign launch.

In statements to CNN and Politico, Platner said, "I was [expletive] around on the internet at a time when I felt lost and very disillusioned with our government who sent me overseas to watch my friends die."

"I made dumb jokes and picked fights. But of course I'm not a socialist. I'm a small business owner, a Marine Corps veteran, and a retired s***poster," the 41-year-old Platner added.

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In the wake of last month's assassination of Charlie Kirk, the co-founder of the politically potent conservative youth organization Turning Point USA, media star, and close ally and outside advisor to President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance, and the June murder of former Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband, past comments by politicians advocating violence have drawn increased scrutiny.

This year's statewide races in Virginia have been rocked after the National Review first reported on three-year-old texts by Democratic Attorney General nominee Jay Jones, in which he compared then-State House Speaker Todd Gilbert to mass murderers Adolf Hitler and Pol Pot, adding that if he was given two bullets, he would use both against the GOP lawmaker to shoot him in the head.

And reporting this week by Politico of racist, antisemitic, and violent online messages by Young Republicans groups triggered resignations.

Platner, in disavowing his past comments, told CNN, "I don't want people to see me for who I was in my worst internet comment - or even frankly who I was in my best internet comment … I don't think any of that is indicative of who I am today."

The National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC), the political arm of the Senate GOP, took aim at Platner.

"Graham Platner is a communist who supports violence against Republicans to promote his radical agenda. These posts are not just him messing around on the internet as he is trying to claim, they paint a very dark picture of a candidate not fit for office," NRSC Regional Press Secretary Samantha Cantrell charged in a statement.

On Friday afternoon, as the reports of the controversial past posts were gaining traction, the Bangor Daily News reported that in Reddit posts from 2013, Platner asked why Black people "don't tip" and suggested people concerned about being raped shouldn't be inebriated around people they don't feel comfortable with.

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Platner, who is backed by progressive champion and two-time Democratic presidential nomination runner-up Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, has been drawing large crowds as he campaigns across blue-leaning Maine. 

In another sign of the Afghanistan and Iraq War veteran and political newcomer's momentum, Platner hauled in over $3 million in fundraising during the first six weeks after declaring his candidacy.

Platner, who advocates for universal healthcare and restricting arm sales to Israel - which are top tenets among the left - is working with Democratic strategist Morris Katz, who is also a top consultant on democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani's surging 2025 campaign for New York City mayor.

But the Democratic Senate primary race in Maine was dramatically altered this week when two-term Democratic Gov. Janet Mills announced her candidacy following encouragement from Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer.

Schumer, the top Democrat in the Senate, views the 77-year-old Mills as the best candidate to defeat Collins, who is the only Republican senator up for re-election next year in a state the Democrats carried in the presidential election. A Collins defeat would be essential for the Democrats to have any chance of winning back the Senate majority in next year's midterm elections.

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Also running for the Democratic nomination is former congressional staffer Jordan Wood, who raked in roughly $3 million during the July-September third quarter of fundraising.

But Dan Kleban, a co-founder of the Maine Beer Company who was a Senate candidate, ended his campaign and backed Mills after the governor entered the race.

The 72-year-old Collins, a moderate Republican, first won election to the Senate in 1996. She currently chairs the influential Senate Appropriations Committee.

Collins won comfortable double-digit re-elections in 2002, 2008, and 2014.

In her 2020 re-election, Collins faced off against Democratic State House Speaker Sara Gideon, in a hotly contested race that became the most expensive in Maine history. While polls indicated Collins trailing her Democratic challenger, she ended up winning the election by more than eight points.

Fox News Digital reached out to Platner's campaign for comment but did not immediately receive a response.