Graham Platner now calls his comments ‘abhorrent’
Maine Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner, who is already facing controversy over racist social media posts and having a tattoo of a Nazi symbol, also made Reddit comments containing “homophobic slurs, anti-LGBTQ+ jokes, and sexually explicit stories denigrating gay men,” according to a Wednesday report.
“The unearthed posts show a pattern of homophobic language and rhetoric that mocked or demeaned LGBTQ+ people,” the Advocate reported Wednesday. “In some cases, Platner appeared to use slurs casually in discussions unrelated to sexuality; in others, he explicitly framed gay people as the punch line.”
In 2021, Platner posted, “I like how our gay antics make him so uncomfortable he hates us. I’m doubling down on gay chicken next time in honor of this Air Force pussy.” A year earlier, he wrote, “This was the gayest (not in the fun dick sucking way) thing I’ve ever seen. This dude is literally everything I hate all rolled into one.” In other posts, he taunted users to “back it up with facts, fags,” and mocked military officers as “gay.”
Platner confirmed and apologized to the Advocate for what he now calls his “indefensible” anti-gay remarks, which he posted between 2016 and 2021. “I made a lot of comments over the years and talked a lot of shit on the internet,” Platner told the LGBT news site in an interview. “I stopped using that specific kind of language a while ago … and today I find that stuff abhorrent. And I am sorry that I ever used it.”
The news comes on the heels of reports this week that Platner has a tattoo of a Nazi “Totenkopf,” or skull, on his chest. While the Maine Democrat claimed to be unaware of the symbolism, one former associate of his said the candidate “knows damn well” the meaning of the tattoo, and another said Platner referred to the ink as “my Totenkopf.” Platner has since unveiled a new tattoo to cover up the Nazi symbol.
The Democratic Senate hopeful already faced backlash earlier this month over Reddit posts in which he called himself a communist and denigrated both white rural Americans and black people. In other posts, Platner referred to “all” police officers as bastards and suggested that people wearing “underwear designed to prevent sexual assault” should “take some responsibility for themselves and not get so fucked up.”
Platner, who is running to challenge Republican senator Susan Collins in next year’s midterms, still holds a commanding lead in Maine’s Democratic primary, with 58 percent support, according to a University of New Hampshire poll released Thursday. His nearest rival, Gov. Janet Mills, received only 24 percent support.
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