Maine Senate Frontrunner Graham Platner Faces Backlash Over Archived Praise for Hamas Raid

Overview

• Jewish Insider reported that archived Reddit comments attributed to Platner praised a 2014 Hamas operation as a “damn fine” and “successful” raid, adding “I dig it.”
• The posts, from a deleted account using the handle P-Hustle on r/CombatFootage, discussed helmet video tied to a Hamas Al-Qassam Brigades raid near Kibbutz Nahal Oz.
• Platner apologized last fall for offensive Reddit posts and for a chest tattoo that resembled a Nazi symbol.
• After he told CBS that a “hyper-masculine” military culture shaped his past views, veterans in Congress including Rep. Don Bacon and Sen. Tim Sheehy rejected that defense.
• Platner is the polling and fundraising leader backed by Sens. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, facing Gov. Janet Mills, who is supported by Sen. Chuck Schumer and the DSCC, for the chance to challenge Republican Sen. Susan Collins.