Overview
- Platner issued a video apology Friday after national and local outlets verified deleted Reddit comments in which he called himself a “communist,” labeled police “bastards,” and derided rural white Americans as “racist” and “stupid.”
- Additional archived posts reported by POLITICO and Bangor Daily News include 2018 remarks about an “armed working class” and a 2013 question about why Black people “don’t tip,” as well as comments minimizing claims of accidental police shootings.
- He disavowed the posts in interviews, calling them “me f—ing around the internet,” and said they do not reflect who he is today, citing wartime trauma and describing himself as a Marine Corps veteran and small-business owner.
- His political director resigned after the reports, and both Democrats and Republicans criticized the comments, with Mills and Sen. Susan Collins issuing statements of opposition and GOP operatives highlighting the remarks as disqualifying.
- CNN’s KFile, POLITICO and the Bangor Daily News tied the deleted posts to Platner’s former Reddit handle using archives and biographical details, underscoring a political vulnerability for a Bernie Sanders–endorsed candidate who has raised roughly $4 million and needs moderate and independent voters.