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Several Democratic senators repeatedly declined to say whether they still support Maine Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner when pressed about leaked explicit sexual messages tied to the candidate.
Platner’s latest controversy in the public eye involves sexually explicit text exchanges with multiple women that surfaced publicly while he was married to his wife, Amy Gertner.
The Maine candidate also has an active profile on Kik — private messaging app associated with casual sex and anonymous encounters. The app lacks proper identification methods that have led it to enable child predators to share inappropriate material.
His profile, Phustle0331, has been active since 2016, but Platner’s campaign previously acknowledged that the Kik account, which was created in 2016, belonged to him, stating that he had deleted the app from his phone but did not deactivate the account, according to The Wall Street Journal.
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While most Democrats were hesitant to vocalize their support for Platner, Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., made it clear that he supports Platner in securing the Senate spot in Maine because of his opposition to President Donald Trump.
“We have in Maine, a candidate, that is Platner, who wants to stop Trump’s authoritarian destruction of our democracy,” Markey told Fox News Digital. “And we have another candidate, an incumbent, who hasn’t stood up to Trump. And so if you care about our Constitution, there’s really only one choice.”
Many Democratic lawmakers, including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., have continued to back Platner despite the growing scandal, arguing that flipping Maine’s now Republican-held Senate seat remains a top political priority.
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Not all Democrats offered an outright endorsement. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., said the decision ultimately belongs to Maine voters.
“I think that’s up to the voters of Maine to decide,” Shaheen said. “I don’t think inappropriate sexual behavior should be approved by anybody who does it, but the voters of Maine will have to decide that.”
Some Democrats declined to weigh in on the controversy or say whether they still support Platner as the countdown to Maine’s primary election enters its final days.
“I haven’t met him, I haven’t engaged with him, and I’m not going to answer that,” Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., said.
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“I don’t do campaign stuff in the Capitol,” Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, said when asked both if he was still supporting Platner and if he attended the meeting between some Democratic senators and Platner on Tuesday.
Platner invited the entire Senate Democratic caucus to a meeting Tuesday, though only about half a dozen senators were seen attending. Those in attendance included Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., Sen. Tina Smith, D-Minn., and Sen. Peter Welch, D-Vt.
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The primary election is set for Tuesday, leaving Maine voters just days to decide whether the controversy changes the trajectory of one of Democrats’ most closely watched Senate races.
Fox News Digital’s Adam Pack and Taylor Penley contributed to this report.
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