WASHINGTON — Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer is standing by embattled Maine Democrat Graham Platner, even after a deluge of recent reports on the candidate’s racy text messages with other women while he was married.
“I met with Graham Platner today. We’re going to beat Susan Collins and take back the Senate,” Schumer told reporters several times during a tense Tuesday news conference when asked about the candidate’s appearance in Washington, DC.
The Senate Democratic leader had initially backed Maine Gov. Janet Mills in the race to unseat incumbent Republican Sen. Susan Collins — but reversed course after Mills abandoned her campaign.
Photos obtained by The Post show Platner shirtless. The pictures were posted on Kik, an app notorious for child exploitation. Obtained by NY Post
Graham Platner is being backed by Schumer and Sanders. AP Photo/Robert F. BukatyShe reminded voters, however, that her name has yet to be removed from the ballot for the June 9 Maine Senate primary — despite her decision to suspend her campaign.
Schumer declined to answer follow-up questions about Mills’ shadow candidacy, adding only once: “I endorsed Graham Platner.”
Platner met with Senate Democrats on Capitol Hill following bombshell reports in The New York Times and Wall Street Journal about his suggestive texts with at least six women.
His wife, Amy Gertner, had approached a former Platner campaign aide about the incidents last year, which the aide, ex-political director Genevieve McDonald, confirmed to the Times.
Both Platner and his wife have dismissed the reporting as “gossip,” though they admitted to having sought marriage counseling last year.
Schumer said he met with the Platner and told reporters, “We’re going to beat Susan Collins and take back the Senate.” REUTERS
Schumer initially supported Gov. Janet Mills before she dropped out of the race. Getty Images
Planter met with Senate Democrats on Capitol Hill despite the bombshell reports of the current Senate candidate sexting at least 6 women on Kik. AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty
Ex-political director Genevieve McDonald told the Times that Platner’s wife, Amy Gertner, approached her about the incidents last year. AP Photo/Robert F. BukatyGertner told The Times: “I know the man I married and the husband he has been to me on the best and the worst days of my life. That hasn’t changed, and it won’t.”
The Maine Democrat had also reportedly maintained a profile on Kik, a hookup chat app, as recently as this week, with an account image showing Platner stripped to the waist and wearing a white towel.
His username, “phustle0331,” was nearly identical to a profile name on Reddit he maintained, “P-Hustle,” in which he shared profane or offensive comments.
“How about people just take some responsibility for themselves and not get so f–ked up they wind up having sex with someone they don’t mean to?” he said in a 2013 post about rapes involving women.
“These are words and statements I abhor,” Platner says in an advertisement his campaign put out responding to the controversy. “So, Maine, I’m asking you not to judge me for the worst thing I said on the internet on my worst day 14 years ago, but who I am today.”
Reps for Schumer’s office did not respond to a request for comment.
