The wife of an embattled Maine Democrat has come out swinging after her husband’s sexually explicit messages to other women were exposed.
On Saturday, it was revealed that Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner’s wife, Amy Gertner, found that her partner had sent the inappropriate messages to at least a dozen women while the couple was trying to conceive a child through in vitro fertilization (IVF).
But later that evening, Gertner, who has been married to Platner since 2023, called those reports ‘really shameful’ – despite disclosing the information herself to Genevieve McDonald, who was Platner’s political director until October, The New York Times reported.
‘I wanted to make a statement today about a couple of news articles that are out there about my marriage to Graham,’ the 41-year-old said in a video that the politician shared to his campaign page on X.
‘So it makes me really angry, disappointed, and I find it really shameful that there’s a group of media outlets and people who are willing to spread gossip, instead of talking about real issues that Graham is running on, like healthcare and education and childcare,’ Gertner continued.
She went on to insist that she and her husband have a ‘great marriage’ and that they have been struggling with infertility.
‘Graham and I have a great marriage. Being married is hard. Being newly married is hard. Being newly married and going through infertility is hard.
‘Being newly married, going through infertility, and a Senate campaign is hard. I don’t even know if I have the right words to describe what we’ve been going through,’ she added.
Amy Gertner, the wife of Maine Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner, hit out at media outlets that reported that her husband sent sexually explicit messages to other women
On Saturday, it was revealed that Gertner found out that her husband had sent the inappropriate messages to at least a dozen women while they were trying to conceive a child through in vitro fertilization (IVF)
Gertner further revealed that the couple has been getting help from a marriage counselor and each of their personal therapists.
‘And we work on our mental health every day. No marriage is perfect and I don’t want a perfect marriage, I want my marriage, and I want to be married to Graham,’ she added.
Gertner continued: ‘I admire the f*** out of him. So when there are news article about our marriage, it’s just extra sh****. Can I say that online? I hope I can.
‘So I think I’m feeling angry today and I don’t normally make public statements, but it’s really important for me to tell all of your out there, especially people who are voting in Maine, that I think it’s shameful behavior to spend time, and energy and resources on negative ads and negative stories on Graham when all he’s trying to do is improve the lives of people who work for a living.’
Her comments come after news broke that Gertner told McDonald about the scandal last year.
Gertner considered McDonald a friend and shared the information with her right before Platner was supposed to join a rally with Sanders over Labor Day weekend as she feared it might become a liability, according to The Wall Street Journal.
After Gertner told his campaign, it was decided that the messages were a private matter and the rally went on as scheduled, a campaign official told WSJ.
In a statement released by the campaign, Gertner suggested she had been betrayed by Ms McDonald, saying she was ‘deeply hurt’.
‘I confided deeply personal details about my marriage to someone I considered a friend,’ she said. ‘I trusted this person with the most private chapter of our lives — the early days of our marriage before any campaign was on our mind.’
In the profile picture from Platner’s Kik account viewed by the Daily Mail, he was wearing only a towel while taking a bare-chested photo in the bathroom.
In the profile picture from Platner’s Kik account viewed by the Daily Mail, he was wearing only a towel while taking a bare-chested photo in the bathroom
Platner’s face was not featured in the image, but his tattoos were visible, and the Democratic candidate’s public profile featured his full name.
However, Platner’s Totenkopf ink, which is widely recognized as a Nazi symbol, was obscured by his hand. He has since covered up the tattoo.
When the news first came to light, Gertner said she and Platner were working on their issues in counseling.
‘We did the hard work that marriage requires,’ she said through her husband’s campaign.
‘We were honest with each other in ways that weren’t easy. And we came through it, not in spite of how much we’ve been through, but because of how much we love each other and the life we’ve built.’
The wife, who is employed by her husband’s campaign, insisted her marriage to the oyster farmer was ‘stronger than ever before’.
‘I know who Graham is. 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,’ she said.
The Platner campaign told The New York Times that he had been communicating with up to six women, rather than up to a dozen.
The Platner (pictured with Senator Bernie Sanders on May 24) campaign told The New York Times that he had been communicating with up to six women, rather than up to a dozen.
The wife, who is employed by her husband’s campaign, insisted her marriage to the oyster farmer was ‘stronger than ever before’
He had stopped before launching his campaign.
In January, Gertner told the Bangor Daily News that she and her husband were struggling to conceive a child.
They did the reproductive treatment in Norway, as the cost of doing it in the US far exceeded their financial capacity, she said.
Platner, who is a veteran, was unable to get any help from the VA, per the outlet.
‘He has A+ sperm. So the VA is not giving us any money,’ she told the publication.
The couple’s journey to conceive has become an essential part of the Democrats’ campaign.
They met in 2021 when they were both in other relationships, but the pair later reconnected on the dating app Bumble.
The couple’s journey to conceive has become an essential part of the Democrats’ campaign
They dated for six months before tying the knot in 2023, and they started trying to start a family soon after.
This is not the first scandal Gertner has been engulfed in since launching his Senate campaign, as he previously deleted a Reddit account, which included comments downplaying sexual assault and vulgar remarks about sex workers, WSJ reported.
He also reportedly made comments suggesting he had lenient views about infidelity.
In one post, he reportedly wrote about ‘getting wasted and bragging about all the chicks he was slaying who weren’t his wife’ at a local bar, WSJ reported.
‘I’ve got a pretty flexible moral compass when it comes to those things,’ he reportedly said.
The Daily Mail contacted Gertner’s campaign for comment.
