Democratic Senate candidate, Graham Platner, has made his first public appearance since it was revealed he was sexting at least six women while he and his wife were going through IVF.
Platner, 40, appeared at a campaign event on Sunday afternoon where a room full of people hooted and hollered for the Democrat, who is hoping to upset Susan Collins’ Republican seat in the Maine Senate race.
The husband and veteran was dressed in a casual polo and jeans, accessorizing with a trucker hat as he stood around people dressed similarly. He shared the video to X with the caption that he was taking his campaign ‘to the front porches of Maine.’
It comes after it was revealed yesterday that he sent sexually explicit messages to several women last year while he and wife, Amy Gertner, were attempting to conceive a child via IVF.
His wife had told his campaign last year that she had found her husband talking to women via text.
She disclosed the information to Genevieve McDonald, who was Platner’s political director until October.
The New York Times was the first to report on the sexts and when approached by the outlet, the Platner campaign admitted he had been communicating with up to six women, rather than an alleged dozen. His campaign said he had stopped before launching his Senate bid.
Gertner considered McDonald a friend and told her the information right before Platner was supposed to join a rally with Bernie Sanders over Labor Day weekend as she feared it might become a liability, The Wall Street Journal said.
Democratic Senate candidate, Graham Platner, has made his first public appearance since it was revealed he was sexting at least six women
Platner, 40, appeared at a campaign event on Sunday afternoon where a room full of people hooted and hollered
Sanders doubled down on his endorsement of Platner on Saturday, comparing the Maine oyster farmer to New York City Democratic Socialist Mayor Zohran Mamdani.
‘In Maine, one of our most rural states, we can do the same thing and elect Troy Jackson as Governor and Graham Platner as Senator,’ he wrote on X.
Platner’s wife has also come out swinging after the information was revealed on Saturday.
Later that evening, Gertner, who has been married to Platner since 2023, called those reports ‘really shameful’ – despite disclosing the information herself.
‘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.
Platner made the appearance a day after his sexting scandal became public
The rowdy crowd showed lots of support for the Democrat as they clapped and cheered when he entered the room
Campaign aides had decided the messages were a private matter and the 2025 rally went on as schedule, a campaign official told WSJ.
The couple handled the issue in marriage counseling, and the texts have never publicly been revealed.
Platner insisted he stopped texting other women before his political campaign started.
News about the texts came as the couple navigated IVF. They they were struggling to conceive, Gertner told the Bangor Daily News in January.
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.
‘He has A+ sperm,’ his wife told the outlet. ‘So the VA is not giving us any money.’
The couple’s journey to conceive has become an essential part of the Democrat’s campaign.
Gertner has since come out swinging for her husband since the scandal was revealed. She has insisted their marriage is strong
Bernie Sanders has also doubled down on his endorsement on Saturday
The couple met in 2021 when they were in other relationships, but later reconnected on Bumble, a dating app. They dated for six months before getting married in 2023, and they started trying for a child soon after.
The explicit texts are not the first scandal the wannabe father has found himself in since launching his Senate campaign.
He had to delete an old 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.
He also admitted to having a Nazi tattoo, which he has since covered up.
Platner has claimed he got the tattoo during a night of drinking in Croatia and was unaware of its Nazi association. He has since covered the tattoo with a different design.
‘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,’ his wife said
He also admitted to having a Nazi tattoo, which he has since covered up. The initial ink resembled a specific symbol of Hitler’s paramilitary SS during World War II
The initial ink resembled a specific symbol of Hitler’s paramilitary SS during World War II.
The progressive candidate’s campaign initially said he would remove the ink, but Platner said he chose to cover it up because of the limited options where he lives in rural Maine.
Many commenters brought up his tattoo under his rally post on Sunday, with one saying: ‘Looks like you rented a storage unit for your Nazi parade.’
‘Do they even know they are at a Nazi Rally?’ a second wrote.
‘Congratulations on gathering the dumbest of Maine,’ a third wrote.
‘This candidate worship is so insane… this is just some random dude with the ability to run because he’s connected and has a trust fund,’ another wrote.
Platner, at 51 percent, holds a nine percentage point lead over the incumbent Collins, according to a University of New Hampshire poll released on Wednesday.
