Will Maine voters extend 'forgiveness' to another Graham Platner controversy? Newsmakers

The anti-establishment candidate Graham Platner seemingly came out of nowhere to become the presumptive Democratic nominee for the Senate seat in Maine. But his campaign has been dogged by controversies: from old, deleted Reddit posts in which he made racist comments and blamed sexual assault on victims to a now-covered tattoo resembling a Nazi symbol. And most recently, the Wall Street Journal reported that Platner exchanged sexually explicit messages with multiple women early in his marriage.

Taken together, they raise a big question. Does he have too much baggage to carry on? Or can his anti-establishment political message — that has generated SO much enthusiasm among the democratic base — carry him through?

As part of our Newsmakers video podcast, Morning Edition’s Leila Fadel sat down with Platner before news of the explicit messages came out, to ask why voters, at least at the time, had chosen to forgive or turn a blind eye to his past.

In this episode, he also takes on the Iran war and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, criticizes the establishment of his own party and explains why he’s seeking a political revolution.

NPR reached out to Secretary Hegseth for a response to Platner's criticism. We have not yet received a response.