General Discussion

RandySF

(86,755 posts) Mon Jun 1, 2026, 05:29 AM 7 hrs ago

ME-SEN: Platner Denies Reports About Sexually-Explicit Texts

Graham Platner (D) “struck a defiant posture on Sunday in response to reports that he had sent sexual messages to women outside his marriage, accusing a former aide of false claims and news outlets of ‘journalistic malpractice,’” the New York Times reports.

Asked by reporters whether they were true, he said: “No. This is the amazing part. The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times ran stories without any evidence besides the gossip from a former staffer. I’m sorry, that’s — that’s frankly journalistic malpractice. We pushed back on it.”

CNN: “CNN has not independently confirmed the existence of the text messages. CNN did verify that an account on the messaging app Kik appears to belong to Platner. The account, under the username ‘phustle0331,’ features a profile photo showing Platner shirtless in a bathroom with a towel on his waist and uses a handle similar to ones on his since-deleted Reddit account and a now-deleted Instagram account.”

https://politicalwire.com/2026/06/01/platner-denies-reports-about-sexually-explicit-texts/

12 replies

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Highlight:

ME-SEN: Platner Denies Reports About Sexually-Explicit Texts (Original Post) RandySF 7 hrs ago OP

Meanwhile.... chelsea0011 6 hrs ago #1

Amazing isn't it? harumph 5 hrs ago #2

What are you talking about? Quiet Em 3 hrs ago #7

When and what did Jeffries say? I searched and found nothing. Could you tell us? betsuni 3 hrs ago #11

His wife told the campaign these texts existed and the campaign confirmed it to reporters. Is he calling them liars? WhiskeyGrinder 4 hrs ago #3

And now the kik profile is starting to percolate. . RandySF 4 hrs ago #4

So he's calling his wife a liar? mcar 3 hrs ago #5

Do he and his wife talk? karynnj 3 hrs ago #6

Asked if he was confirming that the messages do not exist, he answered krawhitham 3 hrs ago #8

The Times also confirmed the texts with a current campaign staffer. RandySF 3 hrs ago #9

There it is. If he knowingly will misrepresent the sexts that his Nixie 3 hrs ago #10

Hmm...I wonder how the Mainers are looking at this. MineralMan 2 hrs ago #12

chelsea0011

(10,251 posts)

1. Meanwhile....

Reply to RandySF (Original post)

Mon Jun 1, 2026, 07:26 AM

6 hrs ago

Paxton gets meeting with Thune while House leader Jeffries shits on Platner. It never changes.

harumph

(3,441 posts)

2. Amazing isn't it?

Reply to chelsea0011 (Reply #1)

Mon Jun 1, 2026, 07:35 AM

5 hrs ago

Circular firing squad.

Quiet Em

(3,077 posts)

7. What are you talking about?

Reply to chelsea0011 (Reply #1)

Mon Jun 1, 2026, 10:10 AM

3 hrs ago

I don't believe Jeffries has ever said anything about Graham Platner. Why would he?

betsuni

(29,352 posts)

11. When and what did Jeffries say? I searched and found nothing. Could you tell us?

Reply to chelsea0011 (Reply #1)

Mon Jun 1, 2026, 10:22 AM

3 hrs ago

WhiskeyGrinder

(27,283 posts)

3. His wife told the campaign these texts existed and the campaign confirmed it to reporters. Is he calling them liars?

Reply to RandySF (Original post)

Mon Jun 1, 2026, 08:41 AM

4 hrs ago

RandySF

(86,755 posts)

4. And now the kik profile is starting to percolate. .

Reply to WhiskeyGrinder (Reply #3)

Mon Jun 1, 2026, 08:46 AM

4 hrs ago

mcar

(46,429 posts)

5. So he's calling his wife a liar?

Reply to RandySF (Original post)

Mon Jun 1, 2026, 09:38 AM

3 hrs ago

karynnj

(61,150 posts)

6. Do he and his wife talk?

Reply to RandySF (Original post)

Mon Jun 1, 2026, 09:44 AM

3 hrs ago

How do you square his denial with her video yesterday? The only think I can think of is that there were messages but the couple differ on their characterization.

krawhitham

(5,096 posts)

8. Asked if he was confirming that the messages do not exist, he answered

Reply to RandySF (Original post)

Mon Jun 1, 2026, 10:17 AM

3 hrs ago

“I’m confirming that what Genevieve McDonald said in The New York Times is not true.”

That's not technically denying the sexually-explicit texts exist, just saying

So yesterdays plan was to confirm the text story? You have his wife's video plus his campaign flat out confirming them yesterday

And what, today's plan is to scream fake news and hope it blows over?

Welcome to the Streisand effect

RandySF

(86,755 posts)

9. The Times also confirmed the texts with a current campaign staffer.

Reply to krawhitham (Reply #8)

Mon Jun 1, 2026, 10:21 AM

3 hrs ago

Nixie

(18,141 posts)

10. There it is. If he knowingly will misrepresent the sexts that his

Reply to RandySF (Original post)

Mon Jun 1, 2026, 10:22 AM

3 hrs ago

own wife brought up, then he is capable of knowingly misrepresenting his tattoo. Red flags again. What else is being misrepresented.

MineralMan

(151,701 posts)

12. Hmm...I wonder how the Mainers are looking at this.

Reply to RandySF (Original post)

Mon Jun 1, 2026, 10:28 AM

2 hrs ago

Maybe they'll re-elect Susan Collins. That'd be great, eh? Maybe she'll consider voting with the Democratic Caucus in the Senate...again....

Anyone from Maine care to comment?

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