ME-SEN: Mills releases another ad knocking Platner over sexual assault remarks

[RandySF]

Maine Gov. Janet Mills’s (D) campaign put out another advertisement on Thursday, going after her progressive opponent Graham Platner over remarks on sexual assault.

In the ad, a woman named Betsy E. says she “proudly served in the United States Army, and I was raped.”

“For all women who have ever been raped, the pain never goes away. Graham Platner said women could avoid rape if they don’t ‘get so f—ed up they’ end ‘up having sex with someone they don’t mean to.’ Mr. Platner, I was not f—ed up,” the woman adds.

“Platner said women could avoid rape if they act like adults, ‘for f—’s sake,’ The rapists are to blame, not women like me.”




https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/5801420-maine-governor-mills-ad-sexual-assault/

[QueerDuck]

1. Now, I hate him even more.

[niyad]

87. I only recently learned about him from here on DU, and am, to put it

mildly, outraged. Too many alarm bells going off in my head, even if Sen. Warren endorsed him.

[ananda]

2. Rightwing language... calling him progressive...

Grrr

[Pototan]

3. These kinds of ads will cost us this seat

no matter who the nominee is.

[JI7]

6. No, He will win the Primary and the GE .

[RandySF]

9. No. Collin's will beat him.

[JI7]

11. No, he is a young white hetero man and that's all that matters in this race

If he was non white those comments would have ended it for him .

[niyad]

13. 41 is not exactly "young", even to my advanced years.

[JI7]

15. Young for the Senate and compared to the women he is running against.

[fujiyamasan]

7. I have had a bad feeling Collins will skate by once again

Just because Maine seems to constantly fall for her being a supposed moderate. She should have lost last time.

But this time gas prices and the war could sink her.

[JI7]

12. I don't think it's the moderate thing. I think it's because she probably brings things to the state

Funding for things that she is able to get from serving in the SEnate for so long.

[RandySF]

10. Platner basically wrote the ad for her.

[EdmondDantes_]

24. So we should ignore things?

If his words cost us an election, that's a lesson to learn about someone with an incredibly problematic background continuing in a primary.

[karynnj]

92. If they disqualified Platner, it would be better to have them now

All of these things were dug up I think by someone supporting another candidate before Mills entered the race. They have all been out there for months while he has become stronger in both the primary and general election. As a 75 year old, whose favorite candidate was the very honorable John Kerry, it surprises me that none of this sticks.

So, I have tried to consider what his attraction is. The only insight I can conjure up was that in 2016, in NH there was a significant number of people uncertain whether they wanted to support Bernie in the Democratic primary or Trump in the general. As a politician and a person Bernie is almost the opposite of Trump. The common ground might be both reject mainstream politicians.

Could that be what is happening here? Could that explain why so many things that have been uncovered have no impact? Consider he created an image of being an oysterman, obscuring he was from a prominent family, went to an elite school and was greatly helped by his family in his business. When that was pointed out, no one cared.

On the darker things, his tattoo and his misogynistic, homophobic, racist comments, it's almost like the GWB " I was young and irresponsible" so nothing before age 40 or so counts. Yet everything Al Gore said was used ( or in the case of having led on funding the program that led to the internet, misused) ( or why Access Hollywood didn't end Trump's run, though every word Hillary had ever said seemed to matter.)

I live in VT, not Maine, so I haven't seen anything showing what he says he stands for. If I was in Maine, I would vote for Mills. As to the difference in the general election polls, I wonder if there is more of a tendency for Platner voters to claim they would not vote, were undecided or even would vote for Collins than there is for the more mainstream Mills voters.

[Boo1]

93. Just locker room talk...

Right?

[JI7]

4. Very progressive of him

[niyad]

29. I do hope you forgot the sarcasm thingy.

[2naSalit]

5. It's already...

Leaving a mark. He is having trouble addressing his issues when asked about them.

Time will tell, Mills knows how to hit him, primary is in June I think.

[Puppyjive]

8. That seems to be the standard answer

I was once told by a vereran service officer that women were to blame because they get drunk and bring it on. I don't care what anyone says, especially a man, no means no.

[Joinfortmill]

18. Wow, victim shaming big time. It's more like ply with drinks...

until they are intoxicated.

[niyad]

30. And there is the fact that not all women or girls who are raped are

intoxicated.

[Joinfortmill]

95. That is true.

[SSJVegeta]

14. This guy has at least had some very backwards views at one point

Not sure how far removed from them he is yet, and that's a major concern. I'd like to see his explanation beyond "they were shit posts"

[niyad]

32. He excused them by saying he was experiencing PTSD episodes.

See my post 20.

[SSJVegeta]

38. Social media should start coming with surgeon general disclaimers

One of which says "when misused, may derail all future political ambitions."

[niyad]

41. As I keep reminding people who do not seem to grasp the concept, once

something is out there, be it print, or video, speech, online, whatever, SOMEBODY SKMEWHERE has a copy, no matter what one thinks one has erased or destroyed. (waving at agent freddie!).

[TheRickles]

16. Politics in America today - a social media post from 10 years ago, and you're toast.

Was that comment part of a pattern, a one-off, were there behaviors and publics stands along these same lines, etc.?

[RandySF]

17. What about the Nazi tattoo?

[Joinfortmill]

19. Yikes!

[AllyCat]

22. Yeah, that's what I want to know.

So far there isn’t a great answer.

[TheRickles]

25. I believe his story that it was a drunken night out with the boys.

The tattoo was an obscure Nazi symbol, not obvious like a swastika. His life after that has not been marked by right-wing racism and misogyny, or any signs that the tattoo represented a core belief. I'm more impressed by his progressive political stands than by a Reddit post from 10 years ago and a tattoo from 20 years ago.

[EX500rider]

28. And how do you explain his working for Blackwater as a mercenary?

And getting a Nazi tattoo 20 years ago was bad, keeping it for 20 years is 10 times worse IMO

[TheRickles]

34. Six months doing security for the US Ambassador in Kabul. Not the stereotype Blackwater stuff.

Versus 3 tours of combat duty in Iraq, 8 years overseas, PTSD - and calling oligarchs the enemy and etc. Seems to me like some powerful buzzwords are getting linked to him, and are triggering a strong enough reaction to jeopardize the candidacy of one of the few politicians who is clearly a pro-working class social democrat.

[EX500rider]

37. Doing security IS typical Blackwater stuff.

And he hired on AFTER they gained widespread notoriety for the Nisour Square massacre in Baghdad, when a group of its employees killed 17 Iraqi civilians and injured 20.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

31. A totenkopf is not obscure. He knew what it was and kept it for years.

[TheRickles]

33. Had you ever seen this symbol before the Platner story broke? I hadn't.

I'm not immersed in the world of tattoos, but I've been around the block and I doubt this was common knowledge.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

35. Having a passing knowledge of World War II and being someone who thinks it's important to keep an eye on Nazi

imagery sneaking into the mainstream, I've been familiar with it for years.

If you're online at all, you've probably seen it yourself:



The man prides himself on his knowledge of military history. He knew what he was doing.

[niyad]

42. Actually, even I knew about that tattoo decades ago, but then, I pay

attention to symbols.

[DFW]

63. Most people I know recognize(d) it immediately

Of course, my dad was a WWII vet, and I live in Germany, so it’s hard to find anyone in my circle of acquaintences who would NOT immediately recognize that symbol.

[EX500rider]

90. It's not common in the world of tattoos because most people don't get Nazi tattoos

It is in the top three of Nazi symbology though.
Basically the swastika, followed by the SS lightning bolts followed by this.

[yorkster]

62. And called it his Totenkopf.

[questionseverything]

66. Link to prove that?

[yorkster]

69. Don't have a link, but have read somewhere

maybe reddit that he referred to it as my Totenkopf sometime before any publicity about the tattoo, the comments on Reddit, etc.
I should have said that I didn't have a link, just remembered reading it. Apologies.

[yardwork]

73. See my post right below. The evidence is damning.

The guy is a complete jerk. Basically, he appears to have the same personality and message as Trump.

[yorkster]

75. Thx yardwork.

[yardwork]

71. CNN:

https://www.cnn.com/2025/10/24/politics/graham-platner-nazi-tattoo-evidence-kfile-invs

Excerpted by a right-wing publication, because they're going to have a field day with this:

In one thread from 2019, Platner weighed in on a conversation about the “Totenkopf” … to note that many US service members had adopted similar imagery, such as the Punisher skull used by some Navy SEALs.

Using his longtime Reddit handle P-Hustle, the former Marine infantryman and future Democratic Senate hopeful also argued in a 2020 online discussion that “SS” lightning-bolt tattoos were a “culture” marker within Marine Scout Sniper units, not an expression of White supremacist ideology.

When commenters in the 2020 thread described the lightning bolts as a Nazi or racist symbol, Platner dismissed the criticism, writing that outsiders “have no idea what they’re talking about” and added, “I will be sure to inform the Black guys I know with bolts that they’re Nazis now.”

…

CNN also spoke with an acquaintance of Platner from more than a decade ago who said Platner spoke about his tattoo resembling a Nazi symbol. A second person told CNN that they learned of the tattoo years ago from the acquaintance, who told them that Platner had described it as a Nazi-style design.

CNN also reviewed a text chain between the acquaintance and another person discussing Platner’s Nazi-like tattoo several months ago, before the story became public.

[questionseverything]

74. I don't want politicians that support Israel blindly

I would trust the guy with the tat

[mcar]

79. You'd rather a Nazi?

[yardwork]

82. If you think about it, that's a consistent position.

Wild hysterical fear of anything related to Israel is an emotional response compatible with being ok with Nazis. Maybe even pro-Nazi, as Platner appears to be.

[tritsofme]

89. You trust people who tattoo themselves with Nazi imagery more than people who are sympathetic to Jews? Got it.

Actually not particularly surprising.

[yardwork]

36. He bragged about his Nazi tattoo for years.

He knew exactly what it was and he thought it was hilarious.

If he gets elected to the Senate, ask yourself if you'll trust him to vote with Democrats when crucial decisions come down to one vote.

See: Fetterman. Sinema. Manchin.

[MustLoveBeagles]

49. That's what worries me 😞

[mcar]

59. Talk is cheap. He knew the tat was a Nazi symbol but did nothing about it

Anyone can say things that progressives want to hear (see Fetterman, John).

10 years ago when he was spewing his filth about women he was a 31 YO grown ass man. Why are we so quick to ignore disgusting statements - whenever they are made?

[MustLoveBeagles]

81. This progressive isn't fooled by him

It's amazing the amount of support he has! He reeks of fake Democrat to me. Team Mills all the way even though I'm not from Maine.

[EdmondDantes_]

26. He has a long history of using gay as a pejorative and other slurs for gay people

https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2025/10/democrat-regrets-use-of-anti-gay-slurs-online-its-indefensible/

Is a 5 year stretch enough of a pattern? If he's truly sorry for that period, cool, but what's the evidence? He wasn't a 15 year old kid at that point.

He also went on an antisemitic YouTube show telling the host he's a long time fan. Maybe he was just being nice, but then the best case scenario is he went on a show his team didn't vet. In a worst case scenario that tattoo explanation looks suspect.

[niyad]

39. First of all, it was more than a single post. Second, the fact that he

deleted them when someone questioned him indicates he KNEW they were wrong. Also indicates that he is not very bright if he did not understand that people had copies. Third, havin looked at his platform, the sexist language is still there.

[mcar]

57. No one in their right mind would make such horrific comments

I'm appalled that people here are excusing them.

[niyad]

20. I was reading yesterday (not here), where he defended those vile

remarks about rape, and sexual assault in the military, and his general sexism, by saying he was suffering from PTSD. Now, having dealt with many PTSD vets as a counselor, and having been around them all my life, I never heard that kind of talk from them when they were in crisis.

Excusing and defending those remarks by saying PTSD is appalling.

[mcar]

60. Thank you for this

[niyad]

85. You are most welcome. I was so outraged and offended on behalf

of all who suffer from PTSD that he would say anything like that.

[mcar]

86. Like Elon and his Nazi salute

"But he's autistic..."

[niyad]

88. Exactly. F-leon skum may be autistic, but he is also a nasty little piece

of work on every level.

[Boo1]

21. If he were a Republican

He'd be getting fileted on here. Too many defending him.

He's a shit candidate and we dont need him.

Bernie sucks at picking candidates to endorse.

[WalkingMan1959]

23. Mills Zoom Town Hall

Watch Mill’s town hall from last week on YouTube! She’s a grumpy ole politician who doesn’t want to be told she’s wrong or needs to do better! She’s Aloof and indifferent to any feedback to the point of discomfort. As the viewer it was like watching a slow motion wreck. Multiple people in the zoom town hall told her that her first pol add against Plantner was divisive and would only help Collin’s. I’m pro working class, not perfect, know how to admit when I make a mistake then move forward. We all have said regrettable things we wish we had never uttered. She’s got baggage too!

[bearsfootball516]

27. Emerson just released a poll showing him leading Mills 55-27

Whether people like him or not, he's a pretty overwhelming favorite to win the primary at this point.

Same poll showed him beating Collins by 8 in the general.

[yardwork]

44. You know what that tells me?

Lots of Americans - including lots of Democrats - are fine with racism, misogyny, and antisemitism. They think it's perfectly fine. Maybe they even agree with it.

It also tells me that lots of Americans will support a candidate who promises all kinds of things - even when they have zero experience in government and no likelihood whatsoever of accomplishing those promises. And this is particularly true if the candidate is a white man running against a woman.

It tells me that lots of Americans will reject a woman who has extensive experience in government in lieu of any white male candidate, no matter how inexperienced he is, or how bad his behavior has been.

So when people complain about Pete Hegseth running our military, I have to conclude that he's what a lot of Americans want.

Pretty sad.

[niyad]

47. Sadly, you are quite correct.

[Quiet Em]

40. This man has made offensive, derogatory and bigoted comments

about women, Black people and gay people. He has at least one offensive Nazi tattoo. He seems to follow right wing, antisemetic, white supremacists on Elon's cesspool. He has horrible judgment, his apologies do not seem sincere, he has no experience or qualifications for the role of Senator and frankly he's not very bright.

I don't know who recruited him or why but it really irks me. Maine is a seat we have a chance to flip. This guy is not going to win against Susan Collins. Being angry with Chuck Schumer, AIPAC, Democrats or thinking Mills is too old are horrible reasons to push this unvetted guy with all this baggage. Really sad that people will ignore all that baggage or make excuses for it just because he's a white guy.

Janet Mills is a Democrat. She's tough, smart, she's a fighter and she has won State wide elections. She is the candidate who could defeat Susan Collins.

[yardwork]

43. Platner comes from the same billionaires who elected Trump twice.

Platner is being promoted by the same people who funded attacks on Hillary Clinton in 2016 and Biden and Harris in 2024. The online propaganda supporting Platner uses similar language to promote him and to attack Janet Mills.

Even here on bland DU we're seeing the same attacks and language. Yesterday some DUers were accusing Janet Mills of "taking AIPAC money" but when asked for evidence, they were unable to come up with any. She's not taking AIPAC money. It's a lie.

Look at the posts supporting Platner. Same rhetoric as in 2016 and 2024. Same types of false accusations against a female Democrat - who's been the governor of Maine, but is cast as some kind of old witch. (I'm using that phrase deliberately.)

Wake up people. The billionaires are at it again.

[TheRickles]

45. Speaking of evidence, where's the evidence of billionaires supporting Platner?

His campaign rhetoric has been unmistakably anti-oligarch.

[yardwork]

46. Ahem.

Your post is an example of the rhetoric I'm taking about.

What the hell is an "anti-oligarch?"

No, really.

[TheRickles]

55. Two issues here - inappropriate rhetoric, and specific political platforms

Here's a quote from his first campaign video: "I did four infantry tours in the Marine Corps and the Army. I'm not afraid to name an enemy. And the enemy is the oligarchy. It's the billionaires who pay for it, and the politicians who sell us out. And yeah, that means politicians like Susan Collins."

His political stand seems pretty clear, and his rhetoric seems appropriate to his stand. So again, where's the evidence that he supports billionaires? And what's wrong with the term "anti-oligarch"? I think the meaning is pretty evident.

[yardwork]

51. Also, while I have your attention.

Let me tell you what's going to happen, because I've seen this show at least twice before.

Janet Mills, who's been a decent and courageous governor of Maine, will lose the primary. She's being accused of a lot of garbage, the usual: "She's an oligarch who's been anointed!!! She's responsible for genocide in Gaza!!!! She doesn't CAAAAAAARE about you!!!!!" And so forth. So she'll lose.

As the general election approaches Susan Collin's campaign will unleash a bunch of stuff on Platner. Maybe they'll release documents showing he was a buddy of Epstein, or something. (It won't have to be true. The falser and more outrageous the better. Big lies work.)

Susan Collins will be reelected and the Republicans will hold control of the Senate by a vote or two. Another lifetime loser will be appointed to the Supreme Court. Nobody will impeach or even investigate Trump. The oligarchs will remain firmly in control.

[TheRickles]

58. You might be right, and you might be wrong.

I'm not from Maine, but I was getting the sense that they're fed up with Collins and they're not so readily swayed by scandalous headlines. We shall see....

[questionseverything]

56. Mills is very supportive of Israel, and I have read she has been supported by AIPAC money

I’m not a liar but I don’t know how to post a link from my phone

There was a push for maine to divest from investments that supported Israel and she fought that tooth and nail

[mcar]

64. Proof, please?

[yardwork]

67. You were asked yesterday for evidence and admitted you have none.

Today you're back making unsupported accusations.

"Mills is very supportive of Israel." What does that mean, exactly? What role does the governor of Maine play in the Middle East?

"I have read..." Where? Got a link?

Some people say....

[questionseverything]

68. I'm allowed to have an opinion and state true things I have read or heard

Wether I can post a link from my phone or not…. I notice you never provide a link

Any one googling Mills will see she is very pro Israel, are you saying she isn’t?

[yardwork]

72. And when did Mills stop beating her dog?

You're allowed to have your own opinions but not your own facts.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

70. If the link is to a page in your browser, you can highlight it by tapping and holding with your finger until the "copy"

command comes up. Then you can navigate to a DU post and hold your finger down until "paste" comes up. Or you could tell us what site your information is at.

[questionseverything]

77. I'm old, almost 70, your instructions might as well be in greek, ty tho

[questionseverything]

78. Truth out has an article saying Israel and the USA have bombed

300 hospitals and 500 schools

[WhiskeyGrinder]

80. Really not sure what that terrible true fact has to do with Mills taking AIPAC money, but okay.

[appmanga]

48. This guy gives me Fetterman vibes... (n/t)

[MustLoveBeagles]

52. Also Sinema & Manchin

[mcar]

50. Good for Mills

I await the "but he's for Medicare for All so we can just overlook these comments" crowd.

[yardwork]

53. No need to wait.

[betsuni]

84. Populist purity get-out-of-jail-free card. Too bad he wasn't drunk enough to think of a "Medicare for All" tattoo.

[Easterncedar]

54. There has been negative response to these ads

Mills is losing ground with what some folks see as a negative campaign. I will vote for her, but I know many liberals who won't.

I don't trust Platner. I hope I am wrong.

[Aepps22]

61. Imagine the Ads Collins will Run

Imagine the ads Collins will run against this guy. He has so many red flags that the attack ads write themselves. Sadly when confronted on these issues his explanations seem inadequate at best and accusatory against the party at worst. The vetting process for some of these candidates has to be better. We can’t keep giving so called progressives that have problematic pasts a pass for not explaining past behaviors.

[bearsfootball516]

76. They'll be the same ads that Mills is currently running, and polling shows voters don't care.

There's not a voter in Maine that isn't aware of Platner's past at this point, it's been plastered everywhere for months. And he continues to beat Mills in primary polling, and then beat Collins in the general, usually by larger margins than Mills polls at.

[yardwork]

83. So one of two things will happen.

Either (1) the RNC has worse things to reveal about Platner (or they'll just make stuff up) and he'll lose OR (2) he'll win and we'll have a pro-Nazi, homophobic misogynistic bigot in the Senate who doesn't know anything about how our government works. But this time he'll be on "our" side. How do we think he'll vote?

I expect to see a lot more of these "Democratic" candidates.

[mr715]

91. However, once he wins the primary

He is a Democratic nominee for Senate. At that point, we need to probably extend to him a bit of grace before he has any legislative track record.

He isn't Fetterman, yet.

If he is just a seat in the Democratic caucus, that is better than Susan Collins.

[dlk]

65. He is a poor choice for a candidate

His callous disregard of women and the realities of sexual assault should be a disqualifier in a party that purports to support women.

I am sick and tired of the “in your face” bro culture that is just plain old fashioned misogyny.

What kind of a twisted world celebrates women-haters?

[biocube]

94. "But he'll lose to Collins"

Based on what?

An Emerson poll I saw said Platner matches up better against Collins than Mills does.

This reminds me of the denial of the data that came out in 2016 showing Sanders matched up better against Trump than Hillary.