WASHINGTON — Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) is standing by his endorsement of embattled Graham Platner in Tuesday’s Maine Democratic primary, even after a deluge of sexual misconduct allegations rocked the political newcomer’s campaign in the lead-up to the election.
On Monday, Schumer dodged a reporter’s question about whether Democrats should back Platner in tomorrow’s primary. The senator’s office also did not respond to requests for comment.
The 41-year-old veteran has been accused of having “hated women” in relationships and being physically abusive at times, even twisting one of his exes’ arms before locking her in a bedroom during an argument, according to former girlfriends who spoke with the New York Times.
One of those ex-girlfriends, Lyndsey Fifield, said that he “would joke” about having gotten “a Nazi tattoo” after serving in the Marines because the soldiers he served with “were like a death unit” and “were killers” — despite Platner denying knowledge that the skull-and-crossbones symbol was used by Adolf Hitler’s Schutzstaffel, or SS.
“Throughout this campaign, I’ve been open about what was a very dark period of my life where I struggled with undiagnosed PTSD, too often self-medicated with alcohol, and was a far from perfect boyfriend,” Platner shared later in a statement.
“I take responsibility for all of that, and wish I had been better. Any characterization beyond that is false, and I believe, politically motivated. I’m not proud of who I was then, but I am proud of the work I’ve done since, and the movement we are building in Maine.”
Additionally, Amy Gertner, the Maine Democrat’s wife, revealed to an aide last August, as the Platner campaign was launching, that her husband had sent “sexual” messages to at least six women outside his marriage, The Times and Wall Street Journal reported.
Following all these reports, Schumer, who is also the highest-ranking Jewish lawmaker in Congress, told reporters at a news conference last Tuesday: “I met with Graham Platner today. We’re going to beat Susan Collins and take back the Senate.”
The Senate Democratic leader repeated the statement several times as reporters peppered him with questions about the likely nominee for his party in Maine’s race to unseat incumbent Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), only once changing course to underscore: “I endorsed Graham Platner.”
Though Schumer and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) have not wavered in their public support, a whisper campaign has begun backing Platner’s former primary opponent, Maine Democratic Gov. Janet Mills.
Both Schumer and Gillibrand had previously endorsed Mills before she dropped out of the race. Schumer’s team even recruited her into the contest, viewing Maine as one of the Senate Democrats’ top pickup opportunities of the 2026 cycle.
Democratic insiders said that swapping Mills, who suspended her campaign in April, out for Platner would be unprecedented in the history of Maine politics and near impossible without risking an inter-party civil war, though the governor has noted she’ll still be on the June 9 primary ballot.
“The Governor remains on the ballot, and in the wake of this week’s stories, people across Maine are reaching out to tell her they’re voting for her and encouraging her to get fully back into the race,” a source close to Mills previously told CNN.
The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, which is chaired by Gillibrand, has also considered yanking some ad spending in the wake of the allegations against Platner, which include him having maintained an account on the private messaging app Kik, which has been cited in court cases as a platform frequented by groomers and sexual predators.
Platner’s account name, “phustle0331,” resembled the name of his pseudonymous account on Reddit, “P-Hustle,” on which he shared offensive remarks about rape and sexual assaults that occur in the military.
“Every Democrat knows P-Hustle has Nazi ink, was Captain D–k-Pic on Kik, abusive towards women and slandered American soldiers online,” Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) claimed to The Post Friday.
The Pennsylvania senator later pledged he will wear a suit “every day” if Platner can prove he didn’t send “d–k pics” to minors on Kik.
“John Fetterman seems to genuinely think that the reason no one likes him is because he refuses to wear a suit. It’s not the hoodie, dude. It’s because you’ve become a stooge for AIPAC and the Republican party,” Platner responded on his X account.
His campaign acknowledged that the Kik profile hadn’t been deactivated but told the Journal that the candidate “had long deleted the app from his phone.”
