Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner of Maine is facing increased scrutiny over old social media posts. (Graham Platner Senate campaign)
The posts, which were first reported by CNN and Politico, were deleted ahead of Platner's August Democratic Senate campaign launch.
In statements to CNN and Politico, Platner said, "I was [expletive] around on the internet at a time when I felt lost and very disillusioned with our government who sent me overseas to watch my friends die."
"I made dumb jokes and picked fights. But of course I’m not a socialist. I’m a small business owner, a Marine Corps veteran, and a retired s***poster," the 41-year-old Platner added.
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In the wake of last month's assassination of Charlie Kirk, the co-founder of the politically potent conservative youth organization Turning Point USA, media star, and close ally and outside advisor to President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance, and the June murder of former Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband, past comments by politicians advocating violence have drawn increased scrutiny.
This year's statewide races in Virginia have been rocked after the National Review first reported on three-year-old texts by Democratic Attorney General nominee Jay Jones, in which he compared then-State House Speaker Todd Gilbert to mass murderers Adolf Hitler and Pol Pot, adding that if he was given two bullets, he would use both against the GOP lawmaker to shoot him in the head.
And reporting this week by Politico of racist, antisemitic, and violent online messages by young Republicans triggered resignations.
Democratic Gov. Janet Mills delivers her State of the State address, Jan. 30, 2024, at the State House in Augusta, Maine. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty, File)
But the Democratic Senate primary race in Maine was dramatically altered this week when two-term Democratic Gov. Janet Mills announced her candidacy following encouragement from Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer.
Schumer, the top Democrat in the Senate, views the 77-year-old Mills as the best candidate to defeat Collins, who is the only Republican senator up for re-election next year in a state the Democrats carried in the presidential election. A Collins defeat would be essential for the Democrats to have any chance of winning back the Senate majority in next year's midterm elections.
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Also running for the Democratic nomination is former congressional staffer Jordan Wood, who raked in roughly $3 million during the July-September third quarter of fundraising.
But Dan Kleban, a co-founder of the Maine Beer Company who was a Senate candidate, ended his campaign and backed Mills after the governor entered the race.
Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, is up for re-election in the 2026 midterms. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
The 72-year-old Collins, a moderate Republican, first won election to the Senate in 1996. She currently chairs the influential Senate Appropriations Committee.
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Collins won comfortable double-digit re-elections in 2002, 2008, and 2014.
In her 2020 re-election, Collins faced off against Democratic State House Speaker Sara Gideon, in a hotly contested race that became the most expensive in Maine history. While polls indicated Collins trailing her Democratic challenger, she ended up winning the election by more than eight points.
Fox News Digital reached out to Platner's campaign for comment but did not immediately receive a response.
Paul Steinhauser is a politics reporter based in the swing state of New Hampshire. He covers the campaign trail from coast to coast."
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/deleted-posts-urging-violence-haunt-democratic-senate-hopeful-maine-race