Deleted posts from Democratic Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner, in which he referred to himself as a communist and made negative comments about police and rural white Americans, have reportedly reemerged.
According to CNN K-FILE, most of these posts were made under the username “P-Hustle” around five years ago and were removed before his campaign kicked off in August. It appears that the candidate criticized law enforcement in context to police activities and claimed racism among white rural Americans, associating himself with former President Donald Trump.
In a Tuesday interview with CNN, Platner distanced himself from these past comments, explaining that they were made during a time of anger and disillusionment. “It was just like me messing around on the internet,” he noted. “I really don’t want people to see the worst of my internet comments…I don’t think that represents who I am today, actually.”
In a now-deleted conversation about an incident involving a black Army captain pepper-sprayed by police, one user commented, “Bastard. Cops are bastards.” Platner responded, “Actually, everything.”
He often commented on issues of police violence, labeling it as a “problem that runs deep across the profession,” and was known to reject mistaken shooting claims in incidents like the killing of Daunte Wright, stating, “Forget these cops,” according to reports.
Addressing the police criticism, Platner said, “I can honestly say this is just me being a piece of shit on the internet. I have many friends who are police officers. They’re literally my friends, so not everyone is a jerk.”
In another deleted post from 2020, Platner replied to a discussion asserting that “white people aren’t as racist or stupid as Trump thinks,” stating, “I live in white rural America, and I’m scared to say that they actually are.”
He mentioned to CNN that while he doesn’t specifically recall the thread, it was likely shaped by the online debates of that period.
When someone posed the statement, “As you get older, you become more conservative,” Platner allegedly remarked, “I’m old and I’m a communist,” a comment reportedly made in 2021 on the leftist subreddit r/Antiwork.
Platner, who is an oyster farmer from Maine and entered the race earlier in August, is being framed as a “grassroots” opponent to Republican Sen. Susan Collins, striving to appeal to Trump supporters with a focus on enhancing conditions for the working class in Maine. He stated he deleted his posts to shed associations with a darker phase in his life.
The former Marine, who has completed tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, once claimed in a now-removed post that, “These days I grow vegetables, and psychedelic drugs make me a socialist. After the war, I stopped believing in the patriotic nonsense that got me there. I firmly believe that the best thing a person can do is help their neighbor and live a life of love.”
He also mentioned, “I still got the gun. I don’t believe that fascists behave civilly.”
The account traces back to 2009, although many controversial posts appeared around 2021. While he did not publicly use his name on Reddit, he shared personal details including his age, job, residence in Maine, and military background.
In a CNN interview, he assured voters, “I’m not a communist. I’m not a socialist. I own a small business. I’m a Marine Corps veteran.”
Platner has a background as a former State Department official and studied at George Washington University. While he maintains a low online profile, past posts show him retweeting independent Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and criticizing Donald Trump.
He has also supported both former Vice President Kamala Harris and Sanders financially and collaborated with various Democratic political figures during his campaign efforts.
Additionally, Democratic Maine Gov. Janet Mills is competing for a Senate seat, aiming for a significant milestone as the oldest freshman senator in U.S. history if she wins the 2026 election.
