Collins: Platner ‘owes the people of Maine a detailed answer’ in light of allegations

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Maine Sen. Susan Collins (R) accused her Democratic opponent on the day of the state’s Senate primary race of shying away from addressing accusations about his alleged past conduct toward women.

“The allegations against Graham Platner are extremely troubling and serious, and he owes the people of Maine a detailed answer,” Collins told reporters on Capitol Hill Tuesday morning.

Platner, a military veteran turned oyster farmer, is widely expected to win the Democratic primary contest on Tuesday. The Hill has reached out to his campaign for comment.

Last week, The New York Times reported accusations from three of Platner’s former romantic partners that the progressive candidate created an “unsettling” and “toxic” environment in their relationships.

His campaign told the Times in response to these reports that it “strongly disputes” allegations of physical intimidation and altercations involving Platner. The Democratic Senate candidate suggested in an interview with MS NOW last Thursday that some of these allegations could be “politically motivated.”

“There are some allegations in this piece that, I just want to be kind of unequivocal about, are simply not true,” he told Chris Hayes. “There are things in this that I absolutely will take responsibility for, and have been speaking about openly for months now, but those serious allegations are just not true.”

Additionally, the Democrat has faced criticism for reports that he previously sent sexually explicit text messages to women who were not his wife. Platner has also taken hits for controversial Reddit posts he made several years ago about sexual assault and Black people as well as a –since-covered up chest tattoo resembling a Nazi symbol.

“Since the beginning, Maine, you had my back,” Platner told a crowd of supporters last Friday, according to NBC News. “When hurtful things I said on the Internet a decade ago came out into the public as I shared my personal journey through PTSD and darkness of recovery and accountability and growth — Maine had my back.”

Platner’s campaign is backed by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.). Sanders has stood by the Maine Democratic candidate through these controversies, telling CNN’s Kaitlan Collins last Tuesday, “I’m sure he’s not a saint.”

The polls in Maine’s Senate primary race close at 8 p.m. EDT on Tuesday evening.

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