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Graham Platner Denies Key Details in Bombshell NYT Report

Dmitri Bolt
Dmitri Bolt  |  June 05, 2026 11:15 AM

Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner is denying key details of a bombshell New York Times report alleging he abused his ex-girlfriend, spoke demeaningly about women, maintained a heavy drinking habit, and expressed disturbing views on violence, including fantasies about rape. The report also raises questions about his claim of ignorance regarding a Nazi tattoo, alleging he understood its meaning and referred to it as “my Totenkopf,” which he also denies.

In a lengthy interview on MSNBC, Platner acknowledged some of the reported behavior, saying his military service led him to a dark period in his life, but he denied the most serious allegations.

When Hayes pressed him specifically on claims of physical abuse, here was Platner's response:

"Did it happen?" Hayes asked.

"No, it did not," Platner said. "There are some allegations in this piece that I just want to be kind of unequivocal about are simply not true. Anything alleging physicality, anything alleging that I knew what my tattoo was, these are the statements of someone who's politically motivated."

In this piece, there's a lot about my struggling, not being a good boyfriend, certainly self-medicating with alcohol, and I've been very upfront since the beginning of this campaign that that was a pretty dark period of my life after I came back from my combat service, and that's what that combat service, that's what that kind of life looks like, and and so 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.

He also denied allegations that he understood the meaning of his Nazi tattoo.

And even with these allegations circulating and the growing discontent with Platner, he said that he doesn't regret running for the Maine Senate seat, nor has he even considered dropping out of the race.

This comes as Platner’s campaign faces a series of controversies, including allegations of public lewd conduct, activity on a website associated with child sexual exploitation, infidelity, sexting hundreds of women shortly after getting married, expressions of pro-Hamas and pro-communist views, and now the allegations detailed in the New York Times report.

And yet Democrats have continued to rally around Platner despite the presence of another viable candidate, Governor Janet Mills, who unofficially withdrew from the race. 

The state’s Democratic primary is scheduled for Tuesday, June 9.