{"id":14526,"date":"2025-10-17T01:32:01","date_gmt":"2025-10-17T01:32:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/maine-senate-candidate-promoted-violent-political-action-in-since-deleted-online-posts\/"},"modified":"2025-10-17T01:32:01","modified_gmt":"2025-10-17T01:32:01","slug":"maine-senate-candidate-promoted-violent-political-action-in-since-deleted-online-posts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/maine-senate-candidate-promoted-violent-political-action-in-since-deleted-online-posts\/","title":{"rendered":"Maine Senate candidate promoted violent political action in since-deleted online posts"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Graham Platner, who is running as an insurgent Democratic candidate for Senate in Maine, once suggested in online posts that violence is a necessary means to achieving social change \u2013 comments now drawing scrutiny in an era of increased political violence.<\/p>\n

Platner, 41, a former Marine and combat veteran who now raises oysters, made the statements on Reddit in 2018, long before he emerged as a serious candidate to take on Republican Sen. Susan Collins in the midterms.<\/p>\n

If people \u201cexpect to fight fascism without a good semi-automatic rifle, they ought to do some reading of history,\u201d he wrote in one since-deleted post. In another, he said that \u201can armed working class is a requirement for economic justice.\u201d<\/p>\n

BLN first reported<\/u><\/a> Thursday on Platner\u2019s participation on the subreddit r\/SocialistRA, alongside other Reddit forums where he called himself a \u201ccommunist\u201d and said that \u201call\u201d police are bastards. All of the posts have been deleted.<\/p>\n

The posts, which were removed three months ago shortly before Platner launched his Senate bid, were obtained by Blue Light News and verified using an archive of deleted Reddit comments and by cross-checking other posts by the same user that mentioned biographical details consistent with the candidate\u2019s life.<\/p>\n

The posts suggest far deeper ties with socialist groups than were previously known. When he announced in August that he would challenge Collins, Platner said he rejects the label \u201cliberal\u201d but was also running on several progressive tenets \u2013 including universal health care and restricted arms sales to Israel. He has hired the Democratic strategist Morris Katz, who also works with Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic Socialist running for New York City mayor as a Democrat.<\/p>\n

In a statement to Blue Light News, Platner did not dispute his authorship of the posts but disavowed their violent rhetoric.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs I told BLN, I was fucking 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,\u201d Platner said. \u201cI made dumb jokes and picked fights. But of course I\u2019m not a socialist. I\u2019m a small business owner, a Marine Corps veteran, and a retired shitposter.\u201d<\/p>\n

Maine\u2019s Democratic governor, Janet Mills, recently joined the crowded race as the establishment favorite for the key midterm election. The revelations may cast a shadow over the meteoric rise of the tattooed oyster farmer in the state.<\/p>\n

The existence of the graphic posts comes amid a spiral of actual political violence<\/a> and violent rhetoric including by Virginia Democratic Attorney General candidate Jay Jones who suggested the former Republican House speaker should get \u201ctwo bullets to the head.\u201d Jones has since apologized for the texts.<\/p>\n

Like the Jones\u2019 exchange, which was from 2022, Platner must now contend with the yearsold posts. They include one from September 2018, when he responded to a Reddit user concerned about what their roommate would say if they purchased their first AR-15. Platner, under the username \u201cP-Hustle,\u201d replied: \u201cTell them that if they expect to fight fascism without a good semi-automatic rifle, they ought to do some reading of history.\u201d<\/p>\n

The reddit thread r\/SocialistRA, which describes itself as the \u201cSocialist Redditor Rifle Association,\u201d says it is unaffiliated with the Socialist Rifle Association, a left-wing group that advocates for gun rights.<\/p>\n

In a July 2018 post on the same subreddit, Platner said that he \u201cagreed\u201d with a 1914 quote from former socialist presidential candidate Eugene V. Debs that workers should arm themselves unless they are \u201cwilling to be forced into abject slavery.\u201d<\/p>\n

Platner cited Debs, who ran for president from prison, as an example to counter the notion that the 2nd Amendment only gained salience in the 1970s.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s why this poster and the Debs quote that follows above should be shared far and wide. An armed working class is a requirement for economic justice,\u201d Platner said.<\/p>\n

There are dozens instances of Platner engaging with posts on the subreddit r\/SocialistRA, which is self-described as the \u201cSocialist Redditor Rifle Association.\u201d<\/p>\n

In another since-deleted post from Sept. 2018, this time on the r\/politics subreddit, Platner, again using the username \u201cP-Hustle,\u201d wrote: “Get Armed, Get Organized. The Other Side Sure As Hell Is,\u201d in response to a story about a Democratic candidate in Colorado whose truck was shot at with her inside.<\/p>\n

Platner, an Iraq and Afghanistan War veteran and political newcomer, said in his campaign launch video that he is \u201cnot fooled by this fake charade of Collins\u2019 deliberations and moderation.\u201d He has leaned into his status as a novice, earning the attention<\/u><\/a> of younger Democrats and progressives. He also recently won the endorsement<\/u><\/a> of three influential labor unions including the United Auto Workers.<\/p>\n

His posts about arming the working class and fighting fascism take on heightened scrutiny in the era of increased hostilities and concerns over political violence.<\/p>\n

Jones, has faced widespread backlash over the 2022 text messages that included a vow to \u201cpiss on the graves\u201d of Republican opponents in addition to the violent remarks about former Virginia Republican House Speaker Todd Gilbert.<\/p>\n

Jones again apologized for the texts, which were first reported by the National Review, during a Thursday debate and said, \u201cI\u2019m ashamed, I\u2019m embarrassed and I\u2019m sorry.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Graham Platner, who is running as an insurgent Democratic candidate for Senate in Maine, once suggested in online posts that violence is a necessary means to achieving social change \u2013 comments now drawing scrutiny in an era of increased political violence. Platner, 41, a former Marine and combat veteran who now raises oysters, made the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14526","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14526","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14526"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14526\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14526"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14526"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14526"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}