Bernie Sanders defends Graham Platner after reports of sexually explicit text messages

Other progressive members of Congress who endorsed Platner, the leading Democratic candidate for the Senate in Maine, are also coming to his defense.

WASHINGTON — Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., is defending Senate candidate Graham Platner following news reports that the presumptive Democratic nominee in Maine exchanged sexually explicit texts with women at the beginning of his marriage.

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Sanders, who has endorsed Platner in his bid to unseat GOP Sen. Susan Collins, said that working families face bigger issues than Platner’s marriage.

“We got a housing crisis. People can’t afford healthcare, they can’t afford groceries, they can’t afford to fill up their gas tanks. And I think it’s important for us to focus on the issues facing working families a little bit more than Graham Platner’s marriage,” Sanders told reporters on Capitol Hill.