DNC Chair Ken Martin says Maine Senate candidate's Reddit posts are 'hurtful' but not disqualifying

Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin said Sunday that old Reddit posts from Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner that resurfaced last week are not “disqualifying” but are “hurtful” and “offensive.”“I don’t think they’re disqualifying, but certainly they’re not right, and I’m glad that he apologized for them,” Martin told CNN on Sunday.

Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin said Sunday that old Reddit posts from Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner that resurfaced last week are not “disqualifying” but are “hurtful” and “offensive.”

“I don’t think they’re disqualifying, but certainly they’re not right, and I’m glad that he apologized for them,” Martin told CNN on Sunday. “They’re indefensible, they’re hurtful and they’re offensive.”

Platner on Friday posted a lengthy apology video on X after CNN reported last week that Platner had previously made comments on Reddit criticizing police officers, calling rural Americans “stupid” and referring to himself as a “communist.”

In Friday’s apology video, Platner said, “For those of you who have read these things and been offended, have read these things and seen someone that you don’t recognize, I am deeply sorry.”

Graham Platner.Graham for MaineHe also explained that many of the posts were written in the years after he returned home from multiple military tours in Iraq and Afghanistan and that he was in state of “disillusionment” at the time.