Graham Platner faces renewed criticism over resurfaced Reddit posts

Democratic Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner is facing renewed criticism following the resurfacing of graphic sexual comments he made on Reddit about masturbating in portable toilets and explicit military graffiti. The posts, archived from a now-deleted account he has acknowledged, have become a focal point for opponents questioning his judgment as he campaigns to unseat Republican Senator Susan Collins.

The comments were made under the username "PHustle." In a March 2017 post on a military forum discussing nostalgic scents, Platner wrote, "I still have to jerk off every time I sit in a portaser that blue water smell conditioned me." In a separate March 2021 post on a Marine Corps forum, he provided an elaborate, vivid description of phallic graffiti he said he encountered in a portable toilet while deployed, praising its "penetrative glory."

Platner, a Marine Corps veteran who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, has previously characterized such inflammatory online activity as attempts at humor or trolling. He told one outlet that the comments were an example of "sposting," or arguing with people on the internet to bother them, and should be read in context as jokes. He has...