SouthernWorldwide.com – Democratic Senate hopeful Graham Platner is facing significant criticism following the resurfacing of past comments where he referred to law enforcement officers as “opportunistic cowards.”
Platner, who is campaigning to become Maine’s next senator, made these remarks in June 2020 on Reddit. The comments were in response to a post that questioned the Hancock County Sheriff’s Department’s request for approval to purchase “riot gear.” This was during a period when Black Lives Matter protests were widespread across the state, with some demonstrations escalating to violence, including property damage and looting.
At the time, Platner, then 35, dismissed the sheriff’s request as “ridiculous.” He wrote that he guessed the Sheriff’s Department was “so full of overweight pansies that they now need taxpayer dollars to protect themselves from George Stevens Academy sophomores and aging hippies.” He directly stated, “Cops are opportunistic cowards.”
These comments were posted under the username “P-Hustle” on the Reddit forum R/Maine. While the post has since been deleted, it remains archived by The Maine Monitor. This revelation has not been previously reported by major news outlets.
This is not the first instance of Platner making anti-law enforcement remarks. A series of such comments made well into his adulthood have led to questions about his suitability for office as he challenges Republican Senator Susan Collins. These past statements have fueled concerns about his fitness to serve in the U.S. Senate.
Ardell, a retired federal special agent and criminal investigator, indicated that his conversations with current and former law enforcement officers revealed widespread disgust with Platner’s disparaging remarks about men and women in uniform. He described Platner’s actions as a “series of consistent bad decisions, and it seems to be continuing.”
Further highlighting Platner’s controversial statements, in June 2020, he also denounced a Maine police chief as “thin blue line trash.” This was in response to the chief declining to kneel with demonstrators protesting the death of George Floyd. Additionally, that same month, he wrote “all cops are bastards” in remarks initially reported by CNN.
In April 2021, Platner questioned the existence of a problem within policing that “extends into the profession as a whole” in another deleted post. These remarks add to a growing list of controversial statements attributed to the candidate.
Beyond his comments on law enforcement, Platner has also drawn scrutiny for declaring himself a communist. He has been criticized for calling rural White people “racist” and “stupid.” Furthermore, he has faced backlash for mocking a female teenager’s suicide attempt, as reported by Fox News.
Platner has defended some of his past comments, stating they were taken out of context. He has also attributed some of his online behavior to struggling with PTSD following multiple overseas deployments. However, Ardell has questioned whether Platner, who was in his 30s during much of this period of online commentary, could have undergone such a significant change in such a short time. Ardell suggested that if Platner needs to work on himself, he should do so privately, not while seeking a Senate seat.
The resurfaced Reddit post comes at a time when Platner is already facing mounting scrutiny over his past treatment of women. This includes an allegation of abuse from his former girlfriend, Lyndsey Fifield. In May, Platner’s campaign acknowledged a period of infidelity during his marriage to Amy Gertner, which involved sending sexually explicit texts to multiple women.
Adding to these concerns, Platner maintained an active account on Kik, a private messaging platform often used for sexual encounters. His campaign stated that he had deleted the app from his phone some time ago.
Further complicating Platner’s campaign is the lack of a clear explanation for why several ex-girlfriends were aware of his Nazi-linked tattoo before he publicly disclosed it. A former girlfriend who dated Platner in 2021 reportedly showed text messages to The New York Post from September 2025 that discussed the “Nazi tattoo on his chest.”
Platner claims he first learned about the black skull-and-crossbones tattoo’s association with Nazi SS units in October 2025. He had worn the tattoo for nearly two decades, having gotten it while drinking with fellow Marines in Croatia.
When asked if more negative information about Platner was likely to emerge before the November election, Ardell expressed no hesitation. He stated, “This is not a guy that has a skeleton in the closet. This is a guy that has a whole graveyard.”
