WASHINGTON — New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker admitted he’s concerned about scandal-scarred Maine Senate hopeful Graham Platner after it emerged that he sexted several women.
“Yeah, I have concerns. The guy has questions to answer, and that’s what campaigns are for,” Booker (D-NJ) told ABC News’ “This Week” on Sunday when asked if the controversy could imperil Dem hopes of flipping Maine’s seat.
Booker declined to discuss the specific controversies dogging Platner ahead of the June 9 primary. Instead, he underscored the stakes of the battle for control of the Senate.
“I know that so much is riding on Democrats taking control of the Senate,” Booker added. “That this election, if we do not get the votes necessary to take care of the House and the Senate, we will continue to have an out-of-control president.”
Maine’s Senate seat, held by incumbent Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), is widely seen as a must-win for Democrats if they want to retake the upper chamber.
On Saturday, it emerged that Platner’s wife had tipped off his campaign to a series of sexting messages he made to numerous women during recent years. Platner got married in 2023.
It was also revealed that Platner had an account on Kik, an encrypted messaging service popular for hookups. His account appears to still be active.
The horny oyster farmer is believed to have messaged up to a dozen women, though the exact number is disputed, according to reports.
Booker’s colleague, Sen. Andy Kim (D-NJ), largely sidestepped questions about whether he’s uneasy about Platner.
“Right now, this information is out there,” Kim told CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday. “With any campaign in the country, the character and the transparency about the different candidates is going to come out. That’s part of the campaign. And the voters will decide.”
Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) similarly evaded questions about Platner, telling CBS News’ “Face the Nation” on Sunday that he hasn’t “followed this story as closely.”
Platner’s wife, Amy Gertner, cut a raw, emotional video addressing the controversy, scolding the media and the campaign’s former political director over the revelations.
The former Marine is facing a flurry of scandals and controversies. Last year, it was revealed that he had a tattoo on his chest that resembled a Totenkopf or “death’s head” symbol used by the Nazi SS.
Platner has denied knowing about its Nazi ties and claimed to have gotten it in Croatia while inebriated in 2007. He has since inked over it with a “Celtic knot with some imagery around dogs.”
The aspiring senator has also faced revelations about his since-scrubbed Reddit account, including posts about graffiti of men’s genitalia he had seen during his world travels, defending soldiers urinating on dead Taliban soldiers, arguing that white Americans “actually are” racist and stupid, and calling war “the most enjoyable experience.”
Earlier this month, old posts emerged of him mocking a Purple Heart soldier who captured bonkers helmet footage of himself moving into the open to steer Taliban fire away from his fellow soldiers.
“This video never gets old. Dumb mother—er didn’t deserve to live. At least his stupidity and fat ass wheezing are available for all future infantrymen to witness and hold in contempt,” Platner posted on Reddit, years after the footage went viral.
Platner has a 7.8 percentage point polling edge over Collins, according to the latest RealClearPolitics aggregate of polls. Notably, Collins dramatically overperformed the RCP aggregate in the race against Democrat Sara Gideon in 2020.
