In Reddit posts from 2013, Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Graham Platner asked why Black people “don’t tip” and suggested people concerned about being raped shouldn’t be inebriated around people they don’t feel comfortable with.
Those posts add to previous reporting from CNN and Politico published Thursday about Platner’s writings on the social media site about his ideology and political violence. The Bangor Daily News obtained more posts made under Platner’s handle, “P-Hustle,” through an online database. He posted on the social media site more than 1,800 times between 2009 and 2021.
Platner’s past comments came to light the same week that Gov. Janet Mills joined the Democratic primary for the right to face Republican Sen. Susan Collins in 2026. The posts threaten to upend an out-of-nowhere campaign that has generated grassroots momentum, raising roughly $5 million and signing up thousands of volunteers.
Platner responded to a 2013 post on Reddit entitled “What is one question you have always wanted to ask someone of another race,” writing, “Why don’t black people tip?” He worked as a bartender at Tune Inn on Capitol Hill, where he was a guest bartender last month.
“I work as a bartender and it always amazes me how solid this stereotype is,” he wrote. “Every now and again a black patron will leave a 15-20% tip, but usually it [is] between 0-5%. There’s got to be a reason behind it, what is it?”
That same year, he also responded to a post about underwear designed to prevent sexual assault saying people should “take some responsibility for themselves and not get so f—-ked up they wind up having sex with someone they don’t mean to?”
Platner also made references to political violence in several posts. In 2018, he said in response to a thread in which someone invoked leaving the U.S. due to Trump-era immigration policies: “Fight until you get tired of fighting with words and then fight with signs, and fists, and guns if need be.”
In other 2018 posts first reported by Politico, Platner said those who “expect to fight fascism without a good semi-automatic rifle … ought to do some reading of history.” He also said “an armed working class is a requirement for economic justice.”
CNN focused on a series of posts from 2021 in which Platner also called himself a communist, said rural Americans are “racist” and “stupid,” called all cops “bastards” and used the word “retard” several times.
Platner has distanced himself from the previously reported posts. He told The Portland Press Herald that many of them were “stupid joke comments” from a time when he felt lonely and isolated after leaving the military and a later job as a military contractor.
His campaign did not immediately respond to requests for comment from the BDN on Friday morning.
In a statement made to Politico, Platner said he was “f—king around on the internet at a time when I felt lost and very disillusioned with our government who sent me overseas to watch my friends die.”
“I made dumb jokes and picked fights. But of course I’m not a socialist. I’m a small business owner, a Marine Corps veteran, and a retired s—-poster,” he told Politico.
During a campaign stop in Freeport Thursday, Mills said she disagreed with incendiary social media posts from her Democratic U.S. Senate primary rival. The governor, who entered the primary race on Tuesday, told reporters at Maine Beer Co. that she had not seen the initial CNN article about Platner’s posts and had to have a reporter read examples of them aloud.
“Obviously, I would strongly disagree with those comments,” Mills said.
BDN editor Michael Shepherd contributed to this report.
