AILSA CHANG, HOST:
We begin this segment in Maine. That's where over the weekend, the state Senate campaign was rocked by revelations about its presumptive Democratic nominee, Graham Platner. Over the weekend, The Wall Street Journal reported that Platner exchanged sexually explicit messages with multiple women early on in his marriage. In a statement to NPR, Platner said that he and his wife went through something hard because of him. He added, quote, "people don't care about gossip or headlines. They care that you're fighting for their hospitals, their paycheck, their kids."
JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:
This isn't the first time scandal has touched Platner's campaign. Last fall, old Reddit posts showing him making racist comments and blaming sexual assault on victims came to light. He has apologized repeatedly since. Despite the controversy that's swirled around Platner throughout his campaign, a recent poll shows him besting incumbent Republican Senator Susan Collins by nine points.
CHANG: Our Morning Edition colleague Leila Fadel spoke to Platner last week shortly before news outlets began reporting about the sexually explicit texts. During the wide-ranging conversation for the NPR video podcast Newsmakers, Leila asked Platner why he thinks charges of racism and sexism don't seem to be hurting his candidacy, at least so far.
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LEILA FADEL: You talk about the culture of attacking right now. I mean, those who are criticizing you are going after your history, right?
GRAHAM PLATNER: Of course. Yeah.
FADEL: Online, Reddit posts that have been deleted but did say racist things, did blame the victim for sexual assault, and then you yourself revealed...
PLATNER: So...
FADEL: ...A tattoo on - oh, go ahead.
PLATNER: Well, I was going to say - we have talked about the Reddit posts since October.
FADEL: Right.
PLATNER: Everybody in Maine knows about them.
FADEL: And they've also come up at...
PLATNER: We've...
FADEL: ...Pretty much all your town halls, right?
PLATNER: Oh, yeah, I talk about it. And I talk about it very publicly. I'm happy to.
FADEL: I'm curious why you think voters chose to either forgive you for those posts or look the other way.
PLATNER: Well, I think it's mostly forgiveness because when I explained it, I just pointed out that, look, I've not always been who I am today. I grew up in the infantry. Things that are seen as virtues there are generally not seen as virtues in the normal world. And then I had to struggle with, how do I come out of that and integrate back into society? And I think a lot of people recognize that the ability to transform, the ability to change is kind of just a normal human trait.
I mean, I don't think there are a lot of Americans that want the world to think that everything they ever said when they were 25 is who they are forever. And I don't think anybody believes that's how people work. So that's why. You know, we don't really talk about it much here in Maine anymore. The only time it ever comes up is when journalists come in from the outside or when I leave Maine. Then people want to talk about it.
FADEL: But it also still comes up with your own party. I mean, just a few days ago, Congressman Jake Auchincloss said the tattoo that was once on your chest that you've now covered up that resembles a Nazi SS symbol should be disqualifying, and he wants Maine voters to agree with him, meaning not choose you.
PLATNER: Right. So I guess he wants to choose Susan Collins - interesting choice for a Democrat. One, Jake Auchincloss lives in Massachusetts, so I'm not going to - I'm not actually all that worried about what he thinks. Also, what's disqualifying, for the record, is the fact that Susan Collins has not represented the people of Maine. The fact that we are seeing our healthcare system collapse in the state. That's disqualifying. It's very clear that here in the state of Maine, the voters really do understand that I am who I claim to be. I'm a very real person, warts and all. If people in the Democratic Party in other states don't like me, that's not really my problem.
CHANG: That was Graham Platner, presumptive Democratic nominee in Maine's Senate race. He was speaking to our Morning Edition colleague Leila Fadel on NPR's video podcast Newsmakers. You can watch the whole interview at npr.org or on NPR's YouTube channel. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.
