Yesterday we learned from a story published by CNN’s Andrew Kaczynski that Maine’s progressive Senate candidate Graham Platner had identified himself as a communist in Reddit messages under his handle P-Hustle. In addition, Platner also said that all cops are bastards and that white people are racist and stupid.
In another since-removed post from 2020, Platner responded to a thread titled “White people aren’t as racist or stupid as Trump thinks” by writing, “Living in white rural America, I’m afraid to tell you they actually are.”
And these comments weren’t very old. Most were from 2020 and 2021, just a few years ago. Platner was asked to respond and assured CNN that he’s not a communist and doesn’t hate all cops. He also doesn’t believe white people are racist and stupid (though he claimed not to remember making that comment at all).
Today, both Politico and the Washington Post have mined Platner’s Reddit comments for even more insights into his views. For instance, Politico found his suggestion from 2018 (during the first Trump administration) that anyone hoping to fight fascism would need a good rifle.
he responded to a Reddit user concerned about what their roommate would say if they purchased their first AR-15. Platner, under the username “P-Hustle,” replied: “Tell them that if they expect to fight fascism without a good semi-automatic rifle, they ought to do some reading of history.”
The reddit thread r/SocialistRA, which describes itself as the “Socialist Redditor Rifle Association,” says it is unaffiliated with the Socialist Rifle Association, a left-wing group that advocates for gun rights.
In a July 2018 post on the same subreddit, Platner said that he “agreed” with a 1914 quote from former socialist presidential candidate Eugene V. Debs that workers should arm themselves unless they are “willing to be forced into abject slavery.”…
“That’s why this poster and the Debs quote that follows above should be shared far and wide. An armed working class is a requirement for economic justice,” Platner said.
There are dozens instances of Platner engaging with posts on the subreddit r/SocialistRA, which is self-described as the “Socialist Redditor Rifle Association.”
The story published by the Washington Post has a different focus. They note that Platner “responded dismissively to a cartoon about sexual assault in the military.”
“In today’s current climate, when every whisper of a misplaced hand brings down a feature length film, anyone who actually thinks the military is purposefully covering up rape to save the career of some god damn [captain], is clearly both an idiot and junior enough in rank or life experience to think it matters,” he wrote on Reddit about sexual assault in the military.
“Rape is a real thing,” he wrote in another post. “If you’re so worried about it to buy Kevlar underwear you’d think you might not get blacked out f—-d up around people you aren’t comfortable with.”…
“Every current student I go to school with is convinced all we did in the infantry is rape everyone, because they once watched ‘invisible war,’” a reference to a 2012 documentary about sexual assault in the military. “Now, since the grunts has no women, this is obviously untrue. Plus, (since living in DC) all you need to do is make ONE phone call and negate any a–hat who pretends he’s a unit commander. So sack the f— up.”
In both cases, Platner gave variations of the excuses he offered to CNN yesterday.
“I don’t want people to judge me off the dumbest thing I said on the internet 12 years ago,” he said. “I would like people to engage with who I am today.”
He said he rarely served alongside women in the male-dominated infantry and has since come to see sexual assault in the military as a crucial issue. “I can honestly say I did not know what the f— I was talking about,” he added. “I have been for quite some time on the opposite side of this conversation.”
Platner claims he dropped off of Reddit in 2021 about the time he moved back to Maine and became an oyster farmer. He said he “wasn’t looking for a place to win silly internet arguments because I was actually hanging out with my neighbors.”
Has he changed some of his views? Probably. I think it’s hard to hold people to things they said a decade ago. But the comments about communism and police and white people…those were only 4-5 years ago. I find it harder to believe he’s completely abandoned all of those views and much more likely that he’s presenting himself differently to win an election.
If he’s no longer a socialist then let’s hear him say something negative about socialism (something beyond I’m not a socialist). If he’s a capitalist now then let’s hear him say something positive about capitalism (something beyond I run a small business). The same goes for his comments about police and white people. Disavowing his own comments isn’t enough to convince me he’s actually changed. But of course, it may be enough for his left-wing voters, many of whom probably agree with a lot of these comments.
Editor’s Note: The Schumer Shutdown is here. Rather than put the American people first, Chuck Schumer and the radical Democrats forced a government shutdown for healthcare for illegals. They own this.
Help us continue to report the truth about the Schumer Shutdown. Use promo code POTUS47 to get 74% off your VIP membership.
