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Maine Gov. Janet Mills is launching her first negative TV ad at this time, focusing on his opponent within the Democratic Senate primary over his controversial social media posts.
The advert options girls studying previous Reddit posts from Graham Platner, an oyster farmer and army veteran, the place he downplayed sexual assault. The girls name the feedback “disgusting,” “horrible” and “disqualifying.”
In the web posts from 2013, first reported by The Washington PostPlatner responded to a commenter who wrote, “There’s always that story about the girl who gets raped because she drank too much and someone took advantage of that.”
Platner responded, “Holy f—, how about people just take some responsibility for themselves and not get so f—ed up they wind up having sex with someone they don’t mean to? Men and women, you make a choice to consume enough of a substance to lose your self control. So if you don’t want to be in an understanding situation, act like an adult for f—s sake.”
Platner mentioned in an interview with the Post about these Reddit feedback, “I can honestly say I didn’t know what the f— I was talking about. I have been for quite some time on the opposite side of this conversation.”
The political newcomer weathered a collection of revelations about his controversial Reddit posts late final yr, apologizing for posts that he acknowledged had been offensive, and suggesting that some posts had been made in jest. He has mentioned he struggled with post-traumatic stress dysfunction following his service in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Mills’ marketing campaign advert closes with a narrator saying, “Graham Platner, the closer you look, the worst it gets,” as a decade-old video performs of a shirtless Platner with a tattoo on his chest. That tattoo resembled a Nazi image, and Platner denied realizing the Nazi affiliation when he bought the tattoo whereas serving as a Marine serving in Croatia. Platner has since mentioned he has covered up the tattoo.
Platner advised NBC News in October that the controversies had “strengthened” his campaign.
Platner marketing campaign supervisor Ben Chin mentioned in an announcement that the advert is “nothing more than a desperate attempt for relevance from the governor, who is trailing an oyster farmer in every recent poll.”
“Despite what Janet Mills and DC suppose, Mainers know that Graham shouldn’t be outlined by the worst factor he mentioned on the web over a decade in the past,” Chin added.
Platner is also on the airwaves and launched a new TV ad today, touting him as the candidate best-positioned to defeat GOP Sen. Susan Collins. A narrator says in the ad that Platner “can win again folks Democrats have been shedding.”
The Democratic primary is June 9.
