Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) unloaded criticism Tuesday against fellow Democrat Graham Platner, the party’s embattled presumptive nominee who’s set to take on Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) in Maine’s battleground Senate race.
A centrist with a track record of bucking Democrats, Fetterman compared Platner’s latest controversy, an extramarital sexting scandal, to disgraced former California Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell, who resigned from office in April after multiple women accused him of sexual assault and rape.
“[There’s] so much bizarre and tacky and gross stuff that you lose count. It’s like you need to have like a bingo card,” Fetterman told reporters, while stopping short of calling on Platner to drop out. “I’m saying that the last time Democrats leaned in on a guy that was sending those kinds of messages to women, I think that was like Swalwell.”
The Washington Examiner reached out to Platner for comment. The Maine Democrat has not been accused of sexual misconduct.
The rebuke comes as Senate Democrats keep Platner at arm’s length after a former campaign aide disclosed that his wife, Amy Gertner, flagged sexual messages last year from Platner to other women over concerns they could damage his Senate bid. Platner has downplayed the episode by accusing the media of trying to distract voters from key policy issues, but he’s also had to weather scrutiny over past racist and sexist Reddit posts, as well as having a tattoo of a Nazi symbol.
Few of Platner’s potential colleagues within the Senate Democratic Caucus have come to his defense amid the new revelations, and those who have cite the desire to flip the seat and prevent Collins from serving a sixth term.
SENATE DEMOCRATS OFFER LITTLE SUPPORT AS PLATNER FACES NEW SEXTING CONTROVERSY: ‘STAYING OUT OF IT’
“What’s next?” Fetterman said, suggesting Platner has more yet-to-be-revealed skeletons.
Platner is meeting with some Senate Democrats in Washington on Tuesday, one week before his June 9 primary. Gov. Janet Mills (D-ME), who suspended her Senate campaign in April, hinted she could resurrect her bid in the eleventh hour because her name is “still on the ballot.”