{"id":787,"date":"2026-06-06T04:12:03","date_gmt":"2026-06-06T04:12:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/trustedmovinggroups.com\/?p=787"},"modified":"2026-06-06T04:12:03","modified_gmt":"2026-06-06T04:12:03","slug":"maine-had-my-back-graham-platner-hits-the-campaign-trail-amid-latest-turmoil","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/trustedmovinggroups.com\/?p=787","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Maine had my back\u2019: Graham Platner hits the campaign trail amid latest turmoil"},"content":{"rendered":"
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BAR HARBOR, Maine \u2014 As he returned to the campaign trail on Friday, Graham Platner took a moment to indirectly address new allegations of \u201ctoxic\u201d and \u201cunsettling\u201d behavior three women from his past relationships leveled against him.<\/p>\n

Read more Son of James Handy\u2019s girlfriend is charged with murder in actor\u2019s stabbing death<\/a><\/p>\n

At the same time, hundreds of supporters signaled to Platner that they were still with him, despite a torrent of negative attention. They gave him several standing ovations and at one point chanted the name of his wife, Amy Gertner, when he singled her out for support. <\/p>\n

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In his remarks, the Democratic Senate candidate spoke of Maine as a state that has given him personal strength to build himself back from the brink. <\/p>\n

\u201cSince the beginning, Maine, you had my back. When hurtful things I said on the Internet a decade ago came out into the public as I shared my personal journey through PTSD and darkness of recovery and accountability and growth \u2014 Maine had my back,\u201d he said to cheers.<\/p>\n

Platner then more specifically referenced the New York Times article on Thursday that detailed the allegations from his former girlfriends, saying that as \u201cevery single piece of that past and journey gets dug up, litigated, and weaponized, you have my back.\u201d<\/p>\n

While some of the women described positive experiences with Platner, three did not. One woman, Lyndsey Fifield, said that when she dated Platner between roughly 2013 and 2015, he once \u201ctwisted her arm behind her back, shoved her into a bedroom and held the door closed from the other side so she couldn\u2019t get out, telling her to remain there until she was \u2018calm.\u2019\u201d <\/p>\n

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Fifield has also worked for conservative groups and campaigns, which Platner seemed to reference when he said some of the allegations were \u201cpolitically motivated\u201d and were \u201cfalse.\u201d The former military veteran spoke of a journey he\u2019s had overcoming PTSD after his military tours. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe state of Maine raised me and the state of Maine saved me,\u201d Platner said. \u201cTo all of you out there, Maine, I will always have your back.\u201d <\/p>\n

At one point, Platner asked his wife to stand. The crowd chanted \u201cAmy! Amy\u201d as it gave her a standing ovation. <\/p>\n

Gertner took center stage last week after the Wall Street Journal first reported that Platner had been sending sexually explicit text messages to several women while they were married. The story came to light after a former campaign staffer went public that Gertner herself had disclosed the sexting to the campaign last year as a potential vulnerability. <\/p>\n

Gertner last week defended her husband and talked about how difficult marriage was but that they had grown stronger together afterward. <\/p>\n

Platner did not address reporters after the event but had sat for local interviews, including with Maine\u2019s public radio, where he denied he had ever been physically threatening. <\/p>\n

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In an interview with MS NOW on Thursday, Platner disputed some of the allegations in The New York Times piece, including that he had been physically abusive.<\/p>\n

Read more Janet Mills shows no sign of reigniting her Maine Senate bid amid Graham Platner\u2019s troubles<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cAnything alleging physicality, anything alleging that I knew what my tattoo was, these are the statements of someone who\u2019s politically motivated,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

Platner is attempting to move beyond headlines of his personal life and refocus the messaging on the need for change in Maine. On Friday, his campaign announced he had raised $200,000 since The New York Times piece ran and called it the best single day of fundraising since his primary opponent, Gov. Janet Mills, dropped from the race. The primary election is on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

As he spoke to Mainers, he tried to refocus the conversation back onto the general election opponent, Republican Sen. Susan Collins. Collins has long managed to win reelection by winning cross over vote and independents by casting herself as a moderate. <\/p>\n

Platner called that image a \u201ccharade.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe see through the charade, and we see through it because of what she does. She voted to confirm Brett Kavanaugh, who, before he was busy dismantling the Voting Rights Act and taking voting rights away from black southerners, he was busy getting down to the work he went there for which was dismantling a woman\u2019s right to choose, and she told us, she told us that that was settled law,\u201d Platner said. \u201cShe looked him in the eyes, and he told her that he would never do such a thing. Well, either she lied to us or she\u2019s a fool. Either way, you shouldn\u2019t be a United States senator from the state of Maine.\u201d <\/p>\n

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