Unearthed posts show Dem Senate hopeful praising vulgar graffiti, making crude porta potty admission

Editor's note: This story contains graphic language.

In one March 2017 post on Reddit's r/Military forum, Platner responded to a discussion about nostalgic military smells by writing: "I still have to jerk off every time I sit in a portas----er… that blue water smell conditioned me." 

The archived posts were made under "P-Hustle," a now-deleted Reddit account that Platner previously acknowledged was his.

In another post from March 2021 on Reddit's r/USMC forum, Platner described a crude penis drawing inside a portable toilet while deployed overseas.

Responding to a thread dedicated to so-called "GWOT Dick Art," Platner launched into an extended monologue praising the explicit graffiti in unusually vivid terms, calling it "beautiful," "engorged and veiny," and moving "towards its penetrative glory."

"Oh s---!!!," Platner wrote. "You've got the Hot Rod C--- from Manas!"

The post accompanied a photograph of a smiling serviceman posing beside the explicit illustration inside the portable restroom.

"I sat there in sheer awe," Platner wrote. "The soul filling joy to be allowed to witness such glory."

Fox News Digital reached out to Platner's campaign for comment on Monday.

Platner has previously responded to questions about his controversial posts by suggesting he was joking.

"You should read the comments in context. It's very clear I'm joking," he previously told Fox News Digital when asked about them. "It's called s---posting. It's when you argue with people on the internet and try to bother them. So, yeah, no, it's very obviously not true."

Republicans are likely to use the resurfaced posts, along with others, to portray Platner as too erratic and extreme for statewide office as Democrats rally behind the first-time candidate.

Mehek Cooke, a GOP strategist and senior national security and legal analyst for the Daily Signal, told Fox News Digital that, politically, Platner's "vulgar" posts will "matter" to voters because they are "deciding whether Graham Platner has the judgment, temperament, and basic decency to represent Maine in the Senate."

"His campaign has been built around authenticity and moral seriousness. These posts undercut both," Cooke said. "Platner is not a truth-teller. He is someone whose instincts appear crude, reckless, and deeply unserious. And by the way, if they were really 'jokes,' why delete the posts? That sounds less like humor and more like a CYA cleanup operation."

Cooke said that "one tasteless post" can be chalked up to "immaturity" but a "years-long trail of vulgar, sexually degrading, and slur-filled commentary is a character issue."

"Will every Democrat in Maine care? No," Cooke said. "Platner has shown he can survive controversy inside a Democratic primary. But in a general election, especially against Susan Collins, the cumulative effect of his stances, controversies, and comments matters. The Nazi-linked tattoo controversy, the homophobic slurs, the disturbing comments that have already surfaced, and now these posts create a fuller picture of a morally bankrupt candidate. Republicans will argue this is not a candidate with a few regrettable moments. This is a pattern that tells voters something fundamental about his character. And character still matters to a lot of Mainers."