Fetterman criticizes former Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner for Kik scandals
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Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman fueled criticism of Senate candidate Graham Platner on Wednesday, calling out the Maine progressive for his history of inflammatory rhetoric while challenging him to release messages linked to a Kik account that has become a landmark in his campaign.
“This is a guy who had a problem with me, the way I dress, but he seemed to have no problem throwing in the towel on a disgusting website that has always had a big problem with that kind of depravity,” Fetterman told Fox News host Sean Hannity.
The Democrat later challenged Platner to make public the messages he allegedly exchanged with women at the podium.
“Let me make a deal. I’ll tell P-Hustle, I’ll wear a suit every day, if he releases all those texts and messages he had… [with] twelve women,” he continued, referring to Platner’s username on the platform.
A GROWING LIST OF ISSUES THREATENING DEMOCRAT GRAHAM PLTNER’S FOURTH SENATE BID
Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., speaks to reporters in the Senate subway at the US Capitol on Tuesday, June 2.; Maine Senator Graham Platner speaks during a campaign event at the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 6859 on May 17, in Portland, Maine. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images; Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
“You can testify [to] America… what [in] these conversations. Can P-Hustle prove how old these people are?”
Fetterman argued that Platner should remove the messages if he has “nothing to hide,” while raising concerns about age verification on anonymous messaging platforms.
Platner’s campaign previously acknowledged that the Kik account, which was set up in 2016, was his, saying he had removed the app from his phone but not deactivated it, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Platner’s campaign did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment on the matter.
“As a Democrat, I will never hold water for a guy who calls an American hero a dumb MFer, or someone who anoints Chris Kyle… and says he’s shooting innocent civilians. You’ve lost count…”
“It doesn’t count. It really is.”
PLATNER HAS AN ACCOUNT ON AN UNKNOWN OPERATING SYSTEM CALLED ‘PREDATOR’S PARADISE’ AMID SCAM
Republican operatives, including National Republican Senatorial Committee staff, protested outside the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee headquarters in Washington, DC, wearing towels mocking Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner’s Kik profile picture. (Nicholas Ballasy/Fox News Digital)
Fetterman’s comments addressed a number of issues that have put Plattner’s campaign on the defensive, including a series of controversial Reddit posts, a video that appears to accuse the late Navy SEAL Chris Kyle of inflating his numbers for killing civilians and his once-covered painting of the Nazi Totenkopf, a symbol historically tied to the SS.
“You did it [said] so many things that are so annoying that it’s hard to keep up with them,” Fetterman said.
Although Fetterman has repeatedly distanced himself from Platner and questioned whether Democrats should support the candidate, some prominent Democrats and figures aligned with the Democratic Alliance have continued to support his campaign.
Sen. Bernie Sanders, Vt., defended Platner during a recent interview, while Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, DN.Y., and Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., endorsed his bid to unseat Republican Sen. Susan Collins, who has represented Maine in the Senate since 1997.
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Platner provided explanations for some of the arguments.
He previously stated that he got the Totenkopf tattoo in 2007 and was unaware of its association with Nazism at the time.
Platner apologized and expressed hope that people would “judge me by the person I am today” when he was pressed on social media, saying he was “having a hard time settling into society” after serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Fox News’ Greg Norman-Diamond and Adam Pack contributed to this report.
