Platner's Exes Are Now Coming Out of the Woodwork

Graham Platner has been trying to sell Maine voters on a redemption arc, though a new probe by the New York Times suggests that story may be far more tangled than his Senate campaign is letting on. The Maine Democrat, 41, who hopes to win his primary next week and face off against GOP Sen. Susan Collins in November, was already under fire for sexually explicit messages he sent to women while married, and for an old tattoo recognized as a Nazi symbol. Now, Platner is facing accounts from three exes who describe yearslong relationships with him marked by heavy drinking, cheating, demeaning language toward women, and, in one case, behavior that an ex says felt physically intimidating.

Lyndsey Fifield, a conservative who's worked for GOP campaigns, says she dated Platner from about 2013 to 2015 and that he was "cavalierly contemptuous of women's emotions." She also stated that the "toxic" Platner "could be rough with her," describing incidents in which he grabbed her by the shoulders and wrist and twisted her arm behind her back, though she stresses that he "never hit me, he never punched me." Fifield also alleged that Platner would talk out loud about how he wanted to kill those who were a threat, and to also use rape as a weapon against those threats.

"He said this a lot: 'If anybody ever broke in here, I would rape them,'" Fifield said. "He was like, 'I would rape them to show them that I'm dominant.'" The Times also spoke with three other exes—supplied by Platner's campaign—who describe him as safe and supportive. "He was a great boyfriend," said Caroline Lemp, 36, referring to the ex she dated for a few months in 2013 as a "gentle giant." "He was super kind, very nice, fun." In a statement to the Times, Platner conceded that, during a "very dark period of my life," he'd "too often self medicated with alcohol, and was a far from perfect boyfriend."

"I take responsibility for all of that, and wish I had been better," he noted. However, his statement added that he "strongly disputes" any allegations of physical intimidation or altercations. His campaign didn't deny the rape comment. On a Thursday appearance on MS NOW, Platner again denied knowing his tattoo was a Nazi symbol when he got it, as well as any physical abuse against his exes, calling such allegations "politically motivated," per the AP. "There are things ... that I absolutely will take responsibility for and have been speaking about openly for months," Platner said. "But those serious allegations are just not true." He also said his marriage to Amy Gertner is now an "incredibly faithful and happy" one, per the Guardian.