r/moderatepolitics 3d ago

News Article Graham Platner’s Wife Flagged Sexually Explicit Texts to His Senate Campaign

https://www.wsj.com/politics/elections/graham-platners-wife-flagged-sexually-explicit-texts-to-his-senate-campaign-628ec832?mod=e2tw
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u/Interesting_Total_98 2d ago

There's no sign of voters caring about cheating scandals. Trump won over swing voters after doing far worse things, so I can see Platner winning in a blue state in an election that benefits Democrats in spite of this.

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u/Hour-Ad-9508 2d ago

True but watching people run cover for him about everything is so exhausting. It’s gross when republicans do it and it’s gross when democrats do it.

He had a Nazi SS tattoo for almost 2 decades, wrote on Reddit about how assault survivors “deserve some of the blame,” criticized Collins for the Iraq war while he worked for Blackwater in 2018, and is now dealing with a cheating scandal from a year ago.

I get that he says what democrats want to hear but how does anyone trust what this guy has to say?

At a bare minimum, he has absolutely terrible judgment. If he was running with an R next to his name we’d (rightfully) be hearing about how this is an affront to what the U.S. is supposed to stand for.

I’m sorry but I just can not ever accept someone who has had a Nazi tattoo as a representative of the United States, regardless of intent. It should be a complete non-starter.

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u/keljam68 1d ago

So people cannot evolve?

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u/Hour-Ad-9508 1d ago

They sure can. From this story, he was sexting women as recently as last spring. He doesn’t sound very evolved to me, personally.

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u/TammyK Obama-Trump 2028 1d ago

Pretending to suddenly care about left wing issues is just a mating strategy. This is a man who is and always will be motivated by sex. Maybe that's unrelated to his campaign, but it's obvious to me that's the kind of person he is.

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u/keljam68 1d ago

No? Lots of adulterous people out there that have good ideas for our country.

I was thinking about the tattoo situation and should have been more clear.

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u/Daytime-mechE 2d ago

Didn't Cal Cunningham lose in NC in 2020 for similar scandals?

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u/Klutzy_Carpet_9170 2d ago

NC is a much redder state

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u/Interesting_Total_98 2d ago

That was in a year where support between the two parties was basically even. Democrats have a large advantage this time.

Also, it's unclear how much of a part that scandal played, if anything. Cunningham barely losing in 2020 makes sense with or without that scandal happening.

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u/kyler01williams 16h ago

Well Cunningham was ahead in the polls until the scandal happened.

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u/Interesting_Total_98 14h ago

He was still ahead in the polls when the election happened. 2020 was a relatively bad year for polling.

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u/Iceraptor17 2d ago

That was the time where there was a belief trump was an anomaly.

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u/Solarwinds-123 2d ago

Platner is not trying to appeal to Trump's base.

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u/Interesting_Total_98 2d ago

I didn't say he was. Prioritizing a candidate's platform over a cheating scandal isn't unique to them.

I brought up Trump because he won over many swing voters after saying and doing several things that are much more negative.

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u/layinuponem 1d ago

I think pretending that democrats are held to the same standard as trump is a pretty laughable assertion with no real world back up. We absolutely are held to a stricter standard. Republican voters consider us pompous and holier than thou. Any stain like this is immediately posterized and paraded on attack adds that absolutely work. Meanwhile, when their guys are seen doing the same or worse, crickets. Because they aren't pretending to uphold ideals. (This is a typical voters outlook, not a reflection of how republican senators carry themselves. They usually are trying to uphold 'Traditional ideals') and so their faults are excused or ignored. We need to be perfect, flawless iconoclasts. They can be scum of the earth, and often are. Sucks to suck

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u/Interesting_Total_98 1d ago

held to the same standard as trump

I never said that. Platner would lose if he was as controversial as him.

We need to be perfect, flawless

There are different standards, but if that were true, Jay Jones wouldn't have won by 7 points in Virginia.

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u/Sea_Performer_2086 1d ago

This, the texts messages and NON NUDE images he spent to another CONSENTING ADULT happened more than a year ago, his wife already knew about them and was the one who disclosed them. That would lead one to be believe that Graham and his wife had already dealt with the issue surrounding them. Did he actually cheat, ie fcking someone? No Did he actually send a nude image of himself? No, he had a towel around himself. It makes him human, people aren’t perfect. It’s shtty, yes. But it doesn’t make him a liar. Given that from what was released about it himself a consenting adult talked with another consenting adult. No crime, public corruption, hints at being involved with someone like epstein, working with/for a foreign government or anything else shady happened here. This is honestly a personal matter between 3 adults(graham, his wife, and the other person(s)) that(though the perception looks bad) it should have no bearing on his campaign or what people think of him as a senate candidate. Especially when you look at the dozens of actual elected congressional representatives who have committed sexual assault, sexual misconduct, or sexual harassment and have an entire congressional fund devoted to paying the people off and they just recently voted to keep all details of it confidential and not available to the public.

Or the fact that no less than half of trump’s hand picked cabinet members or secretaries have allegations or are/were being investigated for some sexual assault, misconduct, or harassment.

The other half have committed or are/were being investigated for some other kind of real crime where people got hurt or were/are connected to Epstein.

Don’t let this fool you. This is the exact same thing that just happened to massie in Kentucky. This is israel/AIPAC and republicans trying to destroy his reputation, run smear campaigns, distract from actual policies issues that matter when running for a senate.

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u/PairOk7940 23h ago

Here here!   Nobody should care or involve themselves in the consenting marriage issues of other people.  Not to mention this behavior is hardly rare.  Quite frankly anybodies marriage could be dragged for its worst moments.  I actually believe the real shame here,  is whomever felt the need to drag his wife and his marriage back through its most painful moments, just to score points in a game voters dont give a gaf about.  Its sick what they do to the average person. All to keep power in the hands of the greediest, most self serving,  lazy politicians. On both sides.

Unless Platner was somehow involved in coercion, or illegality, his marriage outside of office is his business.  Quite simply, he isn't proposing to me, so why is this my buisness.  Pretending to care about his wife and his fidelity to her, while publicly embarrassing her with such brutality,  all to avoid talking about Healthcare is disgusting.  Once again the political industrial complex and the  media that feeds off it, niss the point entirely.   Get a real job, or go touch grass.This isn't a story for anyone but their marriage counselor.   P. S lets talk about how insurance doesnt cover marriage counseling,  or couples therapy. 🤔 

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u/Geekerino Undo the duopoly, vote third-party! 1d ago

That's the thing though, cheating fits into Trump's central image of the quintessential asshole, it doesn't contradict his intended message of being the asshole who'll fight for you. Democrats tend to have a more sterile image as a whole, and Platner's thing since the tattoo report has been being a better man than he used to be when he got it, years ago. But this incident wasn't terribly long ago, only a year. That contradicts the intended message.

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u/Interesting_Total_98 17h ago

Jay Jones won in Virginia by 7 points without a sterile image.