Democratic Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner used a Planned Parenthood endorsement event to brag about getting tested for sexually transmitted infections at the taxpayer-funded organization — casting routine STD screening as a badge of honor rather than a consequence of the behavior now dogging his campaign.
Platner, who is married and has faced a cascade of scandals involving sexting, anonymous hookup apps, and multiple women accusing him of volatile and intimidating conduct, told the Portland crowd Monday that he got STI checks at Planned Parenthood in his younger years. "It's not an embarrassing thing. It's a smart thing to do, especially when you're younger," he said, pausing mid-sentence to find the words as the audience laughed, according to the Daily Caller.
Planned Parenthood receives over half a billion dollars in taxpayer funding annually. Working Americans subsidize the organization — and Platner wants them to know he's grateful for the service.
The endorsement event was ostensibly about abortion rights and attacking incumbent Republican Senator Susan Collins for her 2018 vote to confirm Justice Brett Kavanaugh. Platner also claimed that "many of my female friends and my wife" have relied on Planned Parenthood and that some friends use it for "primary care" — a claim Breitbart's John Nolte mocked as pandering, noting Platner's own healthcare comes through the Department of Veterans Affairs.
The STI disclosure lands amid a pile of damaging revelations. According to the New York Post, Platner's former campaign political director revealed he sexted with multiple women despite marrying his wife in 2023. He maintained an active account on Kik, an anonymous messaging platform notorious for hookups, with a shirtless profile picture. Old Reddit posts surfaced in which Platner mused about sex acts with porta-potties and, per the Daily Caller, made excuses for sexual assault.
The New York Times interviewed more than two dozen people, including six former romantic partners who described relationships with Platner as "volatile" and "toxic." Three ex-girlfriends described behavior they found "unsettling" or intimidating. Lyndsey Fifield alleged Platner grabbed her hard enough to leave marks, yanked her from a cab by her wrists, twisted her arm behind her back, and locked her in a room. Another woman came forward claiming Platner likely cheated on his former fiancée with her. Both women discussed his skull-and-crossbones tattoo — which resembled a Nazi symbol — before it became public. Platner has denied knowing the tattoo's meaning and emphatically denied being violent, though he acknowledged he "wasn't always a great boyfriend."
The Post framed Platner as a "horny oyster farmer" grappling with scandal; the Daily Caller highlighted the gap between his VA-provided healthcare and his advocacy for universal coverage; Breitbart called him the "Democrat Party's favorite neo-Nazi" and cast doubt on whether he actually visited Planned Parenthood at all.
What's not in dispute: a man who wants to represent Maine in the Senate stood on stage and told voters that the organization they're forced to fund was there for him when he needed STD tests — and he thinks that's a selling point. Polls show Platner leading Collins by roughly 4.5 points, though the race has tightened. Collins was down by an average of five points in 2020 before winning by nine. After July 13, Democrats can no longer replace Platner on the ballot.
The question isn't whether Platner's past disqualifies him — that's for Maine voters. The question is why a candidate drowning in revelations about his own sexual conduct chose to make taxpayer-funded STD testing his applause line.
