Maine Democratic Senate hopeful Graham Platner broke his silence over the sexting scandal and slammed the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times for running stories on gossip. The gossip, however, was allegedly provided by her wife Amy Gartner who has now said that it is shameful for the media to spread gossip. “No marriage is perfect, and I don’t want a perfect marriage. I want my marriage,” she said.Platner is seeking the Democratic nomination against Republican Senator Susan Collins for one of the most closely watched Senate races in Maine, which goes to the primary on June 9.
What is Platner’s sexting scandal?
The Wall Street Journal reported that Platner’s wife Gertner had told the campaign in August last year that she had seen sexting messages on her husband’s phone earlier in their marriage. The New York Times, which also published a story Saturday about the texts, named former aide Genevieve McDonald as one of the then-campaign staffers who confirmed the messages.Gertner said what she shared with a campaign aide was personal and she is hurt that she has been betrayed — by the former campaign aide.“It’s no surprise to me that the establishment media outlets are just going to run gossip instead of wanting to talk about the things that actually matter in this race, which are the material realities that Mainers are working with,” said Platner, attempting to pin his personal failings on the New York Times and Wall Street Journal for reporting them.Platner said he is in a very loving and happy marriage and media does not write about that. “We talked about things in Amy and I’s marriage that we’ve gone through over the years. We talked about that because that’s our marriage, and we discussed it with the campaign,” Platner said.Platner, an oyster farmer and combat veteran, rarely remains far from controversies. Last year, it was reported that Platner had a tattoo on his chest that resembled a Totenkopf, or death’s head symbol, used by the Nazi SS. Platner said he got it during a drunken night out in Croatia in 2007 and did not know it was linked to Nazis. He later inked over it with a “Celtic knot with some imagery around dogs”, he said.
