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Year: 2026

Graham Platner’s wife campaign video statement responding to infidelity allegations widely panned by critics

Graham Platner’s wife campaign video statement responding to infidelity allegations widely panned by critics

Graham Platner’s wife Amy Gertner came out to defend her husband’s Senate campaign Saturday, but X reactions to the five-minute video are rebuking it as damage control that did not dispute recent allegations against the Maine Democrat. “So it makes me really angry, disappointed, and I find it really shameful that there’s a group of media outlets and people who are willing to spread gossip, instead of talking about real issues that Graham is running on — like healthcare and education and childcare,” Gertner said hours after the Wall Street Journal reported that Platner exchanged sexual text messages with several women after he and Gertner were married. “Being newly married is hard. Being newly married and going through infertility is hard. Being newly married, going through infertility, and a Senate campaign is hard.” The wife speaking for her husband after the surfacing of allegations against him – and not the candidate himself – was seized on by critics and social media users replying to the video post. SPURNED SPOUSES CASH IN AS NORTH CAROLINA’S ‘HOMEWRECKER’ LAW TURNS CHEATING INTO A COURTROOM JACKPOT “Graham Platner admitted to sexually explicit text messages with over a dozen women and having an account on a ‘predator paradise’ child exploitation app, then had his wife – a victim of his deviant actions – defend it,” National Republican Senatorial Committee press secretary Samantha Cantrell told Fox News Digital on Sunday. Fox News Digital reached out to Platner’s campaign for a response but they did not immediately respond. “It looks and sounds like a hostage video,” one X user responded to the video. “Blink twice if you need rescuing, Amy.” The controversy comes as Platner, a progressive oyster farmer and military veteran running to unseat moderate incumbent Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, has drawn support from national Democrats, including Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., who previously praised him by saying, “That’s my kind of man.” TOP OFF-THE-WALL REDDIT POSTS HAUNTING GRAHAM PLATNER’S MAINE SENATE BID “I don’t even know if I have the right words to describe what we’ve been going through, but our marriage counselor helps, my personal counselor helps, Graham’s personal counselor helps, and we work on our mental health every day,” Gertner added. “No marriage is perfect, and I don’t want a perfect marriage. I want my marriage, and I want to be married to Graham.” But X users rebuked the use of the wife to defend the Senate campaign. “It’s not your wife’s job to defend your infidelity, creep,” writer Emily Zanotti wrote on X. “The big problem here is that this story only covers what exists out there: potentially dozens of emails, text messages, and videos Platner sent to who-knows-how-many women, which the campaign is now praying aren’t next to be leaked,” she added in another post. TOP OFF-THE-WALL REDDIT POSTS HAUNTING GRAHAM PLATNER’S MAINE SENATE BID Another X user, who is a self-proclaimed 2028 Kamala Harris for president supporter, denounced the fact a campaign “has forced his wife to make a #hostage video,” urging “Amy, please reach out to .@MEStatePolice so they can remove his firearms from your home.” “Shame on Graham for putting her in this position,” another poster wrote on X. Despite the blowback, Gertner did stress they have “a great marriage.”  But critics note the video did little to answer allegations surrounding the Democrat Senate hopeful, particularly with the admission of mental health and infidelity struggles in a still-new marriage. “I have incredible empathy for a woman who’s just had a miscarriage having to make a video defending her husband’s infidelities,” Moms Demand Action founder Shannon Watts wrote on X. “But a man so damaged by combat – according to him and his family – that he’s said and done destructive things for decades needs to recover, not run for Senate.” GISELE FETTERMAN LAMBASTS ‘TERRIBLE’ MEDIA, SAYS JOURNALISTS BOMBARDED HER WHEN HUSBAND WAS SICK Gertner’s video statement confirmed the mental health questions and notably did not deny the reporting. “I knew the man that I married is wonderful and dynamic and probably a genius,” Gertner said. “I knew the man that I married had been through an immense amount of violent active combat. He’s been in therapy for years. I just I admire the f— out of him. “So when there are news articles about our marriage, it’s just extra sh—-. Can I say that online? I hope I can.” Earlier Saturday, Platner’s campaign confirmed the controversial text exchanges to Politico following a report from The Wall Street Journal that noted a former campaign aide seeking to get ahead of opposition research leaked the damning allegations. DEMOCRATS ‘SELLING THEIR SOUL’ TO EMBRACE PLATNER ARE IN FOR RUDE AWAKENING WITH MAINE VOTERS: GOP LAWMAKER “They’re trying to make this woman a scapegoat when she was clearly the canary in a coal mine,” Watts added in another X post, sharing a Facebook message from alleged whistleblower Genevieve McDonald, who rebuked those defending Platner’s campaign: “We cannot be this painfully stupid.” “So I think I’m feeling angry today, and I don’t normally make public statements, but it’s really important for me to tell all of you out there — especially people who are voting in Maine — that I think it’s shameful behavior to spend time and energy and resources on negative ads and negative stories on Graham when all he’s trying to do is improve the lives of people who work for a living,” Gertner added. The irony of rebuking “attacks” was not lost on critics. “Have you read your husband’s campaign attacks, press releases and X posts?” former acting Director of National Intelligence Richard Grenell wrote on X, replying to the campaign video post. “You think you all get a free ride to brutally attack others and not get criticized yourself?” SUSAN COLLINS SHRUGS OFF ATTACKS BY DEMOCRATS AND TRUMP, SAYS MAINE VOTERS ‘DON’T VOTE PARTY LINE’ “Put on your big girl pants – he’s running for 1 of the 100 Senate seats,” he added. Among the “attack” posts noted

Platner controversies fuel speculation about little-known Maine ballot replacement provision

Platner controversies fuel speculation about little-known Maine ballot replacement provision

As controversy surrounding Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner continues to mount, attention is turning to a little-known provision of Maine law that could allow Democrats to replace him on the general election ballot after the primary. The question has taken on new significance because Maine election law provides a mechanism for replacing a nominee who withdraws after winning a primary. Under Maine law, a candidate who wins the June 9 primary and subsequently withdraws by 5 p.m. on July 13 may be replaced by a nominee selected by party officials. Any replacement candidate must be chosen no later than 5 p.m. on July 27. The timeline would give Democrats just 14 days to settle on a replacement candidate and prepare for the general election campaign. GRAHAM PLATNER VOWS TO ‘COME AFTER’ BEZOS AS SENATE HOPEFUL ESCALATES BILLIONAIRE TAX FIGHT While there is no public indication that Democrats are pursuing such a strategy, the provision has fueled speculation about what options the party would have if concerns about Platner’s candidacy continue to grow. The scrutiny comes as Platner has faced a series of controversies in recent weeks, including criticism over a tattoo with links to Nazi imagery, resurfaced Reddit posts in which he made inflammatory comments about veterans, sexual assault and political opponents and reports about sexually explicit messages exchanged with other women during his marriage. Platner, a Marine veteran and oyster farmer, has defended himself against the criticism and retained the support of prominent Democrats, including Sens. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass. Still, some party figures have questioned whether the allegations could complicate Democrats’ efforts to unseat Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, in one of the nation’s most closely watched Senate races. BERNIE SANDERS DEFENDS MAINE SENATE CANDIDATE UNDER FIRE FOR REDDIT COMMENTS Among the Democrats who have publicly criticized Platner is Rep. Jake Auchincloss, D-Mass., who described the candidate’s tattoo controversy as “personally disqualifying.” Former Maine state Rep. Genevieve McDonald, who previously served as Platner’s political director, resigned from the campaign and has publicly questioned his viability, reportedly describing him as unelectable. Although Maine law provides a post-primary window for Democrats to replace Platner on the general election ballot if he voluntarily withdraws, any such effort would face significant political hurdles. Platner remains the overwhelming favorite to win the June 9 primary, and there is currently no public evidence that party leaders are organizing a campaign to force him from the race. But the political reality may be more important than the procedural one. Following former Gov. Janet Mills‘ decision not to run, much of the Democratic establishment has consolidated behind Platner, and national Democratic figures have continued to support his candidacy despite the controversies. For now, the question remains largely hypothetical. While Maine law provides a mechanism for replacing a nominee under certain circumstances, Democrats have shown little public appetite for revisiting the race absent a major new development.

Arizona school board member gets backlash after mocking board president with Nazi salute

Arizona school board member gets backlash after mocking board president with Nazi salute

An Arizona school board member is facing calls to resign after appearing to make a Nazi salute during a contentious public meeting before later comparing the board president to a dictator and saying, “All I could think of tonight was Hitler.” Video from a May 26 Deer Valley Unified School District Governing Board meeting appears to show board member Kimberly Fisher raising her right arm and saying, “Heil, heil” during a dispute with board President Paul Carver Jr. The exchange occurred near the end of the meeting during a disagreement over scheduling a community study session related to district boundary discussions. According to video of the meeting, Fisher objected to holding the session during the afternoon, arguing that community members would have difficulty attending. NJ COUNCILWOMAN CONDEMNS ‘IGNORANCE’ OF COMPARING ICE AGENTS TO NAZIS DURING HEATED MEETING “The whole point of having a study session with our community is that we can get their input and they can hear our discussions,” Fisher said during the meeting. Carver later said he moved to adjourn the meeting because the discussion involved an item that was not on the posted agenda and could have raised concerns under Arizona’s Open Meeting Law. “The reason for calling for the adjournment was simply that, as the question turned into discussion concerning an item that was not on the agenda, the board was moving into an area that could have been considered a violation of Arizona’s Open Meeting Law,” Carver said in a Facebook video posted after the meeting. BYRON DONALDS REBUKES ‘SQUAD’ MEMBER OVER ‘FASCIST’ SLUR: ‘DO I LOOK LIKE A MEMBER OF THE THIRD REICH?’ Carver said Fisher made the gesture and comment after the motion to adjourn. “The point behind this post is that there’s a lot of noise being made that she may have been justified in making that statement because she felt like I was being a dictator,” Carver said. “I was simply following the rules of the state of Arizona.” He added that “it is never okay to make those gestures and make that statement with those gestures in any environment.” MARYLAND TEACHER FACES CALLS FOR RESIGNATION OVER CONTROVERSIAL CHARLIE KIRK MEME The incident prompted condemnation from district officials, who said Fisher was acting independently and did not represent the views of the district. “The District does not condone, support, or endorse gestures or language associated with hate, discrimination, intimidation or violence in any form,” Deer Valley Unified School District said in a statement. “Such actions do not reflect the mission or vision of Deer Valley Unified School District.” The district added that Fisher’s “views and actions do not reflect and should not be attributed to other board members, staff, other members of the school community or the District.” TENNESSEE SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER CENSURED AFTER CALLING STUDENT ‘HOT’ AT MEETING The Deer Valley Educators Association also condemned Fisher’s conduct and called for her resignation. “DVEA was horrified and disgusted to see DVUSD Governing Board Member Kimberly Fisher deliver a Nazi salute during the Tuesday, May 26, 2026, board meeting,” association president Kelley Fisher said in a statement. “Any leader who uses a Nazi salute during a School Board meeting is unfit for public service. There is no justification for this behavior. Kimberly Fisher should resign before she does more harm to our students and the community at large.” WOMAN DISROBES AT CALIFORNIA SCHOOL BOARD MEETING IN PROTEST OF LOCKER ROOM POLICIES Hours after the meeting, Fisher posted a Facebook livestream in which she doubled down on her criticism of Carver, repeatedly describing his leadership as dictatorial. “We have been living or operating under virtually a dictatorship for a long time,” Fisher said. She also accused Carver of acting like “a dictator” and urged voters not to support him in future elections. DEMOCRATIC CONGRESSMAN HURLS PROFANITY-LACED MESSAGE AT STEPHEN MILLER Near the end of the livestream, Fisher appeared to connect her thinking during the meeting to historical dictators. “What was it? Pol Pot, you know, was the most egregious dictator I’ve heard of,” Fisher said. “All I could think of tonight was Hitler.” Fisher did not directly address the gesture or comment from the meeting during the livestream. VIRGINIA SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER SUED FOR ALLEGEDLY EMBEZZLING $175K FOR STRIP CLUBS, VACATIONS, CAMPAIGN EXPENSES In a separate video posted to social media, Carver said community members had asked why the board was not taking action against Fisher. He argued Arizona law limits the ability of school boards to discipline elected members. “I need the community to understand that in the state of Arizona, the school district and the board do not have the ability to discipline board members,” Carver said. Carver called Fisher’s behavior “rampant and repetitive” and said her actions were “totally unacceptable and unprofessional.” Deer Valley Unified School District serves more than 33,000 students across northern Maricopa County, including communities in north Phoenix, Glendale, Peoria, Cave Creek and New River, according to the district. Fox News Digital reached out to Fisher for comment.