Three days before Maine's June 9 primary, Sen. Bernie Sanders doubled down on his endorsement of Graham Platner, the state's presumptive Democratic Senate nominee, even as fresh allegations from multiple women painted a picture of a candidate whose personal conduct may be far rougher than his campaign trail persona.
Sanders posted on X Saturday that Platner was "the only candidate who will do something" about the economy, healthcare, and the tax system. He did not address the allegations directly. The post arrived hours after the New York Times published interviews with several women who accused Platner of disturbing behavior and described relationships they called "toxic."
The pattern here is familiar. A progressive champion vouches for a candidate's policy credentials while treating serious personal misconduct allegations as background noise. Voters in Maine, and Sen. Susan Collins, the Republican incumbent Platner hopes to unseat, deserve better than a wave of the hand.
Lyndsey Fifield, 40, told the New York Times she dated Platner from 2013 to 2015. She described him as, in her words, "cavalierly contemptuous of women's emotions, of our 'weakness.'" Fifield accused Platner of being rough with her while he drank. She clarified to the Times that Platner never struck her but said he regularly grabbed her by the shoulders.
The Times noted it could not independently corroborate Fifield's claims regarding physical contact.
Platner's campaign responded by attacking Fifield's credibility. A campaign spokesperson told the Times: "Let's be very clear: This is a lifelong G.O.P. operative who's dedicated her career to electing Republicans." The campaign said Fifield had worked for Republican campaigns in Virginia.
Jenny Racicot, 41, who said she dated Platner between 2019 and 2021, offered a different angle. Racicot referenced controversial online posts Platner made in the past about sexual assault and rural white Americans. She told the Times she "recognized a version of him that I had experiences with."
Platner's campaign did not dispute the claims around his online remarks.
Confronted with the allegations during an MSNBC interview with Chris Hayes, Platner pushed back hard. He acknowledged personal failings but denied the most serious accusations.
"There are some allegations in this piece that I just want to be kind of unequivocal about, are simply not true. Anything alleging physicality, anything alleging that I knew what my tattoo was, these are the statements of someone who's politically motivated."
Platner framed his past behavior as the product of post-combat struggles. He said he had been "struggling, not being a good boyfriend, certainly self-medicating with alcohol," and that he had been "very up front since the beginning of this campaign that that was a pretty dark period of my life after I came back from my combat service."
He added that he would "absolutely will take responsibility for" those struggles, "But those serious allegations are just not true."
After a campaign event on Sunday, Platner went further. He said he was not surprised "establishment media outlets" were running "gossip" instead of issues that "actually matter in this race." He accused the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal of "journalistic malpractice" and claimed they ran stories without any evidence "besides the gossip from a former staffer."
That former staffer is Genevieve McDonald, a former Maine state legislator who served as Platner's campaign political director until October of last year.
The personal-conduct questions did not begin with this week's Times report. The previous weekend, both the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times reported that Platner's wife, Amy Gertner, told his Senate campaign last year about sexually explicit texts he had sent to several women, a disclosure apparently intended to get ahead of the story before it could damage the race.
McDonald told the Times that Gertner reached out to her before a rally with Sanders to inform her about the texts. McDonald said Platner had sent sexually explicit messages to as many as a dozen women.
McDonald didn't hold back about what the revelations meant for the campaign. She told the Times the U.S. Senate was "not a training ground for redemption" but rather a "place for proven leaders with moral clarity and integrity."
That is a striking statement from someone who ran Platner's political operation less than a year ago.
Platner's campaign released a video statement from Gertner. In it, she said she was "really angry, disappointed" and that she found "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."
At a Friday rally in Maine, Platner asked Gertner to stand. Supporters gave her a standing ovation and chanted her name. Platner addressed the crowd directly, telling them:
"As every single piece of that past and journey gets dug up, litigated, and weaponized, you have my back."
The rally had the feel of a campaign circling the wagons. Platner also flatly denied the account of his former political director, telling reporters: "I'm confirming that what Genevieve McDonald said in the New York Times is not true."
Whatever energy Platner's supporters brought to the Friday event, the numbers on election betting markets moved in the opposite direction. Forbes reported that Platner's odds of winning Maine's Senate race against Collins dropped sharply this week.
On Polymarket, Platner's odds fell from 78% on May 23 to 60% by early Saturday. On Kalshi, his odds slid from 72% last month to 54% over the same period. Bettors on Kalshi now view the Maine Senate race as a toss-up.
That is a remarkable collapse for a candidate who, just two weeks ago, looked like the clear favorite to flip a Republican-held seat.
Sanders' Saturday post on X offered no acknowledgment of the allegations, no call for accountability, and no caveat. He simply vouched for Platner on policy grounds, the economy, healthcare, the tax system, and left it at that.
This is the same Bernie Sanders who has spent decades lecturing the country about integrity in public life. When the candidate he backs faces accusations from multiple women, including a former campaign insider who quit, the senator from Vermont finds nothing worth addressing beyond tax policy.
Maine's primaries are June 9. Voters will decide whether Platner survives. But the broader question is whether the Democratic establishment and its progressive allies intend to hold their own candidates to the standards they loudly demand of everyone else.
The silence from Sanders answers that question clearly enough.