WASHINGTON \u2014 Graham Platner visited Capitol Hill on Tuesday to meet with Democrats amid fresh controversy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So far, no senator has reneged on their support for him after reports emerged over the weekend that Platner\u2019s wife privately alerted a campaign official that he sent sexually explicit text messages to other women early in their marriage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A source with knowledge of the meetings said they had been \u201con the books for a while\u201d and were unrelated to the recent stories.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Speaking to reporters Tuesday afternoon, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said he met with Platner. He reiterated that he has endorsed Platner but dodged questions about whether the revelations concern him and whether he\u2019s satisfied with his explanations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI endorsed Graham Platner,\u201d Schumer said. \u201cWe\u2019re going to beat Susan Collins and take back the Senate.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Platner is the presumptive nominee to take on Republican Sen. Susan Collins in the pivotal 2026 race; Schumer initially backed Gov. Janet Mills in the primary and threw his support to Platner only after she dropped out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A person familiar with the meeting told NBC News the meeting between Platner and Schumer was \u201cproductive\u201d and reiterated that Democrats are \u201cready to take on Susan Collins\u201d this fall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Democrats standing by Platner include Sen. Ruben Gallego of Arizona, who said the sexts won\u2019t decide the race.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe drip, drip that\u2019s actually happening is Americans are really, really hurt by the fact that gas is still high. Food is still high. They can\u2019t buy a home. You can\u2019t afford rent,\u201d Gallego told reporters. \u201cThey\u2019re not going to care about text messages and everything else like that that happened years ago, especially when it was worked out between spouses.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Later in the afternoon, Platner met with several senators at the headquarters of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. Among those attending were his fellow New Englanders Sens. Peter Welch of Vermont and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, who recently visited Maine to rally with Platner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Platner was inside for more than an hour and a half, with a group of Republican staffers standing outside to protest him. When he finished, he bolted to his car and left without speaking to a gaggle of reporters shouting questions at him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Welch said before the meeting Platner has \u201cgot questions he\u2019s got to answer, and he\u2019s going to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThere\u2019s fair questions that any candidate has the burden of answering,\u201d he said. \u201cSome are personal, some are political on their position, and those are ones that this candidate is going to have to address.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Platner, a political novice running as a populist outsider, has struck a chord with voters in Maine. Mills, his erstwhile Democratic rival, dropped out of the primary after having failed to gain traction. She has not said she\u2019ll jump back in the race.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Platner led Collins by 9 points in a recent University of New Hampshire poll and by 7 points in a Pan Atlantic Research poll.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
His team is projecting confidence despite the controversies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOur campaign is concerned with the issues that matter to Mainers. And Mainers are more concerned with electing leaders who will fight for them and the issues they care about,\u201d a Platner campaign official said. \u201cThat is why Graham has built a movement of 15,000 volunteers, powered by small-dollar donors, that will win this Senate seat for working people in November.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But Republicans note that Collins has a habit of overperforming the polls on election night, including in 2020.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cShe\u2019s always had a tough race,\u201d said Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., a former chair of the Senate GOP campaign arm. \u201cEvery race for Susan Collins has been a tough race in Maine, as the only Republican in the Northeast \u2014 House or Senate. And she always is a tough race, and she\u2019s the toughest candidate to beat, too.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., an early Platner endorser, stood by him Tuesday when he was asked whether he has concerns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWell, there are some concerns that some of the wealthiest people in this country in their Republican super PACs are prepared to spend $100 million in the state of Maine. You know, how many people live in Maine? Not many people. That\u2019s an extraordinary amount of money,\u201d he said. \u201cNow, why do we think that Republican super PACs controlled by billionaires want to spend an extraordinary amount of money to defeat Graham Platner? That\u2019s a good reason to vote for him.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Other Democrats had no comment on the Platner situation, including Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia, who is running his own re-election race, and Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, who caucuses with the Democrats, who said he has a personal policy not to \u201ctake a position in an election involving any sitting colleague\u201d from any state.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The lone Democratic critic of Platner was Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, who had already clashed with him and declined to back him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhere\u2019s Phustle?\u201d Fetterman said Tuesday, referring to the username associated with Platner on the anonymous messaging platform Kik. Asked whether he\u2019s meeting with Platner, Fetterman snarked: \u201cI\u2019d love to. I mean, he\u2019s a tough guy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhen I was growing up, if someone had a Nazi tattoo, you pretty much consume he\u2019s a Nazi sympathizer,\u201d Fetterman said. \u201cHe\u2019s expressed frustration with how I dress, you know. And this asshole is on Kik and sexting to a dozen women.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Asked whether he\u2019d prefer to see Platner or Collins win, Fetterman replied: \u201cI don\u2019t know. I guess we\u2019ll see. But I\u2019d love to meet Phustle.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n