Senator Tommy Tuberville of Alabama told Newsmax on Monday that escalating controversies involving Maine’s Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Graham Platner exemplify a party that has “absolutely lost their mind.”
Speaking on “American Agenda,” Tuberville addressed recent revelations about Platner, who is the Democrats’ presumptive nominee challenging Senator Susan Collins in one of the nation’s most competitive Senate races.
“I never thought we’d be talking about candidates that actually got this far running for a U.S. Senate seat,” Tuberville said. “You’ve got to be kidding me. This is not a school board; this is a U.S. Senate seat.”
The latest controversy stems from reports by The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times that Platner’s wife, Amy Gertner, informed campaign aides last year she had exchanged sexually explicit messages with multiple women during the early stages of their marriage.
According to former campaign political director Genevieve McDonald, Gertner stated that Platner had been exchanging sexual messages with as many as a dozen women.
Campaign organizers ultimately determined the matter was private and being addressed through counseling, according to the reports.
The disclosure adds to a series of controversies that have dogged Platner’s campaign, including resurfaced Reddit posts in which he made inflammatory comments about women and others, as well as scrutiny over a tattoo he acknowledged was linked to a Nazi-associated symbol.
Tuberville said Platner represents a broader shift among Democrats. “The Democrats have really gone farther and farther to the left,” Tuberville said. “But this guy is a picture of what they stand for now: communist — you know, he even admits it.”
Tuberville argued that Platner’s previously reported comments embracing communist ideas do not reflect traditional American values.
“There’s a lot of people in our Democratic Party right now, especially in the Senate and the House, that say, well, they’re an American, but no, they’re really not. They vote the communist way and they’ve got huge problems,” he said.
Tuberville predicted Collins will have little trouble defeating Platner if he remains the nominee.
“Susan Collins will beat this guy to the ground. There’s no way this guy can win,” Tuberville stated.
Tuberville, who won the Republican nomination for Alabama governor in November — he is not seeking a second term in the Senate — said the controversy underscores what he views as a deeper problem within the Democratic Party.
“It just goes to show you where we’re at in this country,” Tuberville added. “Democrats have absolutely lost their mind when it comes to men in women’s sports, men can have babies, open borders. It’s just unbelievable.”
