‘Opportunistic Cowards’: Graham Platner’s Cop-Hating Past Resurfaces

Maine Senate Democratic hopeful Graham Platner is taking fresh heat after a buried online post revealed he once branded all police officers “opportunistic cowards” — the latest in a parade of scandals that have plagued his bid to unseat incumbent Republican Sen. Susan Collins.

The since-deleted Reddit screed, unearthed by The Maine Monitor, dates to June 2020, when Platner — then 35 and posting under the handle “P-Hustle” — fired off a rant mocking the Hancock County Sheriff’s Department for requesting riot equipment during the height of Black Lives Matter unrest. Rather than engage seriously with the request, Platner ridiculed the deputies as “overweight pansies” too soft to handle “George Stevens Academy sophomores and aging hippies” without taxpayer-funded gear. Then came the kicker: “Cops are opportunistic cowards.”

Retired federal special agent and Maine state Rep. Donald Ardell expressed his anger. “It just shows a complete lack of understanding of the way law enforcement operates,” the Maine Republican told Fox News. “They have to be prepared for eventualities.”

That same month, Platner blasted a Maine police chief as “thin blue line trash” for refusing to take a knee alongside Floyd protesters. He also endorsed the slogan “all cops are bastards” — later reported by CNN — and questioned in 2021 whether corruption runs through the entire law enforcement profession.

Ardell, who says current and former colleagues are “disgusted” by Platner’s remarks, summed it up bluntly: “It’s a series of consistent bad decisions, and it seems to be continuing.”

The cop commentary is just one item on a lengthening rap sheet of controversy for the self-described “oyster farmer” and far-Left populist. Platner’s Reddit history — spanning nearly a decade before he scrubbed it upon launching his campaign — also includes him calling himself a “communist” and “socialist,” mocking rural white voters as “racist” and “stupid,” and making cruel remarks about a teenage girl’s suicide attempt.

His personal life hasn’t fared much better under scrutiny. His campaign admitted he sent sexually explicit texts to at least half a dozen women while married. He maintained a profile on Kik — a messaging app critics call a “predator’s paradise” — and has struggled to explain why ex-girlfriends knew about his Nazi-linked tattoo years before he claims he learned of its significance himself.

Platner has insisted his online posts were jokes, dismissing them as “sh*tposting.” He’s attributed some remarks to PTSD from military deployments.

Ardell isn’t buying the rehabilitation narrative.

“This is not a guy that has a skeleton in the closet,” the lawmaker said. “This is a guy that has a whole graveyard.”