Veteran Democratic strategist James Carville backed Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner (D) amid a scandal stemming from a bombshell New York Times report detailing Platner’s alleged troubled history with women.
“We got a fucked up guy who … could be 100 times more fucked up than he is. He never would be as fucked up as what we got in Washington now anyway,” Carville said on Friday’s episode of “Politcon.”
More than two dozen people, including those who dated the combat veteran, spoke to the Times as part of a report published on Thursday ahead of his primary election to shed light on what some called “unsettling behavior” on Platner’s end.
One woman, a Virginia conservative, described Platner as abusive and told the newspaper about his “cavalierly contemptuous of women’s emotions.” Another woman, a Maine Democrat, said she felt the “collateral damage to the world that is his.”
Platner responded to the allegations, stating that he “was a far from perfect boyfriend” to those women and was in “a dark place.”
“I take responsibility for all of that, and wish I had been better. Any characterization beyond that is false, and I believe, politically motivated,” he said in a statement. “I’m not proud of who I was then, but I am proud of the work I’ve done since, and the movement we are building in Maine.”
However, he ultimately called the allegations within the Times’ report false.
Speaking to a crowd on Friday, Platner, who is also facing some backlash over his tattoo widely recognized as a Nazi symbol, said his voters would stand by him despite the scandal.
“When politically motivated, serious and false accusations are made against me, Maine, you have my back,” Platner said. “The state of Maine raised me. And the state of Maine saved me.”
Among Platner’s supporters is Carville, who admits he believes the Democratic candidate is “a little bit weird,” but slammed the Times’ report.
“He’s fucked up, he’s having trouble adjusting, so I understand that in all you ivory tower motherfuckers that sit there and don’t even try to do a story, why don’t you do a story on the mental effects of four combat deployments, and as opposed to shoving this guy on the side, who served his country served it with distinction,” Carville ranted.
He endorsed Platner as a better choice compared to Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), who voted against a resolution to end President Donald Trump’s war in Iran.
“OK, we got to win this, and if we got a person who’s understandably got issues, yeah, good. And maybe people ought to see it, and maybe we ought to just be reminded of what these stupid wars have brought about in the consequence of said stupid wars that stupid Susan Collins been for all of her political life,” Carville said.
“So I asked all of you to consider the candidacy of Graham Platner,” he continued. “I ask all of you to understand his flaws and understand the power that this nation is in, and maybe he might be the right guy at the right time.”