Graham Platner’s wife ‘angry, disappointed’ her past disclosure of his extramarital sexting was made public

The wife of Graham Platner, the presumptive Democratic nominee for the Senate in Maine, said she is “really angry” about reports that she previously told her husband’s campaign he had exchanged sexually explicit texts with other women.

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“It makes me really angry, disappointed,” Platner’s wife, Amy Gertner, said in a direct-to-camera video Platner’s campaign released Saturday night. “And I find 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.”

The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal reported that Gertner told Platner’s campaign about the sexually explicit texts last year, near the start of his Senate bid. Her disclosure came during a conversation with campaign officials about potential opposition research into Platner, the two outlets reported, with the Times citing a former senior official in Platner’s campaign and the Journal citing people familiar with the matter.

Platner’s campaign confirmed he sent multiple women sexually explicit texts at the beginning of his marriage.

“Amy and I went through something hard — because of me,” Platner said in a statement. “We did the work, and I’m grateful for her every hour of every day. I’ve learned throughout this campaign is that people don’t care about gossip or headlines, they care that you’re fighting for their hospitals, their paycheck, their kids. This campaign is about the ideas that will move Maine forward and past a broken politics of the past. Our opponents want politics to be empty of content and empty of actual change — and beating that is exactly what our movement is about.”

In addition, NBC News verified a Kik account tied to Platner after it visually matched the tattoos visible in the profile photo to tattoos on his torso and arms. Kik is a popular platform that allows anonymous messaging. The platform indicates that the account was created 3,610 days (nearly 10 years) ago and provides no record of Platner’s activity, contacts or actions.

A spokesperson for Platner’s campaign confirmed the account belongs to Platner but said he deleted the app and hasn’t used the account in years.

In the video she recorded Saturday, Gertner said: “Graham and I have a great marriage. Being married is hard. Being newly married is hard. Being newly married and going through infertility is hard. Being newly married, going through infertility and a Senate campaign is hard.”

“Our marriage counselor helps,” she added. “My personal counselor helps. Graham’s personal counselor helps.”

The pair married in 2023 and have been open about their infertility struggles, including sharing that they traveled to Norway for in vitro fertilization treatment this year.

Platner’s campaign has been dogged by revelations about his past since he launched his bid for the Senate last year, but so far that has not slowed the momentum of his campaign.

In October, Platner apologized for resurfaced Reddit posts in which he minimized the challenges faced by members of the military who have been sexually assaulted, called white rural people racist and stupid, referred to himself as a “communist” and encouraged people to limit their intake of certain substances to avoid being raped.

“For those of you who have read these things and been offended, have read these things and seen someone that you don’t recognize, I am deeply sorry,” Platner said in a video he posted on X.

The same month, Platner covered up a tattoo on his chest that resembled a Nazi symbol, saying he got the tattoo while in the Marines in 2007 and had no idea the skull-and-crossbones figure was associated with Nazis.

In her video Saturday, Gertner added: “No marriage is perfect, and I don’t want a perfect marriage. I want my marriage, and I want to be married to Graham. … I knew the man that I married is wonderful and dynamic, and probably a genius.”

In a separate written statement distributed by the campaign, Gertner also blamed “someone I considered a friend,” without naming the person, for divulging her disclosures about her husband’s texts.

“I confided deeply personal details about my marriage to someone I considered a friend. In the months since, I have had to watch as she spread malicious gossip to anyone who would take her call,” she said in the statement. “I trusted this person with the most private chapter of our lives — the early days of our marriage before any campaign was on our mind — and I am deeply hurt by her betrayal and the invasion of our privacy.”

Maine Gov. Janet Mills launched her own campaign for the Democratic nomination for the Senate last year but dropped out in April after she struggled to raise money and trailed Platner in the polls.

Platner, a veteran and oyster farmer, has been endorsed by a slate of national progressive leaders, including Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif.

After reports of Platner’s sexual texts to other women emerged Saturday, Khanna re-emphasized his support and advertised a campaign rally he’ll be attending alongside Platner in June.

“I am proud of @grahamformaine for having the character to stand up against the war in Iran, against genocide, and against an unfair & lopsided economy. I am proud of him for having a vision for a new deal for our time. Excited to campaign with him June 5!” Khanna wrote on X.

Platner is challenging longtime Sen. Susan Collins, a Republican who is running for a sixth term.

While Maine has trended toward Democrats in presidential elections — Vice President Kamala Harris won the state by 7 percentage points in 2024 — Collins has outperformed other Republicans in recent elections to keep her seat. She won her 2020 re-election race by 9 points.