Sen. Bernie Sanders said he does not regret supporting Graham Platner for Maine’s U.S. Senate seat, defending his endorsement of the former candidate despite sexual assault allegations that led Platner to drop out of the race.
On CBS’s “Face the Nation” on Sunday, Sanders told host Margaret Brennan that when he heard serious allegations against Platner, he immediately sought to address them. “When we heard the serious allegations made against him, I wanted to get on the phone, I wanted to talk to him. I did. I asked — along with virtually all his supporters — that he should get out of the race, and he did,” Sanders said.
Platner, an oyster farmer and Marine Corps veteran, exited the Maine Senate race in early July after a woman accused him of sexual assault. According to Politico, the woman alleged that Platner raped her in 2021, an accusation he has denied. The allegation triggered a wave of endorsement withdrawals from prominent Democrats, but Sanders maintained that his early support was justified.
Sanders emphasized that the candidates he backs represent working people’s interests. “The candidates that we are supporting are standing up for the working class of this country,” he said. “I think the candidates that I and other progressives are supporting are generating enormous grassroots excitement and enthusiasm.” He defended his support for other 2026 endorsees, including Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed and Minnesota Senate candidate Peggy Flanagan, against criticism that his choices might deepen divisions within the Democratic Party.
The Vermont senator had been Platner’s most prominent backer, appearing at campaign rallies and repeatedly defending him through multiple controversies. Before the sexual assault allegation, Platner faced criticism for inflammatory Reddit posts from years ago, which he attributed to unresolved trauma from military service. He also covered up a chest tattoo after acknowledging his dislike of its resemblance to a Nazi symbol, and sexually explicit messages he sent to other women while married surfaced publicly.
Sanders’s defense of his endorsement drew sharp criticism from fellow Democrats. Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, whom Sanders had campaigned for in 2022, called on Sanders to apologize. “You know, humble yourself, Bernie. You know, you just pushed an accused rapist and imploded up in Maine,” Fetterman said on Fox News. Fetterman added that Sanders should “sit a few out and stop pushing these kinds of communists and people.”
The Maine race ultimately moved forward with Troy Jackson, backed by Sanders’s political organization Our Revolution, becoming the Democratic nominee to face Republican Sen. Susan Collins. Sanders’s handling of the Platner endorsement underscores ongoing tensions within the Democratic Party over vetting candidates and the balance between grassroots enthusiasm and institutional caution.
Sources
- The Hill — Sanders’s “Face the Nation” interview defending his Platner support and discussing his 2026 endorsements
- The Hill — Fetterman’s criticism of Sanders’s endorsements of Platner and El-Sayed
- PBS NewsHour — Sanders’s initial call for Platner to withdraw following sexual assault allegations
- NBC News — Details of Platner’s sexual assault denial and his consideration of his “best path forward”
- AP News — Platner’s decision to withdraw from the Maine Senate race
