Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Graham Platner on Thursday responded to new reporting by the New York Times that several women he dated in the past described him as physically intimidating and emotionally abusive.
In an interview with Chris Hayes on MS Now, the Sullivan oyster farmer and military veteran looked set to go on with his campaign, saying the most serious allegations were not true and singling out one of the women as the source of several false statements about him during his campaign for the nomination to face Republican Sen. Susan Collins.
“The new things are false, and the fact that I was, you know, a bad boyfriend a decade ago, that’s something I’ve talked about openly at length for quite some time in multiple places,” he said.
The Times’ story focused on the three women who previously dated Platner and described him as emotionally volatile, demeaning toward women and at times physically aggressive. One of the women, Lyndsey Fifield, who met Platner 13 years ago and claimed that he, in one instance, yanked her from a taxi.
In another instance, Fifield said Platner twisted her arm behind her back and trapped her in a room. However, she told the Times that Platner never hit her nor caused injury.
On Thursday, Platner disputed Fifield’s account. “There are things in this [New York Times article] that I absolutely will take responsibility for and have been speaking about openly for months now, but those serious allegations are just not true.”
Fifield also claimed in the story that Platner knew that his tattoo of skull and crossbones was a Nazi symbol, saying that he would refer to it as “my Totenkopf.” Platner has said he got the tattoo in 2007 while serving in the Marines. He and his campaign have routinely denied that he knew of the symbol’s Nazi affiliations. He had it covered after news of it broke in October.
Platner campaign has called Fifield, who works for a conservative group, “a longtime GOP operative who’s dedicated her career to electing Republicans.”
“She’s the person who’s been telling people this from the beginning,” Platner said on Thursday, referring to the claim that he knew about his chest tattoo.
The Times’ report comes days after Platner’s campaign was rocked by revelations that his wife, Amy Gertner, disclosed to an aide in August 2025 that she had seen texts between Platner and other women. Aides concluded that the texts were a private matter for Platner and Gertner to address in counseling.
Platner has also faced a barrage of criticism over unearthed inflammatory internet posts, many more than a decade old. On Thursday, he said he expects more efforts to find dirt on him, but he said it will be rehashing things that have already come to light.
Asked if he has ever considered dropping out amid the controversies, Platner said, ”No, not once.”
