SULLIVAN, Maine — Graham Platner is ornery as ever after being forced to go back to work as a Maine oysterman following his fall from the height of socialist political superstardom over rape and sexual misconduct allegations.
“Who the f–k are you weirdos?” Platner asked after The Post caught up with him a week before the midterm election.
Platner had just paddled to shore on a kayak, leaving his boat anchored in the water.
When asked what he was up to as his replacement, state Sen. Troy Jackson, is neck-and-neck with Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) in the polls, he responded: “What the f–k does it look like I’m up to? I’m being an oyster farmer.”
When The Post suggested his life on the picturesque Maine coast was surely finer than spending his days campaigning and trying to make it to Washington, DC, he declined to offer any pearls of wisdom.
“It just seems to be, like, life, man,” Platner said.
Asked how the bivalve biz had been treating him since dropping out of the Senate race in July over a slew of sexual assault and misconduct accusations, Platner said: “It goes the way it always goes, friend.”
“People from away have no idea what it is we do for a living,” he added, before driving off in his truck and refusing to answer questions about predictions for the Nov. 3 election.
And with that, he clammed up and drove off.
Platner, of course, made his campaign about his awe-shucks working-class image — although it was later revealed he was a son of privilege who attended one of New England’s most prestigious prep schools.
And even the oyster farming bit turned out to be less than it appeared — his only client was his mother’s restaurant.
Platner has largely kept out of the spotlight after his campaign imploded over the summer under an onslaught of damning accusations — which included claims of sexting women who weren’t his wife, being violent with former lovers and even an allegation of sexual assault.
One ex even said that he claimed he would rape a male intruder breaking into his apartment — to show dominance.
The Democrat — who was soaring in the polls and beloved by leading leftists in Washington — copped to sexting, but denied all the rest.
He claimed it was a grand conspiracy to bring him down because his message was just too powerful.
And his neighbors in Sullivan said he seemed to be doing better for it — with the owner of a deli Platner frequents saying he was “just a regular person again.”
“He looks a whole lot more healthy than he did,” said Dunbar Store owner Josh Winer, whose deli menu features a roast beef sandwich named after Platner.
“Now it’s just him again. He gets a sandwich on his own. We talk about oysters. It’s back to normal,” Winer said. “He’s been a regular here for years. Then he ran for office and still came in when he could, or he’d send his people in for lunch.”
But not everyone had such a neighborly view of the ex-candidate, whose office downtown was emptied out and shuttered.
“He’s not a favorite around here. Especially with the women,” one local fruit seller said. “Just drop it.”
Others said they’d been excited to vote for Platner — until the misconduct claims came out against him.
“I heard all the negativity, and it was a turn-off for me,” 59-year-old maintenance worker Allan Flye said. “I might have voted for him if there was less negativity about him.”
Platner’s sex misconduct claims were just the straw that broke the camel’s back — he was also outed for having a Nazi Death’s Head tattoo on his chest, and for writing alarming screeds about rape and cops on internet forums from about 2013 to 2021.
He later got the tattoo covered and claimed he’d gotten it while drunk with fellow Marines — insisting he had no idea about the symbol’s dark history — and that his online comments came while he was suffering from PTSD.
“He probably tarnished himself more than anything,” Flye added. “I don’t think the town was really affected by it.”
Platner at one point was polling 7 points ahead of Collins, a moderate Republican who has been in office since 1997.
“I was going to vote for [Platner] until they kicked him out, so I’ll vote for his replacement,” said Mary, a local voter. “I’m not voting Republican.”
However, Jackson has had a much harder road after he was picked by the party to fill Platner’s shoes. Polls show him leading Collins by less than 2 points, according to RealClearPolitics.
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