Dem Senate candidate embraced "antifa supersoldier" label

• Platner is running to unseat Sen. Susan Collins, Senate Democrats' top Republican target next year.
• The contest for the Democratic nomination between Platner and Maine Gov. Janet Mills — who's preferred by Democratic Party leaders — already has become a proxy battle in the national fight over the party's future.

Driving the news: In an October 2020 post on Reddit, Platner complimented a business and noted the "antifa supersoldier" label on his armor — likely a reference to tactical gear like he used in the military.

• He added, "Keep up the good fight."

Between the lines: Republicans could use Platner's comments about antifa — shorthand on the left for "anti-fascist" — to attack him in a general election.

• After the assassination of conservative influencer Charlie Kirk, President Trump signed an executive order designating antifa as a "domestic terrorist organization."
• Civil rights advocates and progressives argue that antifa is a decentralized, leaderless, and ill-defined movement, not a distinct group — and that Trump doesn't have the legal authority to designate such domestic organizations as terror groups.

Zoom in: Posting in a Reddit politics channel in July 2020, Platner also shared a link to the left-wing Socialist Rifle Association website and encouraged a user to join the group.

• "We love new folks, and you've likely got an active chapter in your area," he wrote.

In another forum in August 2020, Platner talked about his local SRA chapter's various gun courses for new members and experts and suggested he participated in the group.

• "Helps we have a significant amount of combat veterans and firearms instructors who have put together a solid curriculum to build proficiency amongst our membership," he wrote.

What they're saying: In a statement, Platner said, "I'm not a socialist. I own a small business. I'm a Marine Corps veteran."

• On his comments about "antifa supersoldier," Platner said in a statement: "This was a dumb joke, like most of my old Reddit posts."
• Asked if Platner ever attended any antifa events, his campaign didn't answer.

Last week, Platner characterized his past Reddit posts as "me f***ing around the internet" and being a "sh*tposter" at a difficult time in his life.

• But his comments about the SRA indicate that he took real-life action at the time too.

Zoom in: The SRA was incorporated during President Trump's first term to "advance an inclusive, safe, and healthy firearms culture in America to combat the toxic, right-wing, and exclusionary firearm culture in place today," according to the group's bylaws.

• "Opposing fascism and reactionary ideologies is a multifront struggle, and we fulfill the education portion of that struggle," according to the group's website.

• The SRA is not affiliated with some of the SRA-related forums Platner posted to on Reddit.

In another post from 2018, Platner wrote that if people "expect to fight fascism without a good semi-automatic rifle, they ought to do some reading of history," as Politico first reported.

• He posted that "an armed working class is a requirement for economic justice."

Zoom out: Platner also made several crude remarks about police officers, rural white people, sexual assault victims and Black diners on Reddit.

• On Friday, Platner issued a five-minute apology video on X: "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."
• Reports of those comments by CNN, the Bangor Daily News and others led Platner's political director, a former Maine state representative, to resign from his campaign.

Progressive Democrats have rallied around Platner and praised his apology, in which he talked about how he struggled with depression and PTSD after serving in Iraq and Afghanistan and wrote things on the internet of which he's not proud.

• Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) said he stood by his endorsement and accused the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee of engaging in the "politics of personal destruction" to help a more establishment-friendly candidate win.
• The DSCC and Mills' campaign have formed a joint fundraising committee.

Other Democrats have argued that Platner's past comments mean that Mills, who entered the race last week, is a better candidate.

• The liberal group EMILYs List, which supports women candidates and backs Mills, said in a statement from its president Jessica Mackler that "Graham Platner's comments blaming victims of sexual assault are unacceptable and disqualifying."

Go deeper: Democratic primary war escalates over Graham Platner