New Janet Mills campaign ad slams Graham Platner's controversial Reddit posts
Platner’s campaign responded to Mills’ ad and released its own ad invoking Susan Collins.

SOURCE CHECK
TAP FOR WHYWGME is a local news outlet with staff attribution, and the article reports competing campaign statements. The short report offers limited detail about its reporting and sourcing beyond those statements and a reference to a CNN investigation.
- Source type — Local news outlet; a generally credible newsroom category.
- Source diversity — Includes statements from both campaigns and refers to a CNN investigation, but provides little independent reporting detail.
- Author attribution — Published under the WGME Staff byline.
The report includes excerpts from the ad and the campaign response, and notes a CNN investigation concerning Platner’s tattoo. It is brief and provides limited context or independent examination of the claims.
HOW WE SCORE ↗The article includes the ad’s criticism and Platner’s campaign response, as well as mention of Platner’s campaign ad. It gives more detail to the allegations and the attack ad than to the campaigns’ explanations.
- Counterarguments presented — Platner’s past response and his campaign’s reply to Mills’ ad are included.
- Source diversity — Both campaigns are represented, but no independent sources are quoted directly.
- Omitted context — The short report gives limited context for the posts and the ads’ claims.
- Loaded language — Loaded wording appears chiefly in quotations attributed to the campaigns.
The article reports the attack ad, the response from Platner’s campaign, and the campaign’s own ad without an evident partisan endorsement by the outlet.
- Language tone — Mostly reportorial language; sharper terms such as “disgusting” and “desperate attempt” are attributed to the campaigns.
- Source selection — Includes statements and actions from both campaigns.
- Framing — Frames the story as a personalizing campaign dispute, without an explicit editorial verdict.
Janet Mills’ campaign released an ad criticizing rival Graham Platner over his 2013 Reddit posts. Platner’s campaign called it a desperate bid for relevance and also released an ad invoking Susan Collins.
Mills’ campaign ad highlights Platner’s 2013 Reddit comments about sexual assault and ends with an image of his tattoo, which the article says he has since covered up. Platner has previously said the comments do not reflect who he is now; his campaign called Mills’ ad a “desperate attempt” for relevance and said Mainers should not define him by his worst online comment.
Community verdict
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SWIPE →Maine Senate candidate criticized in Mills’ ad and subject of his campaign’s response
Maine governor and Senate candidate whose campaign launched the ad
Mills's version of this story ↗Maine senator referenced in the campaigns’ ads
Part of a bigger story
11 OUTLETSOutlets agree Janet Mills criticized Graham Platner over old online comments in an ad, and Platner answered with ads of his own. Center outlets describe the dispute through Mills’s ad and Platner’s response, with some attention to her appeal to women voters and the candidates’ primary contest. Right-leaning outlets present his response ad and apology as part of a more negative turn in the primary.
- ARTICLES
- 21
- OUTLETS
- 11
- AVG CRED
- 74
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