On Monday, amid the new sexting scandal for Maine Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner, otherwise known for his Nazi tattoo and past Reddit comments, MS NOW’s Morning Joe spent little time on the topic. The only segment of the morning show regarding the scandal came three hours and 35 minutes into the show. The segment aired just under a month after the show’s softball interview with Platner.
To their credit, panelists Elise Jordan, co-host of The Weekend: Primetime, and Lauren Leader, CEO of All In Together, both went after Platner, as Jordan called out Lemire's description of the tattoo as merely “Nazi-style.”
With no Joe Scarborough, Mika Brzezinski, or Willie Geist on Monday, 9 AM host Jonathan Lemire took the reins for the entire show. He introduced the scandal with reporting from The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal:
Welcome back. Graham Platner, the presumptive democratic nominee looking to unseat Senator Susan Collins in Maine, is facing yet another controversy this morning.
Over the weekend, both The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times released reports that Platner had exchanged sexually explicit text messages with several women while married. Platner's actions were first brought to attention to the campaign last year by his wife, Amy Gertner, who worried what would happen if they were made public.
Monday's Morning Joe buried the new Graham Platner sexting scandal 3 hours and 35 minutes into the show.
— Nick (@nspin310) June 1, 2026
To their credit, panelists Elise Jordan and Lauren Leader both went after Platner, as Jordan knocked out Jonathan Lemire's description of the tattoo as merely “Nazi-style.” pic.twitter.com/eorPU1haBs
Lemire then recalled the past controversies of Platner, even with a mention of the Nazi tattoo that he whitewashed as just “Nazi-style”:
This controversy is the latest in a campaign that has seen Platner being forced to respond to things like old offensive posts on Reddit, to a Nazi-style tattoo. Democratic leaders seem split on the candidate.
He then turned to Jordan for her thoughts of Platner, as he said, “Platner’s campaign has showed a remarkable resiliency to this point,” but then mentioned the reality of a campaign versus current Republican Senator Susan Collins, and called the new Platner scandal “another real headache for the party.”
Jordan went hard after Platner and his tattoo, with a slight knock on Lemire's framing:
It's one thing to have foolish, youthful indiscretions, but I'm sorry you cannot get past - it is not a Nazi-style tattoo. It is the tattoo of concentration camp guards. It is the very worst tattoo you can get if you are getting anything Nazi. And that's a pretty high bar there. So this has been a slow-motion train wreck ever since that tattoo and knowledge of it hit the world, and it's only going to get worse.
Then, Leader, her fellow panelist, asked if Democrats want to support his candidacy since they claim to have “moral high ground,” as she lowered expectations for a Senate win in Maine over versus Collins, as, she said, it, “was a long shot to begin with.”
Adding: “And I will say, as a Democrat, I find it really problematic when we stand by people who do not, you know, who do not pass muster when it comes to some basic judgment and moral values, and we stand by them because they're on our side. How is that different than Republicans doing the same thing? I find it really problematic.”
In a day with no Scarborough or Brzezinski, the Platner scandal did not get premier coverage with watchers of the premier liberal morning show. Amid the growing list of scandals, a replay of the show’s love-fest with the candidate, with Scarborough even comparing himself to Platner, should raise questions.
The transcript is below. Click "expand":
MS NOW’s Morning Joe
June 1, 2026
9:35:45 AM Eastern
JONATHAN LEMIRE: Welcome back. Graham Platner, the presumptive democratic nominee looking to unseat Senator Susan Collins in Maine, is facing yet another controversy this morning.
Over the weekend, both The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times released reports that Platner had exchanged sexually explicit text messages with several women while married. Platner's actions were first brought to attention to the campaign last year by his wife, Amy Gertner, who worried what would happen if they were made public.
The Times writes that Genevieve Macdonald, a former state legislator who was the Platner campaign's political director before leaving in October, said that Gertner reached out just days before a big Labor Day rally with Senator Bernie Sanders and was concerned that her husband's behavior could become a political liability. The messages were confirmed by the campaign, and a representative for Platner said he has since stopped and that he and his wife are in counseling. Gertner posted a video statement on social media in which she defended her husband.
(...)
9:37:25 AM Eastern
LEMIRE: This controversy is the latest in a campaign that has seen Platner being forced to respond to things like old offensive posts on Reddit, to a Nazi-style tattoo. Democratic leaders seem split on the candidate.
Democratic Congressman Ro Khanna of California, standing by Platner, writing on social media on Saturday that he looks forward to their scheduled campaign event. But others, like Senator Cory Booker, are worried of the impact on the party's chances to retake the Senate.
(...)
9:38:13 AM Eastern
LEMIRE: So, Elise, Platner’s campaign has showed a remarkable resiliency to this point. Right? I mean, he dispatched a pretty popular sitting governor, Governor Mills, in the primary, and polls have him up on Susan Collins.
Now, we should note, polls in Maine, traditionally unreliable. And Susan Collins is nothing if not a survivor. At the very least, we can say this is another real headache for the party.
ELISE JORDAN: Graham Platner is clearly a very talented retail politician, but the problem is his judgment, which he clearly has been lacking in as an adult.
It's one thing to have foolish, youthful indiscretions, but I'm sorry you cannot get past - it is not a Nazi-style tattoo. It is the tattoo of concentration camp guards. It is the very worst tattoo you can get if you are getting anything Nazi. And that's a pretty high bar there. So this has been a slow-motion train wreck ever since that tattoo and knowledge of it hit the world, and it's only going to get worse.
These texts, there are multiple women. Are all those women going to keep their mouths shut from now until election day? What do you think, Lauren?
LAUREN LEADER: Well, right. And I mean, it’s a little - you know, I certainly appreciate his wife wanting to stand up for him. But I mean, come on, it's politics. What do you think is going to happen? Of course, everything is fair game.
And of course, people's character, their behavior, and their treatment of women matters. And is there a double standard in the parties? Um, 100 percent there is because of - I don't even have to begin to explain the double standards when it comes to the President of the United States.
But Democrats have been trying to walk to be to take the moral high ground and to run candidates that don't have these kinds of deep moral and personal problems.
And by the way, you know, it was a long shot to begin with, to think that Democrats are going to take out Susan Collins. She's been there since 1996. The polls are wrong every single cycle. She has extraordinary resilience. And by the way, she knows the district incredibly well. She has served the people of Maine. Like her or not, Democrats dream of taking her out. I didn't think it was especially realistic to begin with, regardless of who was running, and now you have this very problematic guy.
And I will say, as a Democrat, I find it really problematic when we stand by people who do not, you know, who do not pass muster when it comes to some basic judgment and moral values, and we stand by them because they're on our side. How is that different than Republicans doing the same thing? I find it really problematic.
LEMIRE: It's going to be really fascinating to watch how the parties decide to deploy resources. For instance, Texas is now going to become much more expensive. Republicans are going to have to divert money to Texas that maybe they could have used in Maine for Collins, we will have to see. But it is - one thing is clear, the senate appears to be a true toss up as we sit here on June 1st.
(...)
