Booker Goes On Record — Everyone Else Dodges

Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) appeared on ABC's This Week Sunday and said what most Democrats are apparently thinking but refusing to say out loud.

"Yeah, I have concerns. That guy has questions to answer. And that's what campaigns are for," Booker said, according to the New York Times.

Booker isn't some backbench nobody — he's a former presidential candidate widely seen as a 2028 contender. When he distances himself from your campaign, it carries weight.

Senator Andy Kim (D-NJ) took a different approach on CNN's State of the Union, telling the network he had never met Platner and wasn't focusing on the Maine race. "I will work with whoever the people of Maine elect," Kim said — a response that sidestepped the issue entirely.

The Platner campaign declined to comment on Booker's remarks, according to the New York Times.

The Kik Problem Nobody Is Talking About

The mainstream left-leaning coverage has largely glossed over one detail: the Kik app.

Platner reportedly maintained an active account on Kik — a private messaging app — with a profile picture showing him shirtless in a towel. His campaign told reporters he deleted the app but had NOT deactivated the account. That's a meaningful distinction.

The New York Post reported that Kik "has been the center of numerous pedophilia scandals." Breitbart News also reported this connection. Neither AP nor the New York Times gave it prominent coverage.

Journalist Megan Basham posted bluntly on social media: "Your presence on a site selling all manner of an extreme sexual perversion, including illegal material involving children, is absolutely relevant for voters to weigh."

Voters in Maine likely agree. The question is whether they'll hear about it.

Wife Steps In. Husband Stays Hidden.

The fallout intensified when Platner deployed his wife, Amy Gertner, as his public shield.

Gertner released a video Saturday calling him "wonderful and dynamic and probably a genius" and said press coverage of their marriage was "just extra shitty." She acknowledged they use both a marriage counselor and individual counselors.

This came after reports that Gertner had previously told the Platner campaign about his sexually explicit text messages with other women — meaning the campaign knew, sat on it, and then put her in front of a camera when the story broke.

The public reaction was swift. According to Breitbart News, social media responses were harsh. One user wrote: "A real man doesn't make his wife come out and make a public statement about YOUR scandal. YOU should be out front making a statement, not your poor wife who has suffered enough from your actions. You're a COWARD."

Another posted: "Really shitty of you to put her in this position in the first place, dude, and now you're making her answer for you?"

AP News reported Gertner called the media coverage "shameful" and said it distracted from Platner's policy platform on health care, education, and child care. That framing is what AP led with. Left-leaning outlets gave less attention to the more uncomfortable question: why the candidate himself remained silent.

The Full Picture of What's Piled Up

This is not just one bad text exchange.

Breitbart News has reported that Platner, posting under the username "P-Hustle" on Reddit in June 2019, wrote that military contractors could spend their time "banging hookers in Thailand instead of getting b*tched at by the wife back home." He also reportedly lamented the closing of a "Thai prostitute loophole" and admitted to masturbating in porta-potties in other posts.

He previously refused to apologize to a Purple Heart recipient he denigrated online, according to Breitbart News.

This is a pattern, not an isolated incident.

Khanna's Rally Is Still On — For Now

Representative Ro Khanna (D-CA) announced before this weekend's news broke that he would rally with Platner on June 5. On Saturday, after the additional disclosures, Khanna posted that he was "proud" of Platner and "excited to campaign with him."

Khanna's language in the rally announcement framed Platner as someone who would "stand up to the Epstein class" — a phrase that now lands with considerable irony given the Kik revelations.

What Khanna does on June 5 will signal whether he stands by his earlier commitment.

What This Means

Maine is a genuine Senate pickup opportunity for Democrats. They need it. Booker acknowledged as much — "so much is riding on Democrats' taking control of the Senate."

Their presumptive nominee is a guy hiding behind his wife while his Reddit history and messaging app usage get excavated in real time.

Booker was the only senior Democrat willing to state the obvious Sunday. That's either honest leadership or a calculated 2028 move — probably both.

Either way, Platner is running out of people willing to defend him.