Bernie-backed Maine Democratic Senate hopeful squirms over past Graham Platner support

Former Maine gubernatorial candidate and potential Democratic Senate candidate Troy Jackson struggled to answer for his past support for Graham Platner during an MS NOW interview on Thursday.

Before Platner officially suspended his campaign amid a rape allegation, Jackson filed paperwork with the Federal Election Commission to potentially replace Platner as the Democratic nominee for the U.S. Senate. Prior to the recent allegation against Platner, Jackson was one of his earliest supporters and previously campaigned with Platner during his gubernatorial campaign.

MS NOW's "The Moment" host Katy Tur questioned him on his longtime support for Platner, pointing out that he maintained his support through several other scandals.

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"You supported him," Tur began. "You bragged about being one of the first supporters of him. Why did you stick with him for so long? Why did you stick with him after the Nazi tattoo? Why did you stick with him after The New York Times article and the aggressive women stuff, stick with him after the Reddit posts that were arguably racist and sexist? I know he denies the sexual misconduct allegations, but why did you stay with him for so long?"

"Well, the Nazi tattoo and the Reddit posts, I mean, I didn’t know — I mean, I haven’t ever been on Reddit, but, you know, when people talked about those things, and then he turned around and said, you know, that these were times whenever they were dark for him and, you know, he’d grown and all this stuff," Jackson said. "I mean, they were, you know, a different time period for him. And I understood, you know, that people can change."

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Jackson added that he was more focused on Platner's political issues, such as his push for Medicare for All and a desire for change.

"You know, he had plausible reasons that he said that they happened. But when it came to a credible sexual assault, it became clear that that was — that was it. It was, you know, a red line that I wasn’t going to cross. And, you know, the other thing about it was Graham told me point-blank that there was nothing in his past that I had to worry about. And he, you know, he lied to me, and he lied to a lot of us," Jackson said.

Fox News Digital reached out to Jackson for comment.

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Though Jackson referred to "credible sexual assault" as a "red line" for him, Jackson continued to support Platner after a New York Times report last month described Platner being physical with his ex-girlfriend Lyndsey Fifield during their time together. Fifield described Platner grabbing her wrist and forcefully yanking her out of a cab in one instance and pushing her into a bedroom and while holding the door shut in another.

Jackson has also been a longtime ally of Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt. He was one of the few Democratic National Committee superdelegates to endorse Sanders over Hillary Clinton during the 2016 Democratic presidential primary and later served as Sanders' Maine political director, introducing him at campaign rallies across the state.

Sanders has yet to endorse another candidate for the Maine Senate seat, though there's still time before an official candidate can be named. Under Maine law, Platner has until Monday, July 13, to withdraw if Democrats hope to replace him on the November ballot. If he steps aside before the deadline, the state Democratic Party will have until July 27 to choose a new nominee.