Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., ignored persistent questions about controversies surrounding Democrat Graham Platner and reaffirmed his support for the embattled Senate candidate.

Platner, a Marine veteran and oyster farmer, has faced a series of controversies in recent weeks, including criticism over a tattoo with links to Nazi imagery, resurfaced Reddit posts where he made inflammatory comments about veterans and reports about sexually explicit messages exchanged with other women during his marriage.

Speaking with journalists in the Capitol on Tuesday, Schumer was pressed on whether he, as the top Senate Democrat, is satisfied with Platner’s explanations of the scandals dogging his campaign. In response, he said, «I met with Graham Platner today, we’re going to beat [Sen.] Susan Collins and take back the Senate.»

PLATNER CONTROVERSIES FUEL SPECULATION ABOUT LITTLE-KNOWN MAINE BALLOT REPLACEMENT PROVISION

Schumer was asked several more times whether he still supports Platner in the face of the scandals considering his endorsement came before all the controversy. He was also asked whether Democrats’ backing of Platner undermines the party’s credibility in criticizing Texas Republican Senate candidate Ken Paxton, who has faced some similar scandals.

The New York senator did not respond to these questions directly. Instead, he repeated: «We’re going to beat Susan Collins and take back the Senate.»

Schumer attempted to prompt reporters to ask about other topics. 

«Any other subjects you got?» he said. But reporters continued to zero-in on his support for Platner.

After being asked about the candidate for a fifth time, Schumer finally responded, «As I said, I endorsed Graham Platner.»

«We’re going to beat Susan Collins and take back the Senate,» he reiterated before walking away.

SUNNY HOSTIN SUPPORTS GRAHAM PLATNER DESPITE CALLING HIM ‘A LIAR, A RACIST, AN ANTISEMITE’

Sen. Bernie Sanders and Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner stand together during a «Fighting Oligarchy» tour stop at the Collins Center for the Arts on the University of Maine campus in Orono, Maine, on May 24, 2026. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

Platner has run a deeply controversial campaign, in addition to being the subject of various scandals, he faced scrutiny for having a «Totenkopf» Nazi SS tattoo, which he then covered-up with a different tattoo.

The far-left Senate hopeful has most notably ignited backlash after his vulgar messages on a since-deleted Reddit account were uncovered. Under the moniker «P-hustle,» Platner joked about masturbating in public portable toilets, among other crude posts.

Platner also called himself a communist, denigrated rural White people as «racist» and «stupid» and singled out Black people for not tipping.

GRAHAM PLATNER PULLED OUT OF MS NOW INTERVIEW IN WAKE OF SCANDAL, HOST CLAIMS

Graham Platner, a Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate in Maine, points to a covered tattoo that was previously recognized as a Nazi symbol during an interview in Portland, Maine, on Oct. 22, 2025. (WGME via AP)

It was also recently uncovered that Platner has an active account on Kik, an anonymous chatting platform notorious for lax identification methods that have enabled the proliferation of child sexual abuse material.

The profile, reviewed by Fox News Digital, contains a sexually suggestive picture of Platner only wearing a towel around his waist. It is unclear when the image was taken, but Platner created the account in 2016. 

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Schumer previously endorsed Maine Democratic Gov. Janet Mills to challenge Collins. Mills dropped out of the race in April, citing failure to garner the necessary financial backing for her campaign.

Her departure left Platner the frontrunner in the Democratic primary.

The Israel Defense Forces announced Tuesday that it eliminated a Hamas terrorist who helped abduct American-Israeli hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin, who ultimately was murdered in the Gaza Strip. 

The IDF said Yousef Ayesh Awad Ramadan, a deputy commander of a Hamas Nukhba terrorist cell, was killed in the central Gaza Strip on Monday. Nukhba, which is Arabic for elite, is the special forces for the Al-Qassam Brigades, which is Hamas’ military wing. 

«Ramadan infiltrated Israeli territory during the October 7th massacre and took part in the abduction of Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Eliya Cohen, Alon Ohel, and Or Levy from the bomb shelter at the Re’im Junction,» the IDF said Tuesday. 

«In addition, throughout the war, and in recent weeks, the terrorist advanced attack plans against IDF soldiers and Israeli civilians. As such, he posed an immediate threat to IDF troops operating in the Gaza Strip,» it continued.

HAMAS STRUGGLES TO FILL LEADERSHIP RANKS AS ISRAEL HUNTS OCTOBER 7 TERRORISTS

Goldberg-Polin survived almost 11 months in underground tunnels following his capture but was killed alongside other hostages in August 2024, while still in captivity. He was 23 at the time of his death. 

«According to our initial assessment, they were brutally murdered by Hamas terrorists shortly before we reached them,» then- IDF spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said. 

Goldberg-Polin was abducted at a music festival in southern Israel during Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack against the Jewish State.

He lost part of his left arm to a grenade in the attack.  

PENTAGON HOSTS FIRST-EVER ISRAELI-LEBANESE MILITARY TALKS AIMED AT CURBING HEZBOLLAH

Ambassador Danny Danon, Israel’s permanent representative to the United Nations, holds a photo of Hersh Goldberg-Polin, a hostage killed by Hamas, during a U.N. Security Council meeting on the Israel-Hamas conflict in New York City on Sept. 4, 2024. (David ‘Dee’ Delgado/Reuters)

Eliya Cohen survived 505 days in captivity. He faced extreme starvation, was kept chained in tunnels, and had surgery for a gunshot wound without anesthesia. He was released in February 2025 as part of a negotiated deal.

Or Levy survived 491 days in captivity. He endured harsh conditions and only learned after his release that his wife, Einav, had been killed in the Oct. 7 attack. He has since reunited with his young son.

Alon Ohel spent more than two years as a hostage in Gaza until his release in October last year. 

Jonathan Polin and Rachel Goldberg-Polin attended the funeral of their son, Hersh Goldberg-Polin, a murdered U.S.-Israeli hostage, in Jerusalem in September 2024. (Gil Cohen-Magen/AFP via Getty Images)

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A talented pianist, he endured starvation, torture and serious eye injuries from a grenade. He was freed on Oct. 13, 2025, through a U.S.-brokered deal and returned home to recover. He now performs with Israeli artists.

Fox News’ Yonat Friling, Robert McGreevy and Landon Mion contributed to this report.

Senate Republicans want a clear-cut answer on whether the Trump administration’s now-stalled, nearly $2 billion «anti-weaponization» fund is dead before moving forward with a multibillion-dollar immigration enforcement package. 

The Department of Justice (DOJ) on Monday announced that while the administration «disagrees strongly» with a Virginia federal court’s order against the fund, it would adhere to the decision. But many Republicans contend that it’s not enough to satisfy their concerns.

«I appreciate them saying that, but they don’t have a choice,» Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., said. «They have to abide by federal district court law. It doesn’t tell me whether they’re planning on appeal. It doesn’t tell me whether the administration’s backing off the idea — it doesn’t tell me anything, except they’re gonna follow the law.»

TRUMP ADMIN BACKS OFF CONTROVERSIAL $2B FUND, CLEARING PATH FOR GOP TO RESTART AGENDA

And in the middle of the intra-party battle is President Donald Trump’s roughly $70 billion funding package for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Border Patrol.

«If your question is, is the weaponization fund impacting our ability to pass the reconciliation bill? The answer is yes,» Kennedy continued. «But right now, the reconciliation bill, and the process surrounding it, looks like a broken arm with a bone sticking out.»

Senate Republicans abruptly halted budget reconciliation, the party-line process they’re using to ram through the funding package, after an explosive meeting with Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche about the fund last month.  

GOP’S PRIMED FOR PRIMARY SEASON PAYBACK ON TRUMP’S MOST AMBITIOUS, CONTROVERSIAL POLICY

Republicans’ general sentiment was that the problem was one for the administration and Trump to figure out, given that a slew of Democratic amendments related to the fund would likely pass and modify the package.

And what was meant to be a concession, or at least a glimmer of hope to restart the process, has not landed well with Republicans. 

«The only thing that’s gonna solve this problem — to get immigration funded and law enforced — is for the president to do away with the weaponization fund,» Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, told reporters. 

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said that the DOJ’s announcement appeared to signal that the fund had been shut down, but that conversations among Republicans would decide the next steps on reconciliation.

SENATE GOP ERUPTS OVER TRUMP DOJ ‘ANTI-WEAPONIZATION’ FUND, PUNTS ICE, BORDER PATROL FUNDING

Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., has argued a third budget reconciliation package is unlikely to materialize this year, adding the forthcoming immigration enforcement-focused bill is the «last train leaving the station» ahead of November’s midterm elections. (Graeme Sloan/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Still, he acknowledged that Republicans wanted more answers from the administration. 

«Well, I think anything that they say on top of what the DOJ said is helpful, but, I mean, I think the statement they made effectively shuts it down,» Thune said.

Some Republicans aren’t totally against the idea of some form of compensation fund for people who claim they were wronged or targeted by the government, but contend that it’s how the fund is administered that matters.

Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., broadly supports compensation funds, like his Radiation Exposure Compensation Act that was signed into law last year, but said that the question was «how do you administer it?» 

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«My view on that is, you can work those details out in a way that rewards victims,» Hawley said.
»I mean, that’s the key thing.» 

Others are ready to move on from the fight and feel that the DOJ’s announcement was enough to clear the decks of concerns among their colleagues.

Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., said it’s a «moot point at this point.» 

«I think it’s important for us to move forward with the ICE and CBP funding,» Schmitt said. «There’s just, we gotta get that done. Democrats have been obstructing that for too long, and so, as far as I’m concerned, it’s a moot point.»