Softy Scarborough Lets Platner Off the Hook on ‘So-Called’ Scandals... and What Sexting?

Morning Joe: the “so-called” cable news show.

On Monday, John Heilemann spoke of the “so-called liberal media.” 

Today, Joe Scarborough started a long interview of Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner by referring to his multiple scandals as “so-called scandals.” It depends, Scarborough solemnly explained, on the voters’ point of view whether the controversies are actually scandals.

“With all of the controversies, with the scandals — so-called scandals, it depends on voters’ point of view on whether the controversies are scandals.”

How understanding. How convenient. For Scarborough, it was like "Biden's so-called cognitive decline."

When Mika took over the questioning, her tone was perhaps more probing, but she let Platner glide right through questions about his sexting with multiple women. She worried about what might be next: "How many concerning pictures and/or text messages are in the possession of other people that could be used against you? And I'd like to know if there are pictures, concerning pictures."

Ancient history, suggested Platner: 

Platner: “I was single for the majority of my adult life. I was in my twenties and thirties and I dated, and you know, that's in the modern age what happens. You date people, and you use dating apps, and you do all this stuff, and frankly, that all happened long before I got married, and happened long before I decided to run for United States Senate . . . I engaged in consensual romantic activities with adults at an earlier part in my life. That seems like a fairly normal thing most people do."

In reality,  Platner’s wife had alerted his campaign that he had been sexting with multiple women beginning shortly after they had married. But that uncomfortable fact never came up on Morning Joe.

Scarborough also gave Platner a soft landing on the rest of his story, including his claim to have found healing by “living off the sea” as a "full time" oyster farmer — a venture that, according to reports, generated all of $5,000, with his only customer being his mother. 

The liberal media that spent years obsessing over Donald Trump’s Access Hollywood tape and every other alleged misstep has suddenly discovered nuance, context, and the healing power of voter perspective—when the candidate in question is a Democrat.

No demands for full transparency. No wall-to-wall coverage of the timeline discrepancies. Just gentle questions, therapeutic framing about PTSD and oyster farming, and a shrug that it’s all up to the voters of Maine.

Platner got the kid-glove treatment Wednesday morning. Maine voters deserve the full story that Scarborough and Mika were happy to gloss over.

Here's the transcript.

MS NOW
Morning Joe
6/10/26
6:39 am EDT

JOE SCARBOROUGH: You talked about some of the problems that went along with service in the military for you and other men and women who've so proudly served this country. 

With all of the controversies, with the scandals — so-called scandals — it depends on voters' point of view on whether they're controversies or scandals. A lot of it, you have said, had to do with PTSD when you came back from service. And my God, I know, families for generations have seen loved ones experience this, even when they didn't call it PTSD.

. . . 

GRAHAM PLATNER: But it's a journey. I mean, I left D.C. in a pretty dark place, and it took me a number of years back here in Maine to really kind of find myself. 

I will say the single best thing that happened to me is in 2017, I was exposed to oyster farming, and in 2018 I started to do that full time. And from 2018 to last summer, that's what I did. And sitting on the boat out in Frenchman Bay, looking across at Acadia National Park, talking to the seals and the eagles, and relaxing with the bi-valves — that honestly did almost more for me than anything else.

. . .

MIKA BRZEZINSKI: If I'm high up in the Democratic party at this point, I have a few questions in terms of the health of your campaign moving forward into the general, which is a whole different ball game. 

So here's my first: you were asked this question by Chris Hayes about the issue of, is there more out there? What else could be out there that might be revealed during the campaign? And you deflected, said among other things, this is between you and your wife. Was understandable, to a limit, because for Maine voters in a general election, the question is, what is out there? What is not in your possession that you sent to others who may have in their possession? How many concerning pictures and/or text messages are in the possession of other people that could be used against you? And I'd like to know if there are pictures, concerning pictures.

PLATNER [smiles]: I will just say that the nature of Amy and I's relationship has been blown, I would say, totally out of proportion. Early in our marriage, we had some struggles, and we worked through them because that's what you do when you're in love with somebody, and it made our marriage much stronger, made us frankly a much happier and communicative couple. 

I was single for the majority of my adult life. I was in my twenties and thirties and I dated, and you know, that's in the modern age what happens. You date people, and you use dating apps, and you do all this stuff, and frankly, that all happened long before I got married, and happened long before I decided to run for United States Senate.

MIKA: Okay, so then let me ask you this way: Can you just talk about the nature of the sexting in terms of — can you call for the release of the Epstein files and can you call out those who have abused women and not be conflicted in any way?

PLATNER: Yes, of course. I mean, I engaged in consensual romantic activities with adults at an earlier part in my life. That seems like a fairly normal thing most people do. Going to an island with billionaires to possibly assault children is a vastly, vastly different thing.

SCARBOROUGH: Yeah.