Source: Politics<\/p>\n
Graham Platner\u2019s campaign manager is stepping down after less than a week on the job, the latest departure on a campaign that has seen several high-profile shake-ups in recent weeks as it attempts to fend off a string of controversies.<\/p>\n
The move, which was first reported by Axious<\/a>, comes as the Maine Senate candidate has attracted a wave of criticism for troves of unearthed Reddit posts in which he endorsed political violence,<\/a> downplayed concerns<\/a> about sexual assault in the military and self-identified as a communist<\/a>.<\/p>\n “Graham is a dear friend,\u201d Kevin Brown, the former campaign manager, told POLITICO in a statement Monday. \u201cI started this campaign Tuesday but found out Friday we have a baby on the way. Graham deserves someone who is 100% in on his race and we want to lean into this new experience as a family so it was best we step back sooner than later so Graham can get the Manager he deserves.”<\/p>\n The progressive oyster farmer running to unseat Republican Sen. Susan Collins has attempted to turn the page<\/a> on the since-deleted comments, explaining in a video that the comments reflected his mental state following his military deployment to Afghanistan and that they are not representative of his present views.<\/p>\n POLITICO reported on Thursday<\/a> that Brown, who has worked for Democrats like Barack Obama and Elizabeth Warren, joined the campaign as manager after Genevieve McDonald, Platner\u2019s former political director, resigned.<\/p>\n The campaign has also brought on an in-house attorney and hired a compliance firm tied to progressive candidates, in addition to sending non-disclosure agreements to staffers, POLITICO previously reported.<\/p>\n His campaign has also been bogged down by controversy surrounding a tattoo<\/a> that resembles a Nazi symbol. Platner has said that he was not aware of the symbol\u2019s implications when he got it nearly two decades ago and has since had the tattoo covered up.<\/p>\n