A Democrat hoping to become Maine’s next senator once referred to himself as a “communist” and made derogatory remarks about police and white rural Americans online.

Graham Platner, an oyster farmer and military veteran running to unseat moderate GOP Sen. Susan Collins next November, posted a series of inflammatory and potentially damaging comments on Reddit before deleting them all when he launched his political campaign, CNN has found.

Many of the posts unearthed by the network show Platner expressing left-wing and progressive views that align with his Senate campaign. However, other remarks that could harm his political ambitions include calling police officers “b-----ds,” suggesting all rural white Americans are racist and stupid, and revealing that he owns guns because he doesn’t “t

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