A recruiter for former Maine Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner said his past Reddit posts should have been treated as a “red line” by the campaign. The comments reflect renewed scrutiny of how Platner’s team handled earlier warnings about his record before he withdrew from a race seen as important to Democratic hopes of winning the Senate.

Platner’s old online posts, along with a tattoo linked by critics to Nazi imagery, had already generated controversy during the campaign. The strategist’s remarks came after Platner left the race following a sexual-assault allegation, which he denied, leaving Democrats to find a replacement candidate to challenge Republican Senator Susan Collins.