Watch: Shaheen dodges reporter’s Platner questions as aide creates donut distraction

Watch: Shaheen dodges reporter's Platner questions as aide creates donut distraction

Republicans seize on the incident as top Democrats including Schumer and Sanders continue backing Platner

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Shaheen dodges reporter's Platner questions as aide creates baked good diversion

Congressional candidate Stefany Shaheen refused to answer reporters' questions about allegation of Graham Platner's sexual misconduct as an aide accosted a reporter and waved a donut in an apparent attempt to derail the exchange. (Credit: NRCC)

A campaign staffer for congressional candidate Stefany Shaheen repeatedly shoved a pastry into the camera of an America Rising tracker as he questioned her about whether she supported Graham Platner's U.S. Senate campaign. Shaheen did not respond.

Platner, the Democratic nominee for Maine's open Senate seat, has faced a string of controversies over the past year. Reports from last month revealed that he exchanged sexually explicit messages with up to a dozen women while married. The scandal follows earlier scrutiny over inflammatory past Reddit posts and a tattoo resembling the Nazi-era Totenkopf symbol, which Platner has said he did not understand was associated with the SS when he got it.

Shaheen is running for New Hampshire's 1st Congressional District, a seat left open by Rep. Chris Pappas' Senate bid to succeed her retiring mother. Although neither Shaheen nor her mother, Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., has publicly supported Platner, Republicans seized on Shaheen's refusal to answer questions about him.

"Nepo baby Stefany Shaheen had the chance to condemn Graham Platner’s vile behavior. Instead, she chose to stay radio silent while her staffer attacked a questioner with a donut," National Republican Congressional Committee Spokeswoman Maureen O’Toole told Fox News Digital. "Granite Staters deserve a representative who doesn’t glaze over simple questions and whose team knows not to weaponize a baked good."

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U.S. Senate candidate from Maine Graham Platner speaks during a campaign event on May 17, 2026, in Portland, Maine. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

Fox News Digital reached out to Stefany Shaheen's campaign for comment.

Despite Platner's mounting controversies, several prominent Democrats have continued to stand by him. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.; Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt.; and Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., have all maintained their support for Platner's campaign, arguing that control of the Senate remains the party's top priority heading into November.

"The issue right now is not Graham Platner's marriage. The issue right now is how we address the crises facing working families in this country," Sanders said of the sex scandal plaguing Platner's campaign.

WATCH: CHUCK SCHUMER SIDESTEPS PLATNER SCANDALS, CONFIRMS SUPPORT FOR CONTROVERSIAL DEM

Stefany Shaheen, daughter of Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, announces her candidacy for Congress in New Hampshire's 1st District in a campaign launch video on May 28, 2025. (Stefany Shaheen/Facebook)

Sanders endorsed Platner just two weeks after he launched his campaign. Throughout the campaign trail, Platner has echoed Sanders' calls to take on billionaires but has stopped short of labeling himself a Democratic Socialist.

Schumer endorsed Platner just hours after Maine Democratic Gov. Janet Mills suspended her campaign and dropped out of the race in April.

Sen. Jeanne Shaheen speaks at a news conference at the U.S. Embassy in Ottawa during a bilateral delegation to Canada on May 23, 2025, as Sen. Kevin Cramer listens. (Justin Tang/The Canadian Press)

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Democratic leaders have continued to support Platner while emphasizing the importance of reclaiming the Senate. Booker said "so much is riding on Democrats taking control of the Senate," while Schumer has repeatedly framed the race in terms of defeating Susan Collins and winning back the chamber.

Elaine Mallon is a writer for Fox News Digital and Fox Business covering national politics.

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