Democrat Graham Platner, who recently got an endorsement for U.S. senator in Maine from Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), wasn’t getting a pass from CNN’s Manu Raju. (Watch the video below.)

On “Inside Politics Sunday” the host played a clip of himself reminding Platner of his “bad” and “terrible” rape comments from the past that are showing up in an ad from one of his opponents.

In previously uncovered Reddit entries, Platner wrote in 2013, “How about people just take some responsibility for themselves and not get so fucked up they wind up having sex with someone they don’t mean to?”

Warren pointed out that he apologized, but Raju grilled him on it.

“I wonder, though, if you think how damaging this thing might be politically, because, you know, I read those posts and, you know, they’re bad. Those posts are terrible,” Raju said.

“I’ve gone all over the state of Maine and allowed people to ask me about it all directly for months now,” Platner replied. “And it is, I think for a lot of folks in the state, to see this get kind of dragged back up months and months after we’d already talked about it — I will just say, the feedback we have received statewide is that people find all of this to be everything they hate about politics.”

Platner, whose huge lead in a primary poll seemed to be shrinking over second favorite Gov. Janet Mills, said he has “transformed” over time. “I actually think a lot of folks can identify with [that],” he said.

“So you regret those posts?” Raju asked.

“Of course,” Platner responded. “I mean, I’ve said, I don’t know how many [times], yes, deeply. … I was at a time in my life where I was really struggling after I’d come back from my combat deployments. I was very isolated, very alone, very disillusioned, very angry. And I think, like a lot of people, I went on the internet to find some form of community or serotonin boost.”

He added that he was able to reconnect with his community, becoming the person he is today.

The stakes are high for an election in which Democrats hope is another step in retaking the Senate. Moderate Republican Sen. Susan Collins is running for a sixth term and is considered vulnerable. However, some Democrats are treating Platner’s candidacy like a hot potato. The primary is in June.

The candidate carries other baggage. According to an October report in the Bangor Daily News, Platner, a former bartender who’s now an oyster farmer, also wrote on social media that the stereotype of Black people not tipping is “solid” and “an armed working class is a requirement for economic justice.”

Then there’s the matter of an alleged Nazi tattoo on his chest that he had covered. Platner denied any knowledge of the tattoo’s link to the Third Reich.

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