Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), the chairwoman of Senate Democrats’ campaign arm, similarly sidestepped questions after a meeting with Platner but told reporters she was “very optimistic” the party will defeat Collins, a five-term incumbent and the only Republican to hold statewide office in Maine.

Schumer only came around to Platner after his preferred candidate, Gov. Janet Mills (D-ME), dropped out of the race in April. And their alliance is still tenuous. Platner is one of several Democrats who are calling for new leadership in Washington.

Schumer declined to say if he wished that Mills would resurrect her campaign, as she hinted she might on Monday after reports of Platner’s infidelity began to emerge. Platner is expected to become the party’s nominee in Maine’s June 9 primary, but Mills remains on the ballot.

The Platner campaign says his trip to Washington was scheduled before a bombshell report alleging that Platner sent at least half a dozen women sexually explicit text messages early in his marriage.

But the timing of the report quickly sent Platner into damage-control mode, and his allies hoped the trip would give him a chance to calm doubts about the viability of his campaign. Polls show Platner ahead by as much as 9 points against Collins, but he has been the subject of repeated controversies that Democrats fear will sink their chances of winning a blue state this fall.

Earlier in his campaign, Platner was forced to cover up a chest tattoo that resembled a Nazi symbol and apologize for online posts that downplayed rape and insulted black people.

“I think it’s important that he does meet with senators and with other people, and really show confidence and explain how this is not going to affect his race and how he’s still going to win,” Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ), one of the Democrats supporting Platner, told the Washington Examiner.

In addition to Senate leadership, Platner huddled with rank-and-file Democrats at the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee headquarters on Tuesday afternoon. He did not take questions from the press after a two-hour meeting, according to NOTUS, and senators were generally tight-lipped about whether he had adequately addressed the texting scandal.

Few were willing to publicly defend him outside of a small group of progressives aligned with his politics.

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), a Platner supporter, pointed to the money being spent in Maine to preserve Collins’s Senate seat when asked about the concern being expressed by some Democrats.

“There are some concerns that some of the wealthiest people in this country, in their Republican super PACs, are prepared to spend $100 million in the state of Maine,” Sanders told the Washington Examiner. “Why do we think that Republican super PACs controlled by billionaires want to spend an extraordinary amount of money to defeat Graham Platner? That’s a good reason to vote for him.”

Other senators wanted to stay out of the infighting altogether.

“I think, ultimately, the people of Maine are going to decide who’s going to represent them in the Senate,” said Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ), a vice chairman of the DSCC.

“Maine Democrats are going to decide the nominee,” Sen. Peter Welch (D-VT), one of the Senate Democrats to meet with Platner, told the Washington Examiner. “It’s not for the ‘party’ to decide, it’s for the Maine voters to decide.”

There was one glaring exception among Senate Democrats. Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) went so far as to compare Platner to disgraced former Rep. Eric Swalwell, who resigned from office and suspended his campaign for California governor in April after multiple women accused him of sexual misconduct. 

There’s “so much bizarre and tacky and gross stuff that you lose count,” Fetterman told reporters, while stopping short of calling on Platner to drop out. “It’s like you need to have like a bingo card.”

Although Platner has not been accused of sexual misconduct, Fetterman repeatedly mocked Platner as “phustle,” the username he used on an app known for sexual encounters.

“I’m saying that the last time Democrats leaned in on a guy that was sending those kinds of messages to women, I think that was like Swalwell.”

FETTERMAN COMPARES PLATNER’S SEXTING SCANDAL TO ERIC SWALWELL

The Democrats who attended the campaign headquarters meeting with Platner included progressives such as Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA). Sen. Adam Schiff (D-CA), another DSCC vice chairman, was also in attendance.

Platner was reportedly set to attend a fundraiser hosted by former Biden chief of staff Ron Klain on his swing through Washington.