A woman who previously dated Maine Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner said he drunkenly forced her to have sex after she told him to stop, according to a Politico report released Monday, leading prominent supporters to pull their endorsements and throwing a must-win race for the party into turmoil.
Platner denied the allegation, but said he would be considering next steps for his campaign.
“Regardless of the inaccuracy of the reporting but mindful of the political reality it will inflict, we’re taking the time to reflect on the best path forward,” he said in a video released on social media.
Jenny Racicot, who lives in Maine, told Politico that Platner entered her home in 2021 while drunk and assaulted her. Racicot said she had been in an on-and-off relationship with Platner, but she cut off contact with him after that night and told him the incident wasn’t consensual. A voicemail left at a number listed for Racicot seeking comment did not receive an immediate response.
Platner’s campaign did not immediately respond to an email and phone message from The Associated Press seeking comment.
“Any accusation of non-consensual behavior is categorically false,” Platner said in his video.
Still, the allegation sparked a flight away from a candidate who has long been controversial. Rep. Ro Khanna, a California Democrat who’d stood by Platner even as the insurgent candidate was hit with prior allegations, said Monday’s was enough. “I’ve been very clear that sexual assault or violence against women is a red line,” Khanna said. “These allegations are very serious and credible. Graham Platner should drop out from the race. I am withdrawing my endorsement.”
Edit: holy shit, these comments are insane.
Regardless of what you believe with this, Platner likely cannot win anymore. He has a week to do the right thing and drop out before he's fully locked in. If he actually gives any sort of a shit (and doesn't just want power, like rapists seeking office tend to), he needs to drop out yesterday.
This is the nail in the coffin for his campaign. It's not time to defend him no matter what, because there's still a week where a new candidate can be put into place. Instead of being mad at people not wanting to vote for him, you should start vocally supporting another candidate.
Yeah, this woman magically knew that Platner was going to run for office years and years ago when she advised her friend to not set someone up with Platner because he doesn't respect consent.
I've been on the internet long enough to know that the knee-jerk reaction is to not believe rape victims. People in general don't believe victims.
And you want me to believe that a man with a history of mercenary work in Afghanistan, past comments that blame rape victims for being raped and talking about how much he enjoyed killing brown people, and other sexual assault accusations is completely innocent here?
Maybe not, maybe he did something stupid, but at this point the fact that AIPAC is dredging whatever they can up against him is more of an endorsement than a condemnation. If people who are actively cheering on the atrocities being committed in Gaza are telling me to be wary of Graham, that's not the nail in the coffin they think it is.
Imagine being so weak-minded where you base your own behavior off of the words of your ideological enemies.
Someone you were told to hate says jumping off a cliff is bad. You should check that out — according to the very logic of your child-like attempt at justifying one of the biggest train wrecks of a candidate the American left has ever attempted to field.
It's Platner's fault that there are scandals to be dug up at all.