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.
Some democrats believe they need this Senate sit so bad they are willing to simply ignore those allegations. I get it, even if those allegations are true he can still help stop Trump and push some socialist policies. Republicans do this all the time: screen loudly the allegations are false so they can claim they don't believe them, not simply don't care about them.
Platner will most likely wait to see how this affect his chances. If he can still win he will keep running.
In the future Dems should look for less sketchy candidates.
To try to give you a serious answer to your question, there are three main western theories of morality. Consequentialism, Virtue Ethics, and Deontology. The people calling for Platner to drop out primarily identify internally with Virtue Ethics.
People are also consequentialists, and are pointing out that if you hold some candidates and not others to a given set of standards, you will wind up living in a fascist shit hole forever. I say this without judgement: assuming you accept that sentence as true some people will conclude we can't let candidates get derailed by scandals if the other side isn't going to, because it creates an electoral disadvantage, and yet another structural advantage for republicans. And some people look at that sentence and conclude 'well fine, I'd rather live under fascism and be able to live with myself'. Neither side is wrong, per se.
Finally the deontologists are kind of split, and those people believe in rules and process. Technically, this is an accusation, not a conviction, so some deontologists want him to stay in. Other deontologists adhere more closely to party norms as rules, and want him out.
What question?
The problem is, he has less than a week to decide to drop or not.
The impact on his candidacy won't be known until AFTER the deadline to drop.
Which is why people are saying the accuser is politically motivated.
Then I guess he has a week to gauge the reaction. I'm sure the "It's politically motivated" excuse will help some people ignore it but I have no idea if that will be enough.
Oh, it won't. Dude is absolutely toast. He can bow out now, or lose to Susan Collins. There is no other option.
She has multiple sources of proof way before his campaign even started
Don't mistake questioning the timing with not believing it happened.
She comes out with it now, one week before the deadline instead of during the primary? Or at any other time since 2021?
When the first allegation came out, that would have been a perfect time to #MeToo! and she did not. She could have dropped it with the Nazi tattoo stuff "Oh, yeah, not just a Nazi, but a rapist too!"
It likely happened the way she described it, and It will absolutely tank his candidacy, but the timing smells. She SHOULD have killed him in the primary.
She said she didn't want to come out because of people like you. She also didn't want to be seen as a victim. She has messages dating all the way back to as many women as she could tell, be careful dating him. She has proof you're just a rape apologist
People like me saying "Don't wait! Do it now!"? I'm fully supportive that she came forward, but she literally picked the worst time to do it.
She had the opportunity to stop him before he ever got this far, and only choosing to do it now, even true, adds suspicion to the accusation where there should be none.
You know the accusations can be true and still have a political agenda? Like victims are people with all the same potential flaws as anyone. Its almost as if you think they are perfect people without agency who can't do anything.
Hell let the lady have a hobby if both are true. She can be correct in her accusations and want to destroy him politically.
I mean if you're fine with rapists and child fuckers in office then you need to look at your priorities
Quite literaly the opposite of my stated position but if you need to put everyone in the rape and pediphiliac bucket then I guess no one can stop you.
Kinda like spinning a cow in your head.
What's the proof?
As a survivor I'm fucking tired of this bullshit. It's fucking on CNN and other news outlets, look it up yourself or look at my comment history.
Men are all rapists to me if they choose not to believe a woman when she's been warning people since 2021
You said there are multiple sources of proof. I'm just asking what it is and where it can be seen.
And Women and anyone else you don't like it seems.
Also, as an enjoyer of argument I still take umbrage with you using a traumatic past as a cudgel to beat us over the head with.
This entire thing screams "orchestrated hit piece because accusing him of being a Nazi didn't work."
For me everything about this guy screams "this guy had issues in the past". Is he better now? Sure looks like it. Does it matter? No idea. Luckily I don't vote there.
Hey not saying those accusations are not true and all, however warning people of someone is not "proof" of any action a person has done the things they are warning people of.
Hey describing what he did in messages in 2021 and consistently warning other women throughout 2021 to now is good enough for me. People chose not to believe me either, I fought for years to be listened to and it destroyed my life.
But yeah. Let's not believe women and then wonder why they aren't doing so fucking well for the rest of their fucking lives
Well you don't really toss all rational thought away ether. I don't know what you went through, but your personal issues don't actually relate to a valid argument. I don't know if you are trying for a appeal to pity fallacy (argumentum ad misericordiam) or are honestly conflating your personal wellbeing with the level of shits given by random anonymous people on the internet.
They get pissed at MAGA for doing this shit too.
I care more about a Nazi tattoo than I do about the same old stupid allegations I always hear about the guy they don’t like. Like it’s so textbook it’s not funny.
Apparently everyone is a rapist. So now the fucking bar is were they raping kids? The president is.
I care less about the tattoo than I do the fact he got a permanent body modification without understanding what he was doing.
That's not the mindset of someone who should be enacting laws that impact the rest of us
Yes, it was a Nazi tattoo in this case, but I wouldn't vote for someone with a language tattoo they can't read either.