Graham Platner Accused of Sexual Assault, Campaign Likely Doomed

Another woman has come forward to accuse Graham Platner, the Democratic Party’s Maine Senate hopeful, of serious wrongdoing. Jenny Racicot, a 41-year-old Maine woman who used to date Platner, says that he sexually assaulted her in 2021.

Platner has denied the accusation; nevertheless, he is pausing his campaign. He has already lost the backing of two of his most ardent supporters, Rep. Ro Khanna (D–Calif.) and leftist commentator Hasan Piker. It seems likely he will drop out by July 13, giving Maine Democrats an opportunity find a new opponent for incumbent Republican Sen. Susan Collins.

Racicot previously spoke with The New York Times and was mentioned in the June story about Platner’s history of toxic relationships. According to The Times, Racicot “declined to elaborate” on the exact nature of his misconduct, and so the story instead focused on a different accuser, Lyndsey Fifield, who was also an ex-girlfriend of Platner. Fifield claimed that he once grabbed her forcefully and then violently trapped her in a bedroom, but did not accuse him of sexual assault.

The fact that Fifield is a Republican activist led some people to doubt the veracity of her claims. Racicot told Politico that she did not want to be publicly identified as a rape victim, but decided to share the full story when it became clear to her that Fifield’s accusation would not be enough to force Platner from the race. For what it’s worth, Racicot says that she is a progressive Democrat.

Conservatives are now criticizing The Times for failing to report on Racicot’s accusation of sexual assault—something Fifield alluded to while expressing her own frustration with how The Times handled the story. Of course, if Racicot told The Times that her accusation was off the record, then there was little they could do. At the same time, liberals who were inclined to doubt Fifield—who trashed her, in fact—might consider whether they owe her some sort of apology.

Progressive writer Matt Stoller, for instance, is still claiming that the previous anti-Platner stories “read as wholly ginned up media creations,” as opposed to this latest accusation. That seems like a difficult needle to thread.

Platner is not without his defenders. Leftist commentator Cenk Uygur wrote on X that the legacy media was out to get Platner and that he would reject out of hand any negative reporting about his character.

This purely partisan response aside, any fair-minded person will have difficulty dismissing Racicot’s account. She provided Politico with statements she made to other people, including her therapist, about the attack. Moreover, this was not an altercation that could be written off as a misinterpreted cue in the moment, or a case of withdrawn consent during a previously valid sexual encounter. According to Racicot, Platner entered her house in a state of blackout intoxication, despite her protestations. She texted him and denied him the right to enter: He came in anyway, and forced himself on her, she claims. Afterward, she broke off all contact with him.

Again, Platner denies that this happened, but he is pausing his campaign while contemplating his next move. Given that it is still possible for the Democratic Party to replace him, I wouldn’t expect him to stay in the race much longer.