Washington — Senate Minority Chief Chuck Schumer and the management of the Maine Democratic Social gathering urged Senate nominee Graham Platner to drop out of the race Monday, after a bombshell Politico report accusing Platner of sexual assault.
Platner insisted the allegation is “categorically false” however stated his marketing campaign is reflecting on “the perfect path ahead.”
“Whatever the inaccuracy of the reporting, however aware of the political actuality it can inflict, we’re taking the time to replicate on the perfect path ahead for the state that I like, the those who I like, the motion I belong to, and the purpose of defeating Susan Collins,” Platner stated in a video his marketing campaign posted to X. “These have been the targets once we launched this marketing campaign, and so they stay my targets at present.”
A Maine lady, Jenny Racicot, informed Politico that Platner entered her residence with out permission in late 2021 when he was drunk and compelled himself on her. Racicot stated the 2 met on a relationship app in 2019 and had consensual relations earlier than the evening of the alleged sexual assault.
Racicot later expanded on the allegations in a CNN interview by which she alleged Platner raped her “by definition.”
“He violated a number of layers of consent that evening. By coming into my residence after I requested him to not, and by advancing on me after I informed him to not, and moreover, one other incident that I had informed him to not do,” Racicot stated, referring to his alleged refusal to make use of safety.
She stated: “In that second, I evaluated my security. … I mainly felt most secure simply complying.”
Platner denied the allegations, calling them “troubling, critical and false.”
“Any accusation of non-consensual habits is categorically false,” Platner stated within the video posted shortly after the story broke.
In an announcement, his marketing campaign referred to as the allegations “coached and coordinated by out of state institution operatives.”
“For a yr, opponents of this marketing campaign have thrown the whole lot they’ll at Graham –– calling him a Nazi, a struggle felony, and a communist. None of it has been true and that is no totally different. It’s not a coincidence that this story comes per week earlier than the poll deadline, simply because the earlier false allegations got here per week earlier than the first. Graham started this marketing campaign to combat for a Maine the place everyone seems to be handled with dignity and the place Mainers are put first, and no quantity of determined smears will cease this motion from seeing that imaginative and prescient by,” the assertion stated.
CBS Information has not confirmed Racicot’s accusation.
CBS Information has reached out to Racicot.
The sexual assault allegation led a number of outstanding Democrats and former Platner supporters to push him to finish his marketing campaign, which might set off a scramble to discover a new Democratic nominee for the important thing Senate seat. Platner gained the Democratic Senate main final month, however underneath Maine election regulation, nominees may be changed in the event that they withdraw by 5 p.m. on the second Monday in July. After that, a political social gathering has two weeks to pick out a brand new nominee.
The Maine Democratic Social gathering urged Platner to withdraw because the nominee Monday.
Schumer and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, who chairs the highly effective Democratic Senatorial Marketing campaign Committee, additionally referred to as on Platner to “instantly withdraw” from the race in a joint assertion.
“The DSCC won’t put money into the Maine Senate race if Platner stays on the poll,” Schumer and Gillibrand stated.
Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna of California, who campaigned with Platner after different allegations in opposition to him surfaced in current months, pulled his endorsement Monday and stated Platner ought to drop out of the race.
“I have been very clear that sexual assault or violence in opposition to girls is a purple line. These allegations are very critical and credible,” he wrote.
Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts stated in an announcement that Platner ought to “step apart because the Democratic nominee and tackle these critical allegations outdoors this Senate race.” Sen. Ruben Gallego of Arizona additionally rescinded his endorsement, calling the newest allegations “troubling and deeply critical.”
Democratic activist Cheyenne Hunt, who based the nonprofit Reckoning Motion, referred to as on Platner to finish his marketing campaign. Hunt is understood for serving to deliver to gentle sexual assault and misconduct allegations in opposition to former Rep. Eric Swalwell, main the Democrat to resign from Congress and droop his marketing campaign for California governor whereas nonetheless denying the allegations.
“At present we’re calling on Platner to drop out and take away himself from the poll — which he should do by July 13 — to be able to give the social gathering a chance to place forth a candidate who’s certified and greatest positioned to win in November,” she stated in an announcement.
“With the brand new allegations of rape and sexual violence that have been dropped at gentle, it is completely unquestionable: Graham Platner shouldn’t be match to carry a United States Senate seat, or any elected workplace for that matter,” she added.
In her interview with CNN, Racicot famous that she aligns with Platner’s politics, however she felt compelled to return ahead as a result of “there are quite a lot of males on this world counting on the silence of ladies to be the place they’re, and I do not wish to contribute to that.”
“I see his political movies, they get me fired up as effectively. I perceive why folks need somebody like him in workplace, and I felt like me coming ahead would basically probably take that away, and I felt actually uncomfortable with the duty of and the load of my story, and what which may do,” she stated.
The event is the newest in a spate of allegations and controversies which have marred Platner’s marketing campaign in current months.
For Platner, a 41-year-old veteran and oyster farmer, his entry onto the political scene with the launch of his marketing campaign unearthed a collection of non-public controversies. He is since apologized for quite a few problematic web feedback he made years in the past and coated up a tattoo he bought throughout his time within the Marines that’s well known as a Nazi image. However the allegations ramped up within the lead-up to final month’s main.
After Platner had successfully locked up the nomination following Maine Gov. Janet Mills’ withdrawal from the race, The Wall Road Journal reported in late Could that Platner’s spouse informed his marketing campaign he had despatched sexually express textual content messages to different girls. Days later, The New York Instances reported on allegations of Platner’s “unsettling” habits towards girls he dated, together with one declare that he was bodily abusive, which Platner has denied.
Amid the allegations forward of the first, Platner informed MS NOW that he did not count on extra allegations to emerge. On the time, he stated “the truth that I used to be, you already know, a nasty boyfriend a decade in the past” was one thing he had been clear about.
“There will not be something new,” Platner stated. “It is going to be a rehashing of basically the identical stuff.”
The brand new allegations come as Platner is ready to face off in opposition to GOP Sen. Susan Collins in November in a race that may very well be key to Democrats’ hopes of profitable management of the Senate. Democrats have tried for years to unseat Collins, who’s been within the Senate since 1997 and wields important energy as chair of the Appropriations Committee. However as the one Republican searching for reelection within the Senate in a state that Vice President Kamala Harris gained in 2024, Democrats have been extra hopeful about their possibilities this cycle.
Fearing the allegations in opposition to Platner might put a victory in jeopardy, some Democrats — together with his former political director — have advised that Platner ought to drop out of the race and permit the social gathering to pick out a distinct nominee.
Certainly one of Platner’s highest-profile supporters — impartial Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont — has not commented on the sexual assault allegation, however stood by him after prior allegations.
Platner canceled a string of marketing campaign occasions in current days, the Bangor Each day Information reported.
Platner informed MS NOW final month that “not as soon as” had he thought of dropping out of the race.
“Amy and I knew early on that we have been going to take lumps, and we simply, we’re devoted to this,” Platner stated. “It has by no means crossed our thoughts to drop out of this factor. I’m absolutely dedicated to this till the top.”
