Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) has recommended that Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner (D) “step aside” from the race after Platner faced a new rape allegation.
“I have spoken with Graham Platner about the best path forward for Maine,” Sanders said in a post on X. “In light of these very serious allegations, I have recommended that he step aside.”
Sanders’s post comes after a Politico report revealed that Jenny Racicot told the outlet that one evening in 2021, Platner showed up at her home “uninvited” and sexually assaulted her.
“I remember him grabbing my pelvis and being really forceful of me,” Racicot told the outlet. “I remember the specific moment where I thought to myself, like, ‘This is no longer my choice.’”
Sanders has previously defended Platner as he has faced other scandals, stating that Platner has “the guts to stand up to the big money interests.”
“The reason that they do not want him in the Senate is he has had the guts to stand up to the big money interests, to fight for healthcare as a human right, to demand the billionaires start paying their fair share of taxes,” Sanders said.
Platner has been criticized for his Nazi tattoo, and has faced scandals related to sending sexually explicit texts to women early on in his marriage.
EMILY’s List has also brought attention to how Platner has made “disturbing comments about sexual assault victims”:
Maine U.S. Senate candidate Graham Platner made disturbing comments about sexual assault victims in Reddit posts that were deleted shortly before he launched his campaign — saying assault victims should “just take some responsibility for themselves” to avoid attacks and “act like an adult for f-cks sake.” He said people should avoid alcohol so they don’t end up in a “compromising situation” and downplayed the challenges servicemembers face in reporting sexual assault.
After the report from Politico, Democrats such as Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) and Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) withdrew their endorsements of Platner. In a statement from the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC), Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) called the allegations “incredibly disturbing” and called for Platner to “immediately withdraw” from the race.
