Platner faces calls to step down after new accusations

Democrats and progressives on Monday called for Maine Democratic candidate Graham Platner to end his Senate campaign amid a new accusation of sexual assault.

“I’ve been very clear that sexual assault or violence against women is a red line,” Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), previously a vocal defender of the Senate candidate, wrote on social media. “These allegations are very serious and credible. Graham Platner should drop out from the race. I am withdrawing my endorsement.”

On the social platform X, Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) called the allegations against Platner “troubling and deeply serious.”

“I am rescinding my endorsement,” Gallego wrote.

Florida Senate candidate Alex Vindman (D) said that being a father and husband, “I have zero tolerance for physical or sexual misconduct.”

“I’ve always called balls and strikes regardless of party, and in this case, I believe Graham Platner should immediately drop out,” he wrote on X. “These allegations are extremely serious, disturbing, and disqualifying.”

End Citizens United also withdrew its endorsement for Platner.

“The conduct described is fundamentally inconsistent with the standards we expect from the candidates we support,” Tiffany Muller, End Citizens United president, said in a statement. “No candidate, elected official, or political party is exempt from accountability.”

Maine’s Democratic Party called for a candidate “who represents our values and who carries our banner” in withdrawing its support.

“Over the past several weeks, multiple women have made serious, credible allegations against Graham Platner,” state party leaders said in withdrawing its endorsement. “Today’s statements take those allegations even further.”

Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.) also called on Platner to drop out of the race, writing on social media that he has “no endorsement to rescind.”

Politico reported earlier on Monday that Maine resident Jenny Racicot accused Platner of forcing her to have sex with him while he was intoxicated in 2021.

Racicot told CNN’s Jake Tapper on Monday that she agreed with Platner’s politics, even after she said he “violated multiple layers of consent.”

“I’m not mad at anyone who has voted for him all along,” Racicot said. “If he wasn’t who he was, I would be voting for him as well. Then going forward, I don’t know what’s going to happen.”

Racicot said she stayed quiet because there are “a lot of men in this world relying on the silence of women, and to be where they are, and they don’t want to contribute to that.”

“I also wanted to just get my life back,” she said.

Racicot added that she disagrees with anyone who believes her speaking out is politically motivated, as she said she “really” agrees with his politics.

“I think we need somebody with those political stances and who are willing to do the work, and, you know, I see his political videos,” she said. “They get me fired up as well. I understand why people want someone like him in office. And I felt like me coming forward would essentially potentially take that away.”

Platner’s opponent in the race, Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), told The Hill’s broadcast partner NewsNation that the allegations were “appalling.”

“Nevertheless, it is not up to me to choose the Democratic nominee for Senate,” she said.

Left-wing Twitch streamer Hasan Piker said he believed the allegations after reading the story to those watching his stream on Monday, calling it “curtains” for the oyster farmer.

“The messages of him being a dog or whatever, like him f—ing around and talking to other women, all of that stuff shows that someone is … not of the highest moral character,” Piker said, referring to The New York Times article published in June that spoke with women Platner used to date. “But this is something beyond that,” he added.

Platner vehemently denied the allegations in a video shared to social media.

“We are taking the time to reflect on the best path forward for the state that I love, the people that I love, the movement I belong to and the goal of defeating Susan Collins,” he said in the video.

Updated at 6:41 p.m. EDT