Graham Platner drops out; left still victim-blaming

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Graham Platner has finally suspended his campaign for the Maine Senate race, something virtually all Democrats are calling on him to do, including most progressive and far-left Democratic leaders: Bernie Sanders, Ro Khanna, AOC, and so on. The credible allegations of sexual assault leveled against him by his former girlfriend, Jenny Racicot, are a dealbreaker, and rightfully so.

But there are some on the left who seem to be desperately trying to come up with some reason to cast doubt on Racicot’s account that she did not give permission to Platner to enter her home, and certainly did not consent to sex — she says he forced himself on her.

Here was Ana Kasparian wondering why Racicot didn’t do more to stop him.

With all due respect to Ana, I don’t think this is a particularly convincing line. Platner’s a big guy, and it seems reasonable to me that having endured what she endured, Racicot would decide the easiest way to deal with him would be to kick him out after he’d sobered up. Involving the police might have been a good idea, but it’s also messy. She might have felt embarrassed about what happened and not want to escalate to that level.

Those are all reasonable things a person in that situation might be thinking. So while I don’t think the messages Racicot exchanged with her therapist about this some years later are necessarily proof positive it happened the way she says it happened, I certainly am not likely to doubt it just because she didn’t call the police or evict him.

I also feel this way about some additional reporting Ryan Grim did on this story for Drop Site News and Breaking Points. Grim has some criticism of Politico, the outlet that told Racicot’s story. He says they did not include a key detail in their reporting that Platner came to Racicot’s house in the first place because she alluded to needing a sensual massage.

Look, that detail is interesting, and perhaps it should have appeared in the Politico story, but it really doesn’t change anything if she told him unambiguously not to come over. He’s not allowed to overlook that just because he’s blackout drunk. If you’re the kind of person who is going to ignore a “do not enter my house” message when you’re drunk, then it’s on you not to get drunk, or at the very least to get drunk in a safe situation where a buddy can take your phone and your car keys away and stop you from doing something stupid.

So, to make a long story short, this changes absolutely nothing, and Graham Platner still needs to go. But good try, guys.

Robby Soave is co-host of The Hill’s commentary show “Rising” and a senior editor for Reason Magazine. This column is an edited transcription of his daily commentary.

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Ana Kasparian

Bernie Sanders

Graham Platner

Jenny Racicot

Maine

Ro Khanna

Ryan Grim

Senate

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