Many left-leaning media figures who supported Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner jumped ship on Monday after a rape allegation prompted his most prominent supporters in the press to call for the Democrat to suspend his campaign.
Politico published a bombshell report Monday on one of Platner’s exes alleging he sexually assaulted her during their relationship. Jenny Racicot claimed that, in 2021, a drunk Platner entered her home uninvited and had sex with her despite her repeatedly telling him to stop. She also told CNN the alleged encounter, which Platner has denied, was the “dictionary definition” of rape.
The allegations have promoted an about-face from many high-profile media figures who previously stood by Platner despite Nazi tattoo allegations, accusations of rape fantasies, heavy drinking and a previous New York Times report about “unsettling” behavior toward women.
HOW GRAHAM PLATNER’S CAMPAIGN UNRAVELED: FROM REDDIT POSTS TO RAPE ALLEGATION
Former Obama staffer and “Pod Save America” co-host Jon Favreau vehemently defended Platner in April.
“Graham Platner isn’t just our best and only chance to beat Susan Collins, he’s a good, decent man who’s struggled and grown and is always trying to do better. I hope everyone with reservations takes a little time to get to know the real life version of him, not what the algorithm throws in our faces,” Favreau wrote.
Favreau pivoted less than three months later, calling for Platner to step aside.
“Platner needs to drop out ASAP – these are awful, credible allegations. Said on the pod after the (also credible) June NYT story that his biggest problem going forward would be credibility. It’s now abundantly clear that he just hasn’t been honest about his past and can’t be trusted as a candidate for office. Saving grace is that the party can find a replacement by the 27th as long as he drops by the 13th, which I very much assume he will,” he wrote on Monday.
Indeed, under Maine law, Platner can be replaced on the ballot if he withdraws by 5 p.m. on July 13, with the state party allowed to put forward a replacement by July 27.
Far-left commentator Krystal Ball once declared, “Senator Platner cannot arrive soon enough,” but she had a change of heart.
“I agree that Platner should drop out. The allegations are horrible and I see no reason why his accuser would lie. Some things have to be beyond the pale,” Ball posted on Monday.
The Bulwark founder Sarah Longwell called for Platner to exit the race on Monday, only two months after the anti-Trump publication published a piece suggesting he had a strong chance to be the 2028 Democratic presidential candidate.
“Right now, today, I give Graham Platner a 1-in-3 chance to be the next Democratic nominee. For president,” Bulwark editor Jonathan V. Last wrote in May.
While Last was not advocating Platner be selected, the anti-Trump site was mocked online for the prognostication, leading Longwell to lash out at critics and claim the site had always been “extremely Platner-skeptical.”
Longwell admitted in an interview with Tim Miller that she was motivated to have Platner leave the race in part because she wants Democrats to win the House and Senate in 2026, “and I think, as a moral matter, when someone is credibly accused of rape, that’s game over.”
The Bulwark’s X account describes the site as “free of tribal prejudices.”
New York Times opinion columnist Michelle Goldberg wrote Monday that she “deeply” regrets an earlier column praising Platner. Goldberg, who profiled Platner favorably during his rise in Maine Democratic politics, revisited her assessment in a new column after Platner’s former girlfriend accused him of rape.
“Last October, when stories about Platner’s tattoo and Reddit posts first broke, I went to Maine to write about him. I tried to convey what I saw: a campaign that was electrifying angry Maine voters. But I deeply regret that, impressed by Platner’s political charisma, I wrote that he was ‘nothing like the edgelord caricature I encountered online.’ If anything, he seems to be significantly worse,” Goldberg wrote.
Author Naomi Klein, whose upcoming book is titled “End Times Fascism,” apologized to followers on Tuesday for failing to do her “due diligence on Platner before offering high praise for his communication skills.”
“Enough was out there at the time that I should have been more cautious,” Klein wrote.
“I’m truly sorry I disappointed folks who trust me to be more careful,” she continued. “Most of all I’m sorry to the women who came forward only to be disbelieved and smeared. You deserved better and I feel absolutely gutted.”
Meanwhile, MS NOW’s Antonia Hylton suggested it was initially hard for Democrats to abandon Platner because his first accuser was “associated with right-wing politics,” referring to Lyndsey Fifield.
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Far-left Twitch streamer Hasan Piker also broke with Platner on Monday, saying “the accusations — they are as credible as it is going to get.”
“This is beyond red flags. This is irredeemable,” Piker added during his livestream.
In addition to media pundits, high-profile Democrats have called on Platner to leave the race, including Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt.; Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.; and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., chair of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.
VoteVets, an organization that works to elect Democratic veterans, also withdrew its endorsement of Platner, who served in multiple overseas deployments.
Platner has denied the allegations and has not announced his plans.
Fox News Digital’s Adam Pack, Paul Steinhauser, Rachel del Guidice and Jessica Sonkin contributed to this report.
