Last year, we discussed Graham Platner, who was then running for the Democratic nomination for Maine’s Senate race. Even from the earliest days of his campaign, Platner seemed divisive and astroturfed by alleged progressives and the pod bros. Then, last October, people learned about his Nazi tattoo. Excuses were made, moral high grounds were abandoned and Platner weathered the storm. Platner ended up as the Democratic nominee in the senate race, even though it was clear that the GOP had a thick oppo file on the guy. Democrats should have done the same research on him, but they didn’t. Too many people were too busy normalizing Nazi tattoos, flimsy backstories and his disgraceful, sketchy and criminal behavior with women.
Then, this week, a Maine woman came forward to say that Platner raped her five years ago. The woman, Jenny Racicot, went on the record and gave details of the sexual assault. Politico checked out her story in detail – go here to read. Platner denied it. Then on Wednesday, he finally dropped out of the race.
Maine Democratic Senate nominee Graham Platner said in a video statement Wednesday he was suspending his campaign, taking aim at the Democratic establishment while clearing the way for the party to select a new candidate to take on Republican Sen. Susan Collins in one of the most important contests of November’s midterm elections.
Platner’s decision comes after a woman told CNN and Politico he raped her while he was heavily intoxicated nearly five years ago when they were in a casual dating relationship – an allegation Platner denies.
“We believe that for the movement to continue it can’t be me — and for that reason we are suspending campaign operations,” Platner said in an 11-minute video posted on X, adding that he intends to file paperwork to withdraw.
Platner spent a large portion of the video railing against the Democratic Party establishment that he claimed is using the allegations of sexual assault and dating violence, which he vigorously denied, to undermine him and his movement.
“It’s not the false allegations though that have brought us to where we are. It’s the fact that they are being used by the political establishment to put structural pressure on us. We live in a political system that is not built for normal people. It is a system built structurally to make sure that movements like ours cannot flourish,” Platner said.
He added the “brutal political reality” is that those in power are using the allegations as “an excuse to take away all of the things that we need to run a campaign,” including the ability to fundraise and access voter data.
“We were asking for real democracy, and we did it the right way, and we won, but now the ball is in the court of the Democratic establishment. My name might be on the ballot right now, but that ballot line belongs to the people of Maine, and on November 3, it needs to belong to the people of Maine, and the next Democratic senator for Maine needs to belong to the people of Maine,” he said.
While Jenny Racicot is the only one accusing him of rape, several women went on the record about his toxic, unfaithful, misogynistic and sleazy behavior. I believe all of them. I hope this is a lesson for voters and self-proclaimed political operatives, especially in the currently fragmented Democratic party. Do the oppo research on your own people too, and believe women. As soon as you find out that your guy has a Nazi tattoo, he shouldn’t be your guy anymore.
Photos courtesy of Graham Platner’s Instagram.
I had some complicated feelings about this (that I won’t get into) until I saw his ten minute rant video. Definitely seemed like all his advisors flew the coop because holy shit was it bad.
Like, jaw-droppingly so.
No accountability at all, no apologies to the victims, his wife, or all the Maine voters he let down. Nothing conciliatory or bridge-building towards the next Maine candidate who will take his place. Nothing about the importance of beating Susan Collins or a promise that he’ll do everything he can to make sure she looses. It was just an insane rant about how Dems and the media are to blame, he’s a victim, and everyone has treated him like shit. It was appalling and I think even his ride-or-die supporters will be disgusted.
And I say that as someone who is very much tired of the Dem establishment and dirty tricks from Republican ops, but MY GOD dude–this is not that. You did this TO YOURSELF FFS. I just cannot get over the utter lack of self-reflection…..
I have to agree with your points on this. His interviews even before this left me with an unsavory taste in my mouth, in part because of his seeming inability to take actual responsibility for his actions. He always mentioned mitigating factors- “I didn’t know“ (about the fascist symbolism), “we didn’t deal with PTSD back then” (in 2011!)— and really came across as an ignorant and angry white man.
That said, shame on those who didn’t vet him and both accepted and normalized violence towards women.
YES. He was almost child-like in his inability to take responsibility. Problem is that he’s a grown-ass f*cking man.
I agree with Kitten about his childishness. During the video he was constantly self-soothing by stroking his moustache. Just so entitled and angry like a spoiled toddler.
His whole campaign was bashing Democrats and the establishment. Do they deserve criticism? Sure, but if that’s your whole schtick, you might not be a good Democratic candidate.
IDK I don’t think it’s a terrible strategy to run to the left of the establishment, given how unpopular the Democratic Party currently is. After all, the anti-establishment messaging, in part, got him the nomination in a competitive state. Until he blew it all up.
I can see how it could be a tougher road in some states–especially at the senate level–but running to the left is proving to be pretty successful in some smaller state and local seats.
I’m not criticizing running to the left. I heard him literally talking about how horrible the Democratic party is and how it hasn’t ever done anything for working people which is a huge lie. So then why was he running as a Democrat? To me, this is colonizer behavior. Literally. A candidate needs resources and infrastructure, so instead of developing these things himself, he jumps in to steal someone else’s work. In this case, usually the work of Black women. He hates the Democratic party. So build your own or join another. And this was after he won the Democratic primary! It’s not hard to win Democratic primaries by running to the left.
Fair enough. I just disagree with the idea that Dem leadership should be interfering in elections and pushing their preferred candidates in an attempt to moderate the party. I think getting back to grassroots campaigning/candidates is how the party becomes more of a people-powered party and less dependent on entrenched political power calling all the shots.
@Kitten
“I just disagree with the idea that Dem leadership should be interfering in elections and pushing their preferred candidates in an attempt to moderate the party.”
I agree with your statement 100%.
I’m with you on this. I have my issues with the Democratic establishment. But I don’t like it when people who have nothing good to say about the party hijack it’s apparatus for ballot access. It’s not helpful in the long run. As someone who has voted Democratic and donated for literally decades, all of this “burn it down” rhetoric has been very alienating. I’m not OK with it. It’s reached the point where when I am asked for money for the DCCC, I say no. I will only donate to candidates I personally vet and trust to do the right thing. Platner is a cautionary tale.
I thought his campaign was about Medicare for All, and not spending our taxpayer dollars to fight stupid wars or send those dollars overseas for bad reasons (talking Middle East) while cutting SNAP benefits for people at home who need food. Setting aside the odious candidate himself, the message resonated with Maine voters, especially since he did so many town meetings to the point where most Maine voters knew someone who had been to one. But Mills just couldn’t generate that enthusiasm. In a general sense I blame the national Democratic establishment for not doing a better job in “building the bench” because every new exciting person that enters politics is automatically a threat to those higher up. I read somewhere that Schumer etc. were fixated on pushing Mills to the exclusion of other possible candidates who figured why bother to run if they can’t win. Meanwhile, the idiots who recruited and convinced Platner to run should never find a job in politics again because this stuff had to have been known beforehand. And the Maine Democratic Party seems to be taking charge and trying to make sure that the replacement candidate is a good representation of what Maine Dem voters want.
“I read somewhere that Schumer etc. were fixated on pushing Mills to the exclusion of other possible candidates who figured why bother to run if they can’t win.”
That’s exactly the problem. That kind of meddling is just not fair to voters.
Additionally there’s the money issue. My husband is running for local office and I’ve been blown away by how expensive it is to challenge an incumbent (who voted for Trump in ’16 and is an anti-choice “Democrat” but I digress). Hell, lawn signs from a union shop are $25 a pop! But right there is the rub: candidates in bigger races are basically forced to use one of the two-party apparatuses for financial support because it is SO expensive to run unless you’re independently wealthy. There is no third party for large races–you have to pick. So you work with the party that most closely aligns with your values, even if you don’t love the leadership. I personally don’t have a problem with that because that’s the reality candidates are living in: we are a two-party country. Change comes from within.
@Kitten: I don’t think that leadership should be pushing candidates to try to moderate the party either. If they do that, it’s wrong. But often what they do is recruit candidates who they and their advisors believe can win. In some places, that means more moderate candidates who would not do well in say, NYC, which needs more progressive candidates. Also, I don’t think this year is necessarily an ideological battle but voters looking for “fighters” which probably means different things to different people. The much maligned establishment seemed to know Platner would be a disaster in the general if he won the primary. Recent polling shows this was happening. He was trailing Collins by 30 points in the last poll with working class males who are supposed to be his best demographic. Otoh, he was doing best with college graduates. In other words, he was looking like the typical Dem candidate but underperforming other Dems on the ballot because of all the baggage. He was never the miracle cure his handlers were selling.
@ Brassy–I have no problem with Schumer recruiting candidates. I do think that’s part and parcel as Senate Leader. I also don’t think it’s a particular talent of his because he just recruits candidates that have already cleared the field like Roy Moore (favored WELL before he ever announced) or Mary Peltola (like who else could it possibly be for Alaska LOL). My issue is when there is an ACTIVE PRIMARY and he starts putting his thumb on the scale because that’s insanely unfair to the voters. Stay out of it and let the state’s constituency decide.
Complete agreement. I listened to his whole video and he took no responsibility for his behavior and instead just blamed “them”.
WHO IS “THEM”?? I feel like “them” and “they” are just everyone else except Graham Platner. Also, I don’t like how he kept bringing up his wife Amy. “Amy and I” this and “Amy and I” that. It felt like he was trying to use his wife as cover.
I think them was Jewish people based on his past comments. He sucks.
Oh we definitely know who the guy with the N*zi tattoo thinks “Them” is.
He has no grace, it seems.
All along I was asking where this guy came from and who funded him. There have been strong rumors that he was not only the bartender at a DC dive bar, but a coke dealer who sold to many of the dirtbag left dudes who pushed his nom. And now there’s a Wall Street Journal interview where the guy who allegedly vetted him admitted they were in a hurry to announce his candidacy so the vetting wasn’t really a vetting. Didn’t do the normal intensive questionnaire, didn’t find out about the tattoo or the many allegations about him. Feels like they knew and didn’t want to know. And this guy who recruited Platner? He was kicked out a Pennsylvania DSA chapter for inappropriate sexual behavior.
Everyone involved in recruiting this guy needs to be permabanned from working in Dem politics again. It’s also clear that they called their bullshit weekend couple of pages report a “full vetting” which is normally weeks to months of work and over 100 pages. Too many people fell for that when endorsing Platner.
Daniel Maroff is the consultant’s name and here’s the interview. Please don’t watch unless you want to be very, very angry. https://www.wsj.com/video/the-strategist-behind-platners-rise-explains-his-vetting-process/C886C53B-0CD2-43A7-884F-01CC3CEFD8DD
Yeah, they knew but wanted plausible deniability. We know they knew by the way they went after anyone expressing doubts about the candidate. And his wife told them about the sexting.
The fact that he lied about his background, the fact that he lied about his Nazi tattoo, the fact that he said racist and sexist things, the face he was a merc with Blackwater all should have disqualified him from even winning that primary. The crap that came out about his relationships right before the primary and now this shows that no one was listening to people who were screaming that this man was not it and was going to lose. And I am sick of people blaming the establishment dems for this, go yell at Bernie Sanders who scolded people after the tattoo mess and the wife cheating crap and the texts that they just wanted to ruin a good man. Ugh.
Bernie not helping since 2015.
Bernie needs to go away. He’s not a Democrat. I don’t care that he caucuses with them. He’s been a destructive force for the party.
I think this Platner mess shows that Democrats – and independents – are so desperate for a new kind of progressive candidate, that they were willing to look past, or explain-away, the red flags. To a point. Should Platner have gotten this far with his problematic back story and all the allegations? No. Are people desperate for articulate, charismatic, candidates who will stand up in the face of insurmountable odds and fight the oligarchy? Yes. I’m hoping this debacle will inspire other progressives to act, to run for office themselves. The message was good, the messenger was the problem.
One thing to realize is that the two US political parties are both “big tents” containing internal coalitions.
The Dem faction supporting Platner is a combo of the Bros (Bernie Bros, Podcast Bros) and the Dirtbag Left. They want lefty things, universal healthcare, affordable housing, end to the war in Gaza, dealing with student loan debt. But they come at it from “the only war is class war” attitude and will fight viciously and nastily against women and minorities (especially Black women) who they see as ruining the purity of their perfect politics. It’s not that they are racist or misogynist, you see it’s just that “the only war is class war” and “HR ladies” just harsh the buzz.
They are insufferable assholes and I hope this debacle reveals how they really care about nothing but propping up their own fragile masculinity at the cost of everyone else in the Dem coalition.
I am with Tis True, Tis True. Some of these “anti-establishment” types are just insufferable assholes. And I agree that they do not seem to give a shit about Black women who have been such an important backbone of the party for so long. I’m White but it still infuriates me. They are not my friend.
Madamni, AOC, Greg Cesar, Ilhan Omar, Maxwell Frost, etc. There are tons of progressives in Congress and across government. Platner was not a progressive and his entire schtick was grievance politics for white men.
💯
You hit the nail on the head. We need more white men running on a progressive platform, to appeal to other white people who have been taken in by MAGA. The great thing about Platner – to me – was that he could say to middle-income white people, I work with my hands too, I run a small business too, I see the challenges you face, and all the Republicans do it make it harder for me and my neighbors to earn a living wage, to get health care. It is grievance politics – which Trump has made the norm – but it’s also reality. And sometimes we have to meet people where they are.
It’s grievance politics based on lies though. White people wanted Trump because of racism full stop. That man never said he was going to help working class people. He said he would get rid of anyone not White so they could do better. He is literally importing in White Afrikaners to our country right now and wants Haitians, Somalians, Hispanics, gone.
And the Dems the last 10 years have done all they could to coodle white working class people. They keep voting Republican.
I’m from Maine and Platner is a complete embarrassment. I cannot understand the people, especially women, who have and continue to stand behind him (I see you Stephen King 😒). He is a rageaholic and most likely the alcohol breed of holics. He and his backers wasted our time and have destroyed our chances of ousting Senator Collins. Beyond discouraging.
He’s also a classic narcissist.
Absolutely. His video last night was bonkers.
Call me over optimistic but I believe Susan Collins can still be defeated.
I agree, I think it’s still a winnable seat. Not a sure thing, but if Trump keeps doing stupid sh*t and Collins just keeps doing nothing…she could finally be on her way out.
It’s the norm for Democratic campaigns to do oppo research on their own candidates. It’s not the job of national Dems or the DNC to vet each individual candidate. That would be impossible. But they knew Platner was trouble which is why they recruited the current governor who had run and won statewide. By that time, the Democratic voters in Maine were Platner-pilled. So she never got off the ground with voters.
That brings me to my main point. This campaign was a fraud. It was a deception built on a mountain of lies. The higher ups, including Morris Katz, knew about all these problems with Platner and chose to cover them up. When Genevieve MacDonald left after he lied about the totenkopf, they attacked her and tried to get her to sign an NDA. So these people are responsible, along with Platner, for blowing up a totally winnable Senate seat. They perpetrated a fraud on the voters of Maine. And they bullied and defamed any women who stepped up to tell the truth. None of the top brain trust of this mess should ever work in Democratic politics again.
I just want to add that these campaign operatives are also responsible for forcing SA and domestic abuse survivors to out themselves to reveal the fraud. For that alone, these strategists should be ostracized.
What you said. The Pods Hate America bros also backed him up and lied about things and claimed anyone coming at him wanted to make it that the Dems lost. It was a hot mess.
Earlier this week, the Pod Bros said that if a candidate lies during vetting, welp, that’s that. There’s no way to find out about any problems. Come on, now.
The candidate’s own wife informed them of serious problems. And Maine is a small state. He didn’t have many secrets, just a campaign brain trust willing to cover and lie for him.
Schumer recruited Mills because she’s a moderate and a known quantity. She didn’t get out and do a ton of events everywhere because she’s either 80 or close to it, and platner did. When you say Platner pilled, I hear voters liked Medicare for all and the progressive ideas he was spouting, vs someone selling Chuck AIPAC Schumer’s vision.
That said, everything they did was a disgrace. It should’ve been over after the tattoo, and I’m embarrassed to say I was willing to buy the military dumbass excuse. I knew if there was bad behavior to report, it would come out. I’m sorry the woman he r*ped had to go public and felt she had to be on camera.
I hope the Troy fellow that holds similar political ideas gets the nomination, but I don’t know how they’re going to handle this, just glad it is before the July 13 deadline.
Wait, what? He has a nazi tattoo?! 🤦🏻♀️ oh FFS.
Yeah. He lost me at Nazi Tattoo and that came out a long time ago. It’s really gross that it took so long for people to stop backing him. He’s always been bad news.
Yeah, man with a nazi tattoo turns out to be an abuser of women. Who’d a thunk it?
Canadian here, and I listened to his announcement while driving last night. Couldn’t believe the hubris. The absolute lack of self-awareness. For Christ’s sake, Bernie Sanders had been in his corner till the end. The Democratic establishment did not take him down – he took himself down.
Believe women.
He’s so self-important and grandiose. That video is indeed insane.
AOC didn’t endorse him for a reason. As a former bartender, she probably can spot this kind of narcissistic abuser from a mile away.
I don’t think she was asked. Lucky for her! But this was a very white male centered campaign. Elizabeth Warren was the only woman with a name to be asked. I think they thought that was enough.
When ppl tell you who they are believe them. When celebrities invite owners of detention centers where human rights violations are occurring to their weddings, and or Trump is using their music for gross propaganda videos and they say NOTHING-believe who they are as humans.
I have tuned this out because the backbiting, willingness to ignore the awfullness and willingness to believe conspiracy theories infuriated me. I don’t understand why so many people went down the rabbithole to support this creeper. Believe the women and believe the N@zi ink. The Democrats will not improve their status by enabling bigly, narcissists just because they are white men. Having our own bigly bad white men equally awful as the bigly bad magat white men won’t make things better and turns off voters.
There’s no doubt in my mind that Collins is sitting on even worse information about this guy. He was always a deliberately constructed facade saying all the right things and looking like the blue collar white guy that Bernie Bros have been dreaming about for years. His most fervent supporters didn’t want to hear it, and now here we are.
There was never any indication in his behavior that he had taken accountability for his mistakes or was truly sorry. Even people on the left will bend over backwards to believe the words of straight white men, and collectively, we need to stop it. It was appalling how quickly his supporters (esp influencers and social media) churned out all of the standard rape culture victim blaming.
I would like to return to electing people who care about public service and have actions that show they care.
People I trust on sm say there are more women and there’s probably plenty of ammunition in his military records which the Trump regime would have illegally made available to Collins.
He had too many red flags even before these allegations came out. Susan Collins is still likely to win even though she should retire.
Please don’t yell at me, but… a lot of people in Maine voted for him *after* the Nazi tattoo and most of the misogynistic stuff was known. I can sit way over here and say he’s a dirtbag who never should have made it on a ballot, but the people of Maine have the right to vote for who they want, just like the people in Georgia had the right to elect MTG after the space lasers thing or the people in Pennsylvania had the right to elect Fetterman after a debilitating stroke. What I’m reading online though is that “suspending” a campaign is not the same as withdrawing and he still needs to officially withdraw before Monday or Mainers will indeed be stuck with his candidacy.
Oh definitely have smoke for the Maine Dems who voted for him by huge margins in the primary knowing this mess. They deserve it.
Thing is, he may have wanted to rep the people of Maine & MTG repped the people of Georgia, but as senators & members of Congress these people affect all of us.
Me Too was a powerful time of sharing our pretty much universal experience and I remain grateful for that, but my god it did not go far enough.
His campaign should have ended with the Nazi tattoo.
Good riddance! I don’t care what party he was running for, a bad actor is a bad actor. People like him do not need to be in charge of our government.
He’s not a democrat or even a democratic socialist. He is a plant. A video of the two person team who found him and pulled him out of nowhere and dusted him off CREATE this character of “regular degular guy from Maine!” His father is a millionaire, he is a Nazi, he harassed people on Reddit, he harassed when he dated and didn’t date and he SA’d that woman. He was just another Fetterman trying to take down the Democratic Party. This obsession pointing out the only party that wants to keep civil rights for ALL Americans but has flawed representatives who yes should be called to account is STAGGERING. When we have the party of maga trying to tear this country down and has almost NO-ONE questioning them.
Karma I voted for him too because he seemed like the best option to unseat Collins that we were presented with. But I was deeply concerned, not in a Collins way, about what was coming out about him.
I honestly think that yes this came out now from the Dems to get him off the ticket but also that Collins had it in reserve and was going to drop it in October when we were too far down for anyone else to come in. I think we can find another candidate who maybe not as far left can still speak to the issues we are concerned with here in out state. We have the time now to get someone and run them effectively against Collins.
I really wish they would have gotten ahead of these allegations and done a proper sit down with him about the affects of PTSD on someone. I think if they had properly done their job it could have been a deeply insightful look into how toxic military culture and drinking to cope with mental issues can create a horrible storm. But even still I know he was beginning to lose some of the swing voters we needed him to pick up and I think if this had come out in October we would be stuck with Collins again.
“ As soon as you find out that your guy has a Nazi tattoo, he shouldn’t be your guy anymore.” THIS!!! How can anyone be surprised that a man that was allowed to be a literal Nazi tried to get away with other horrible things??
One of his accusers co-founded the group Ladies For Kavanaugh, which supported Brett Kavanaugh during his Supreme Court confirmation process.
Which is ironic to say the least. But it doesn’t matter to whom he did it. An abuser is an abuser.
Which still doesn’t mean she deserved to get abused. What is wrong with you people.
What? So she doesn’t the believe the women who accused Kavadrunk, but we should believe her…..the math ain’t mathing.
Also he hasn’t actually filed to drop out yet (as far as what I read). It wouldn’t surprise me if he ultimately refused to do so
Hoping Sheena Bellows fills this gap quickly and strongly. I think the second time will be a charm against Collins. She’s older, more experienced and has a stellar resume. She’s a runner … and a woman!!
I had read that Platner went to Hotchkiss which is a very prestigious, storied New England boarding school. Turns out he was expelled. And honestly I don’t hold that against him. I went to boarding school and people got expelled just for sneaking out to the woods to drink. From what I find it seems he got kicked out after a single semester because he stopped going to class. Yeah, that’ll do it.
Again, I don’t even care about that. But the fact that he went there in the first place tells you he came from a privileged background. His father is a lawyer who went to Dartmouth, and his parents owned and ran at least one upscale restaurant. And I don’t hold that against him either. Good for them. What I do hold against him is that he’s a phony populist with a huge sense of entitlement. And a freaking Nazi tattoo.
For the record not a Nazi tattoo but yes the rest is awful. However the good people of Maine and the rest of us do not need more Susan Collins. She is as vile as- in different well documented ways for all to see.
Aside from the lack of vetting of Platner, we need more liberal minded politicians who don’t take the bait that the conservatives throw out to get their base stirred up. Stop engaging in debates over who is more patriotic or more this or that. Those debates don’t provide national healthcare. They don’t address what happens to all of us when billionaires let AI take our jobs. They don’t claw our tax money back from billionaires. Those debates are deliberate distractions. As long as the majority of us are fighting amongst ourselves, the billionaires and their evil henchmen continue to take everything away from us.
One more thing
“ 100 billionaires and their spouses have donated to reelect Susan Collins. That is what the US Senate campaign is all about. “. Bernie Sanders
Bernie Sanders who refused to get his ancient white ass behind Kamala? Bernie Sanders who thinks Trump isn’t that bad?
You can miss me with any attempt to say Bernie and his bros have moral high ground.
Sanders needs to go along with collins.
Bernie thinks Trump isn’t that bad? What???
Do we even have 100 billionaires in the US? I thought they were a pretty small group, all things considered.
My friend and I have been musing for a few months now about whether or not he was a plant, designed to scoop up the more shallow pool of progressive voters and screw the election. He said all of the right things without any real details, and that was a red flag from the beginning. The women who came forth deserve a lot of respect they won’t get for being brave enough to go public.