Mamdani Calls On Platner To Drop Out Of Race
Maine Democratic Senate nominee Graham Platner has been dogged for months by a slew of serious allegations.
Now, it appears the dam has broken, and he may finally end his campaign.
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani called on Platner to end his campaign for Maine Senate on Tuesday.
Mamdani’s statement is so powerful, given he’s now one of the most prominent voices on the Left to urge Platner to drop out of the race.
“I believe that it’s time for him to drop out of the race,” Mamdani told reporters at New York City Hall.
Mamdani added that he believes a campaign termination is the “only appropriate response” for Platner in the wake of the latest sexual assault accusation against him.
Mamdani did not officially endorse Platner’s campaign.
But several of the mayor’s top aides, including strategist Morris Katz and press secretary Joe Calvello, have played important roles in the progressive Maine oysterman’s Senate bid.
Politico reported Monday that Jenny Racicot, a Maine resident, accused Platner of forcing her to have sex with him nearly five years ago.
Platner denied the allegation.
WATCH:
Jenny Racicot alleged Platner sexually assaulted her in 2021 after arriving at her home despite her telling him not to come.
Racicot said the two had previously been in a consensual relationship after meeting through a dating app in 2019.
She alleged Platner appeared intoxicated when he arrived at her home and forced himself on her despite repeated objections.
Politico reported it also spoke with a man Racicot later dated who said she confided in him about the alleged assault.
The outlet also reviewed emails between Racicot and her therapist, along with messages she allegedly sent warning another woman about becoming involved with Platner years before he launched his Senate campaign.
Numerous controversies have also embroiled Platner.
Platner has been dogged by revelations involving explicit texts to other women during his marriage, a tattoo resembling a Nazi symbol, inflammatory old Reddit posts, and accusations from ex-girlfriends of demeaning and physically threatening conduct.
According to a Wall Street Journal report, Platner’s wife, Amy Gertner, whom he married in 2023, discovered sexually explicit text messages between her husband and several other women early in their marriage.
Platner has acknowledged sending the messages but faces ongoing scrutiny over the timing and extent of the communications, which reportedly involved as many as a dozen women.
A New York Times investigation detailed accounts from multiple ex-partners who described Platner’s behavior as “unsettling,” “reckless,” and “toxic.”
One former girlfriend, Lyndsey Fifield, alleged that during an argument years ago, Platner twisted her arm behind her back, shoved her into a bedroom, and held the door shut while telling her to “calm down.”
Other women recalled him being demeaning toward women, heavy drinking, and emotionally volatile relationships.
Platner has denied any physical violence, calling himself a “bad boyfriend” in the past while attributing issues to PTSD from his service in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Further controversy surrounds a tattoo Platner got in 2007 during a night of drinking in Croatia.
It featured imagery resembling the Nazi Totenkopf skull, which he later covered up.
While Platner claims he was unaware of its Nazi associations until recently, some ex-girlfriends and former campaign aides insist he knew.
Old Reddit posts under the username “P-Hustle,” many now deleted, have also resurfaced.
In them, Platner allegedly downplayed sexual assault, suggesting victims “take some responsibility” by avoiding alcohol and “act like an adult.”
He reportedly called Maine voters he hopes to represent “racist” and “stupid,” used slurs, criticized police, and made other crude remarks.
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