Neera Tanden and Shannon Watts, a pair of top Democratic political operatives, are calling on Maine Democratic Senate nominee Graham Platner to step down amid a bombshell rape allegation that emerged Monday.
Tanden, the CEO of the Center for American Progress, a center-left think tank that had deep ties to the Biden and Obama administrations, has been critical of Platner for months.
“I will remain incredibly angry at the people who didn’t vet this candidate, but in life you don’t get the best choices. Unless people show a lot more courage than they have,” Tanden said in an X post that was re-upped Monday.
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In addition to calling for his removal, Tanden and Watts are also strongly cautioning the party about its next move as the state nears the Nov. 3 general election.
Platner, who has fended off stories about a Nazi tattoo, past online comments on race and relational infidelity, came under renewed fire Monday afternoon when Politico reported that he had allegedly raped a former girlfriend, Jenny Racicot, while heavily intoxicated after allegedly being told repeatedly to stop.
She also went on CNN Monday evening shortly after the report was published to tell host Jake Tapper that “by dictionary definition” Platner “raped” her.
“I thought, here’s a man who was drunk and who, by dictionary definition, raped me. And he’s blaming drunk women,” Racicot said. “So, I just felt like that was a very odd take to have on that. And I also feel like, with all of the comments that he made about women, sexual assault, rape, even, um, you know, the comments that he had made that was in The New York Times article about, you know, threatening people with rape, like, why does this person have this issue, like scattered throughout their life, throughout their commentary, like it‘s on their mind?”
Platner has denied the allegations, calling them “troubling, serious, and false.”
The Platner campaign posted a video on X shortly after the Politico story published where Platner again called the allegations “false,” adding he was going to “reflect” on the best path forward.
“So, regardless of the inaccuracy of the reporting, but mindful the political reality it will inflict, 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,” Platner says in the video. “Those were the goals when we launched this campaign, and they remain my goals today.”
Watts, who has grown in prominence through advocacy with her gun control organization, Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, immediately highlighted the story, criticizing party figures who, in her view, had blown past warning signs about Platner’s behavior.
“MAYBE LISTEN TO WOMEN IN THE PARTY YOU F—— IDIOTS!!!!” Watts wrote in a post on X.
“Who endorsed him despite the fact that he said bigoted, racist and sexist things online? Despite his Totenkopf tattoo? Despite accusations of domestic assault? Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Ruben Gallego, Martin Heinrich, Ro Khanna. Who am I missing?” Watts added.
With the state Democratic Party calling on Platner to step aside, Watts wasted little time setting her sights on a possible replacement.
She began striking out against letting someone like Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., handpick an alternative.
“Bernie Sanders — the worst judge of character in history — hasn’t yet condemned the fatally flawed candidate he forced upon the Dem Party in Maine, likely causing us to lose the Senate. Why? He’s going to try and hold us hostage until we pick his other sh—- candidate,” Watts wrote, likely referring to Troy Jackson, another progressive in the state.
Notably, Sanders dropped his endorsement of Platner on Tuesday and called on Platner to drop out of the race.
Jackson, a former Maine Senate president, faces allegations of his own, having reportedly gotten into a physical altercation with a female colleague, according to Progressive Victory, an advocacy group.
“So no, we’re not going to pick this f—— guy,” Watts wrote in another post, highlighting Progressive Victory’s statement on Jackson.
Tanden also hinted at her disapproval at the idea of swapping Platner out with another up-and-coming progressive.
“Isn’t the most democratic thing to do here is select the candidate who won the most votes in the Gov’s race? I think they were all pretty good, but that might be the most credible with voters,” Tanden wrote.
Like Watts, Tanden criticized voices suggesting Jackson might be a suitable alternative.
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“Maybe the people who got us into this mess should take a beat on the right path for the future. And I say that with the utmost respect to Ro Khanna,” Tanden said, highlighting a post from Khanna that noted Jackson’s achievements just hours after the news about Platner had broken.
Khanna, who had fiercely supported Platner, rescinded his endorsement on Monday along with several other high-profile Democrats, who are calling on Platner to drop out of the race.
