MS NOW’s Catherine Rampell offered a series of harsh comments toward Graham Platner, the embattled Democratic Senate nominee in Maine, after he suspended his national campaign Wednesday night.
Rampell’s criticism comes after Platner, a populist Democrat challenging Republican Sen. Susan Collins, received countless calls to resign following a rape allegation made by a woman he previously dated.
“Well, that was Graham Platner officially announcing that he is dropping off of the ballot… for federal Senate from Maine,” Rampell said after showing a video of Platner announcing he would be suspending his campaign. “But taking zero responsibility for any of the scandals and more troubling things in his past that have destroyed that campaign.”
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“Instead blaming, let’s see, corporate media, the political establishment — lots of hate for the political establishment, saying that. ‘We banded together. We did it the way we were told we were supposed to make change, and we won. And now they are not going to let us have it.’”
Rampell pointed to Platner’s allies — including Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., who previously offered his endorsement — turning their backs on the embattled candidate as the allegations came to light.
“So lots of finger-pointing and blame — and not taking any responsibility,” Rampell continued. “Note that whoever he conceives of as the political establishment — you do have many of his once allies, including Bernie Sanders and Ro Khanna — also calling for him to drop out. People who believe many of the same policy ideas that Graham Platner himself says that he was taken down for.”
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Platner’s campaign suspension comes just one month after he walked away with a landslide victory in the state’s June 9 Democratic Senate primary and only five days before a crucial deadline allowing Democrats to replace him with a new nominee ahead of the general election.
He suspended his campaign just two days after a bombshell report detailing rape allegations from Maine resident Jenny Racicot, who told CNN’s Jake Tapper that “by dictionary definition” Platner “raped” her.
In a video message posted to X, Platner labeled the accusations as “false,” but added the situation has “placed an immense amount of weight” on him.
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“What comes next needs to come from the people, needs to come from the people of Maine,” Platner said. “It needs to be open, transparent and democratic. It needs to be reflecting the will and the values of the people that built this movement.”
“We believe that for the movement to continue, it can’t be me. And for that reason, we are suspending campaign operations,” Platner continued.
Rampell seemingly blasted the comments made by Platner in his resignation video, specifically pointing to his claims that “those in power” are working against his campaign.
“He also said during that ten-minute video that, ‘All we were asking for was healthcare, was to end the genocide, to use our taxpayer dollars at home [and] to uplift our communities instead of waging war overseas. We were asking for a fair system. We are asking for an end to the corruption,’” Rampell said, quoting Platner.
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“So, lots of allegations that he was being taken out by nefarious forces that are forcing him to suspend his campaign rather than the drip, drip, drip of scandal after scandal that has dogged his campaign and that have littered the last few months with red flags,” Rampell concluded.
Platner’s campaign was marred by several controversies, including allegations from his ex-girlfriend Lyndsey Fifield claiming he removed condoms while the pair were intimate and engaged in physical misconduct.
In a statement to The Washington Post, the Platner campaign said Fifield’s latest allegations were “categorically false and politically motivated.”
Previous online comments made on a now-deleted Reddit account also plagued Platner’s candidacy, along with a now covered-up tattoo on his chest that appeared to resemble a Nazi symbol. He has also been accused of exchanging sexually explicit messages with several women while he was married.
Platner has repeatedly denied all allegations of misconduct and violence, while insisting the tattoo was of a skull and crossbones.
In his Wednesday night video, Platner insisted he was not suspending his campaign “because of allegations. We’re doing it because of structures that are being taken away from us by those in power.”
Fox News Digital reached out to Platner for comment but did not receive an immediate response.
