"Why would anybody want to look like you have no lips?"
— This Y2K icon is reflecting on her past makeup choices, and she has some questions.
Politics
Tick Tock for Graham Platner
Content warning: The following story mentions sexual assault and rape.
What's going on: A woman who dated Maine US Senate candidate Graham Platner came forward this week to say that he raped her in 2021, a claim that he denies. The details Jenny Racicot shared with Politicoare harrowing — but they aren't out of the blue. Before Platner won Maine’s Democratic primary last month, The New York Times dropped a bombshell report in whichmultiple women accused him of misconduct. At the time, Platner apologized for past bad behavior, attributing much of it to “a pretty dark period” in his life, though he denied accusations of physical violence toward women. That wasn’t his only controversy. In 2021, he posted inflammatory comments on Reddit about rape (and later apologized). And he had a tattoo of a Nazi symbol — which he has since disavowed and covered up, saying that he didn’t know what it meant when he got it. Despite this compounding evidence of disturbing behavior, especially toward women, he won his primary handily.
How did Platner get this far?: It's a good question, especially after then-US representative Eric Swalwell (D-CA) — another former rising star in the party — resigned this spring after several women accused him of sexual assault. Platner was always an untested candidate in a race that is critical to Dems’ plan to flip the Senate in November. But… he was also “the politician you’d want to have a beer with,” who stepped into the spotlight as an option for a party desperate to win back working-class men. He bucked the establishment. He was “authentic.” Even Racicot acknowledged in a CNN video interview that her fellow Democrats may not care about her allegations, because they like his politics and want to win. But after she came forward, several high-profile Democrats didfinally abandon Platner. While he reflects on the “best path forward," analysts expect him to drop out, and fast. Next week is Maine’s ballot deadline.
