Ed has the story about the latest allegation against Graham Platner. As he noted in an update, Platner hasn’t backed out of the race yet but he did say he was going to take some time to consider his options after this latest hit.
What I think deserves some extra attention here is that this is only happening because the NY Times bent over backwards to protect this guy. Had their earlier story about allegations against Platner taken those allegations more seriously, there wouldn’t have been a Politico follow up.
So, in Platner’s accusers own words, she would probably not have come forward if the Times had played this one straight. Instead, it leaned into the implication that the claims against Platner were partisan and dismissible.
“‘My part of the story was just a read-over,’ Racicot… pic.twitter.com/n0FWFPHAob
— Noah Rothman (@NoahCRothman) July 6, 2026
It’s worse than that. Racicot may not have wanted to go public with the sexual assault/rape allegation previously, but she did tell the NY Times about it.
The politico story confirms that the NYT writers had the details of the sexual assault but chose to omit them and instead focus their article overwhelmingly on the claims from LF so that they can just be spun as a partisan attack.
Would be interested to see the communication… https://t.co/IYByTM51Jq pic.twitter.com/Vm3bMGznsb
— AG (@AGHamilton29) July 6, 2026
So the Times knew what Platner had been accused of even if the woman didn’t want to let them quote her. Then they just leaned into the idea that Platner as being attacked by a partisan.
But now that Platner’s accuser is one of their own, it seems some on the left are finally admitting this can’t be hand-waived away.
Hasan Piker on @POLITICO Platner story just now on stream:
“That is curtains. That is the trifecta. Okay, that is the trifecta of a reliable allegation. It’s holy shit…I believe this, this accusation. I believe this allegation.”
— Will Steakin (@wsteaks) July 6, 2026
Platner’s biggest online supporter rescinds his support https://t.co/aVabpOB1RJ
— Evan Barker (@evanwch) July 6, 2026
The podcast bros are turning on him.
The allegations against Graham Platner are well-documented, very credible, and highly disturbing. He should drop out ASAP.
— Dan Pfeiffer (@danpfeiffer) July 6, 2026
Even over at MSNOW it’s sinking in. “If these allegations are true…I don’t see how he can be the nominee…”
MSNOW host Luke Russert on the Politico article about Graham Platner: “I don’t see how he can be the nominee for senator in Maine for the Democratic Party.”
“Well, I think something that jumped out to me in the article, which I just read, is that the person who made the… pic.twitter.com/BSOMDxgZLg
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) July 6, 2026
Rep. Khanna is finally un-endorsing Platner now that the accusation is coming from a progressive.
🚨 BREAKING: Democrat Rep. Ro Khanna has WITHDRAWN his endorsement of Graham Platner following credible allegations of rape
Somehow, EVERYBODY but Ro was able to see this coming.
This comes mere weeks after Ro publicly announced he “BELIEVES” Graham, despite the countless… pic.twitter.com/aCIWafxa8N
— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) July 6, 2026
That was last month when Khanna was still selling Platner as a “transformed person.” Today, he’s finally seen enough.
BREAKING: Khanna withdraws his Platner endorsement. https://t.co/DKH9oReGwM
— Bill Melugin (@BillMelugin_) July 6, 2026
Another elected Dem withdraws his endorsement.
BREAKING: Sen. Gallego (D-AZ) withdraws his Platner endorsement shortly after Rep. Khanna (D-CA) does the same.
The dam is breaking. https://t.co/4T5JEmc5kx
— Bill Melugin (@BillMelugin_) July 6, 2026
So that’s two out of the six people on this list.
Here are some of the people who have endorsed Graham Maine Kampf Platner, in case you want to bookmark for later:
• Bernie Sanders (U.S. Senator, Independent-VT)
• Elizabeth Warren (U.S. Senator, D-MA)
• Ruben Gallego (U.S. Senator, D-AZ)
• Martin Heinrich (U.S. Senator,…— Tali Goldsheft (@TaliGoldsheft) July 6, 2026
Still haven’t heard anything from Sen. Warren.
Graham Platner boasted “I still have to jerk off every time I sit in a portas—-er… that blue water smell conditioned me.”
Elizabeth Warren: I endorse Graham Platner! https://t.co/VcyU0EfISG pic.twitter.com/D1Xq9Fv3PT
— Steve Guest (@SteveGuest) May 19, 2026
And nothing so far from Bernie.
BERNIE SANDERS: “I’m going to do everything I can to make sure that Graham Platner is the next Senator from the state of Maine.” pic.twitter.com/obZmKihu6Y
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) July 6, 2026
But I think at this point it’s clearly coming soon, probably by the end of the day. Platner’s own volunteers seem ready to move on to someone else.
The Graham Platner volunteers are shifting their energy toward elevating Troy Jackson, the Bernie-backed gubernatorial candidate who narrowly lost the race for the nomination, reports Nathan Bernard in Maine https://t.co/1o6xPeR8qd
— Ryan Grim (@ryangrim) July 6, 2026
Under the rules in Maine, Platner would need to drop out by next Monday or he’s stuck on the ballot. The party would then have 2 weeks to name a replacement.
While we wait for Platner’s announcement, just a reminder that these are the people who recruited Graham Platner. They decided there was nothing of note to stop him becoming a senator.
Just fucking drop out. You knew this was coming. But you let these dumb motherfuckers recruit you. Stupid communist.
pic.twitter.com/QeZqSpooWa— Ohio Rob (@TheOhioRob) July 6, 2026
So great work by those two chuckle-heads and by the NY Times for basically forcing Racicot to come forward against her own wishes because they went so soft on Platner the first time around.
I really don’t think the party can turn this around again. My guess is we’re going to get a Maine replay of Biden’s handoff to Harris later this week.
Update: When you’ve lost the Bulward bros…
I’m sorry but “we are taking time to reflect on the best path forward” is not an option on the table. Either it’s false and you campaign with vigor or it’s true and you get out / apologize to everyone you let down. https://t.co/PzCtMD5XEc
— Tim Miller (@Timodc) July 6, 2026
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