Democrat Graham Platner Drops Out Of Maine Senate Race

America loves a white boy, I tell you what. Despite mounting controversies around Graham Platner early in his Senate campaign, he became the Democratic Party’s white boy of the month for the last several months. He won his nomination in a landslide victory, taking over 70% of the vote. Yet none of that matters anymore as Platner announced he would be dropping out of the race after a former partner accused him of rape. 

Though the question at the heart of this is: why did anyone let it get this far? 

I’ll be the first to tell you my personal politics are much further left than the Democratic Party, which, granted, isn’t terribly hard considering they’ve been trending more and more toward becoming a center-right party. That said, I found the fervor around Platner to be a bit strange. 

In the aftermath of President Donald Trump’s 2024 electoral victory, the Democratic Party has suffered a serious identity crisis. It seems like the Party’s answer to its woes is white faces, preferably white male faces. 

Platner was trumpeted as one of the new faces of the Democratic Party, yet there seems to have been no serious vetting of his past. Perhaps this is because Democratic operatives were so enamored with his aesthetics that they figured they could overlook any serious character flaws.

An investigative report by the New York Times reveals that it was clear Platner had issues almost as soon as he announced his candidacy for Senate. Platner’s wife told one of his campaign aides that he had been exchanging sexual messages with other women. 

Another controversy emerged earlier this year when it was revealed that Platner had a tattoo of the Nazi “totenkopf” symbol. Platner downplayed the tattoo, saying he got it because it looked cool and he had no idea what it was. I guess that was a good enough answer for white folks, because despite one of his former partners alleging that he called the tattoo his “totenkopf” during their relationship, everyone just bought into the idea that he was a hapless oaf who had no idea about the tattoo’s history.

And here’s the thing: people can change. That’s kind of like the core hope we should have for each other and the folks who buy into harmful ideas, right? I’d respect it more if Platner acknowledged the tattoo’s history and actually addressed how he may have grown and changed in the years since getting it. That ain’t what he did, though.

While the Nazi tattoo controversy was quickly downplayed, yet another controversy soon emerged when several of his former partners came out and detailed a pattern of anger issues and aggressive behavior in their relationship. Wouldn’t you know it, Democrats took a page from Republicans and just didn’t care. 

The last straw for Platner’s Senate hopes came this week, when Politico reported that Jenny Racicot, one of Platner’s former girlfriends, accused him of raping her during their relationship. Racicot told the outlet that in 2021, Platner drunkenly entered her home uninvited and forced himself on her. Politico interviewed several people and reviewed text messages that corroborated Racicot’s account. Platner released a video shortly after the story dropped, denying the allegations.

It appears, finally, this was the one controversy that went too far as several Democratic officials, including supporters like Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), called on Platner to drop out of the race. Democrats have until July 27 to find a candidate to replace Platner. With his exit from the race, it now looks unlikely that Democrats will be able to take control of the Senate, as whoever replaces him will only have four months to stage a campaign against Maine’s incumbent Republican Sen. Susan Collins. 

It’s absurd yet unsurprising that an alleged rapist, with a history of anger issues and a Nazi tattoo, received less scrutiny throughout his campaign than Abdul El-Sayed, a Muslim Democratic candidate for Michigan’s Senate seat. 

Gee, I wonder why.

Platner is only the latest Democratic hopeful to have their candidacy derailed by accusations of sexual misconduct. In April, former Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) dropped out of California’s gubernatorial race and resigned from the House after several women, some of whom were former staffers, accused Swalwell of sexual assault. 

I’m glad both of these men have faced consequences for their actions, but it’s kind of hard to take the Republican finger-pointing seriously, considering that they put a man who was found liable for sexual assault in the White House. 

SEE ALSO:

Maine Senatorial Candidate Graham Platner Has Nazi Tattoo

Trump-Endorsed Congressional Candidate Drops Out Over Text Message Scandal

Graham Platner Drops Out Of Maine Senate Race. Let’s Talk About It. was originally published on newsone.com