Graham Platner, Maine’s embattled Democratic Senate nominee who stands accused of rape, made a Reddit post in 2013 where he criticized victims of rape.
“Holy f—, how about people just take some responsibility for themselves and not get so f—ed up they wind up having sex with someone they don’t mean to?” Platner wrote in 2013, responding to another user who expressed disappointment that women couldn’t get intoxicated without fearing sexual assault.
“Men and women, you make a choice to consume enough of a substance to lose your self control. So if you don’t want to be in a comprising [sic.] situation, act like an adult for f—s sake,” Platner continued. “Rape is a real thing, if you’re so worried about it to buy Kevlar underwear you’d think you might not get blacked out f—ed up around people you aren’t comfortable with.”
Jenny Racicot, Platner’s former girlfriend, accused him of raping her in late 2021, saying he broke into her home while intoxicated and forced her to have sex despite her objections. Platner has denied the allegation, which Politico first reported July 6.
“I remember him grabbing my pelvis and being really forceful of me,” Racicot told Politico. “I remember the specific moment where I thought to myself, like, ‘This is no longer my choice.’”
“One of the reasons I didn’t come forward sooner was the huge moral conflict that I had between supporting his politics, but not supporting him as a person,” she continued.
NEW YORK TIMES UNDER SCRUTINY OVER GRAHAM PLATNER COVERAGE AS ACCUSERS SPEAK OUT AGAINST PAPER
Lyndsey Fifield, also one of Platner’s ex-girlfriends, corroborated the claim that Platner abused alcohol, telling the New York Times in June he “too often self medicated with alcohol, and was a far from perfect boyfriend.” She also accused Platner of emotional abuse and intimidation, allegations he denies as well.
“You can’t be that way in private and not have it translate into how you would govern or how you would legislate,” Fifield said. “It terrifies me to think of him having any type of power politically, because what is he going to do with the women in his office?”
HOW GRAHAM PLATNER’S CAMPAIGN UNRAVELED: FROM REDDIT POSTS TO RAPE ALLEGATION
Platner has so far resisted calls to drop out of the Senate race despite a number of high-profile Democrats rescinding their endorsements. Platner must withdraw by July 13 for Democrats to be able to select a replacement candidate by July 27.
If Platner does decide to stay in the race, a different Reddit post where he criticized Republicans for supporting candidates accused of sexual assault could come back to haunt him.
“Ah yes, the old ‘I’ll vote for the sexual predator/corrupt candidate scheme because he’s a Republican’ game,” Platner wrote in 2018, responding to a now deleted post on a firearms subreddit.
The Platner campaign did not respond to a request for comment when reached by Fox News Digital on Wednesday.
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