Democrats begin pulling Platner endorsements after Maine candidate faces sexual assault allegation
A woman who previously dated Maine Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner said he drunkenly forced her to have sex after she told him to stop, according to a Politico report released Monday, leading prominent supporters to pull their endorsements and throwing a must-win race for the party into turmoil.
Platner denied the allegation, but said he would be considering next steps for his campaign.
“Regardless of the inaccuracy of the reporting but mindful of the political reality it will inflict, we’re taking the time to reflect on the best path forward,” he said in a video released on social media.
Jenny Racicot, who lives in Maine, told Politico that Platner entered her home in 2021 while drunk and assaulted her. Racicot said she had been in an on-and-off relationship with Platner, but she cut off contact with him after that night and told him the incident wasn’t consensual. A voicemail left at a number listed for Racicot seeking comment did not receive an immediate response.
Platner’s campaign did not immediately respond to an email and phone message from The Associated Press seeking comment.
“Any accusation of non-consensual behavior is categorically false,” Platner said in his video.
Still, the allegation sparked a flight away from a candidate who has long been controversial. Rep. Ro Khanna, a California Democrat who’d stood by Platner even as the insurgent candidate was hit with prior allegations, said Monday’s was enough. “I’ve been very clear that sexual assault or violence against women is a red line,” Khanna said. “These allegations are very serious and credible. Graham Platner should drop out from the race. I am withdrawing my endorsement.”
Edit: holy shit, these comments are insane.
Regardless of what you believe with this, Platner likely cannot win anymore. He has a week to do the right thing and drop out before he's fully locked in. If he actually gives any sort of a shit (and doesn't just want power, like rapists seeking office tend to), he needs to drop out yesterday.
This is the nail in the coffin for his campaign. It's not time to defend him no matter what, because there's still a week where a new candidate can be put into place. Instead of being mad at people not wanting to vote for him, you should start vocally supporting another candidate.
https://apnews.com/article/graham-platner-maine-assault-senate-061e18bdd180928bbcd94b18a52f4ec9Open linkView original on piefed.blahaj.zone
465 replies
The re-writing of history here is insane. It was the hardcore lefties who pushed this guy, not the libs.
Tankies malding and trying to change the narrative is so typical.
DAMMIT! After the FIRST Republican hit piece I said I don't care PLATNER is my Guy but now that there's a SECOND Republican hit piece with the EXACT same Allegation I guess I have NO CHOICE but to Vote for the People who will CONTINUE Protecting the Epstein Class!
Yeah, I generally agree with always believing a victim. But in this case, the person is clearly also a political operative. Waiting until just after the primary makes me immediately question her story. At the very least, it shows she cares much more about electing a Republican than she does about actually receiving justice. If she is a victim, she's also an opportunist.
No, don't you see, she deleted every text message, Instagram DM, call record and any other corrobarating proof that could ever backup the story and never filed a police report for these awful crimes and didn't say a word for the past year because she saw that no one took the first accuser seriously because she was a proud Republican and she actually totally, like, agrees with Platner's policies and is totally a Democrat [citation needed - allegedly voted Trump last year], so she did the wise thing and waited until the 25th hour of what is arguably the determining election of giving Dems the control of senate to write a hit piece about something that happened 7 years ago and hand the election to the 29-year incumbent demonstrably guilty of much worse. It's that simple.
She provided a ton of corroborating evidence. Stop using misinformation to create a strawman
She didn't delete the text messages and emails.
She deleted all the texts with him but not all the ones with other people about him.
She deleted the text messages directly with Platner, not with her friends or therapist.
very convenient excuses.
Her dog ate all the evidence of an allegation that at this time would ruin his political career, but somehow was not important enough to mention since 2021.
JFC, this is MAGA level delusion.
Just to clarify, this is a different woman from the one whose actual job is "political operative". This woman could also be timing this for political effect, but supporting Republican efforts isn't her job like the main accuser in the NYT piece.
This woman also has text messages and emails to back up her claims.
Yeah, this one is a credible accusation
Hopefully someone progressive can replace platner if this causes his campaign to pull out
It won't be someone progressive. The people who would be choosing a last minute replacement are the people who didn't want him to win the primary.
There's no real viable replacement. Even if they choose someone who represented the policies the voters supported in him, which they won't do, Platner is the only one with the justification of being chosen by voters to justify people who didn't vote for him supporting him in the general. Anyone else is opening the door for finding some difference to now mean the candidate isn't the choice of the party.
And that's in the dreamland where the insiders choose a spare charismatic progressive outsider they had hanging around rather than someone who's in their club.
No she doesn't. She said she deleted them. From the Politico article:
The other messages are ambiguous (they do not mention rape), or are a few weeks old, between her and her therapist.
She deleted only the messages with Platner.
Those other messages are not as ambiguous as those of you who want to support this rapist want to believe or push here.
Whether she has supporting evidence isn't relevant to anything in the comment you replied to.
The parent comment claimed this woman is coming forward as a Republican hit piece. I’m just adding to the conversation by noting she has evidence.
She has evidence that she had some contact with Platner. But according to the narrative she describes, there couldn't have been any text messages providing direct evidence of the assault. She's saying that at the time, she sent messages to other people. But it's not like Platner texted her a confession.
But come on, it's 2026. You need to be a little more cynical, less naive, and have a properly calibrated bullshit detector. Did Platner assault her? Certainly possible. But it's also sus as hell.
And yes, it clearly is meant to be politically motivated. She may be a Democrat, but as we've seen, plenty of Democrats hate progressive candidates. And the timing is damning. She may be a legitimate victim, but if so, she's also cynically manipulating her rape for political points. She's literally using her sexual assault as a political poker chip. You don't perfectly time the allegation to have maximum political impact otherwise.
How conspiracy minded do you have to be to think she texted her friend warning her about Platner years before his senate run in order to sabotage him now?
Why else would she say Platner assaulted her in this way other than he assaulted her?
I think youre going to find yourself on the wrong side of this one.
Idk, if I were assaulted by him I think I would wait to maximize damage, considering how difficult it is to get a conviction on SA charges.
I wasn't referring to the earlier case. The woman here is a political operative because her first priority is politics, not justice or closure. You don't time your accusation to maximize political effects if you're not a political operative. Even if she is telling the truth, she is a political operative first, and a victim second.
I don't care if she's cynical or unlikable or politically motivated if he in fact raped her. He shouldn't have done that if he didn't want people to call him a rapist at inconvenient times.
I do care about her motivations, because motivations tell you a lot. It tells you that her first priority is politics. It's Schrodinger's assault - simultaneously so traumatic as to warrant making an accusation years later, yet so mild that the need for justice was so low that she was able to keep it to herself until the most opportune moment. It's suspicious as all Hell, and I wish folks like you just weren't so credulous.
You do realize that people lie, right? And Democratic politicians are particularly vulnerable to false accusations of sexual assault, as the base has been conditioned (for good reason) to by default believe victims.
But you have to keep your brain on. Believing victims is a good general rule. But only a Sith deals in absolutes. You should believe victims, but you also shouldn't be a naive fool. If all it takes for you to abandon a campaign is someone making a politically opportunistic assault allegation, then you will never see politicians you like elected.
Yes, as a general rule, false allegations are rare. But we're talking about a heated Senate seat, with millions of dollars on the line, where a false accusation can do real damage in the time it takes for the truth to come out. Normally there isn't a lot of motivation for people to make false assault allegations. But in cases like this, there's a huge motivation to do so.
This is media literacy 101. When someone has a huge motivation to spread false allegations, you need to treat them skeptically, even if "believe the victim" is generally a good first approach.
My issue with your comment was:
If she's telling the truth, I don't care if she's a political operative, because what she's telling the truth about is being sexually assaulted by Platner. If you are using the timing as a reason to believe she is lying, then I understand that. But I can't imagine caring about her motivation if she is telling the truth.
First, I'm not conceding that she's telling the truth. I can imagine caring about her motivations, because in this case, she is both a sexual victim and a sexual abuser, or at least an abuse enabler.
If she is telling the truth, consider who you're talking about here. You're talking about a sexual assault victim that is actively trying to harm other sexual assault victims. She's working to get a Republican elected to the Senate - the same Republican that played a role in getting Roe v. Wade overturned. You're talking about someone that is both a victim and an abuser. Collins winning will be a massive detriment to every citizen of Maine that is a victim of assault or rape.
That's why it matters. You don't get to play "believe every victim" card when you yourself are actively trying to victimize people.
Its 100% credible. She's got texts and e-mails with friends and a therapist from the time period.
Graham is done.
No. The therapist ones are recent. They have a few chat messages from friends, but only from people whose names Politico didn't disclose. She explicitly said she deleted most of her texts.
They are allegations, but he probably did. But did you know it's not illegal to run for senator when you have been convicted of a felony?
In a representative democracy, the rational way to go is to vote for the person who you think will vote on the same side as you on issues you care about. You're not choosing a friend or someone you will interact with on a regular basis.
Republicans understood this a long time ago. Billionaires understand it too, that's why they give money to candidates they think are more susceptible to return the favor.
Purity tests are something you have to put aside when your country is sliding into fascism... Otherwise you're giving an advantage to the other side.
Naw you don't have to vote for rapists.
So what's the other option in this election?
The party can still choose a new candidate if he steps down in the next week
If she were a political operative, she would have waited for the July 13 deadline to pass
This is going to be the legacy of Plantner's campaign. Not that he was a fake-leftest, but that so many of his supporters turned out to be.
Sorry. I have a bullshit detector. She's either not a victim, or at the very least, she cares far more about influencing politics than she does about seeking justice. It's sus as hell. You're incredibly naive.
We've done it, We've circled around to fake news.
This women has produced dated text messages discussing the assault prior to Planter's campaign. That's pretty solid this time. Plus the connection between these two can be corroborated. Additionally I've heard there are dated therapists notes, but I haven't seen those.
The Epstein class will not be taken down by other rapists
Yes, you are spreading fake news.
Let's actually be specific.
This is the only contemporary digital record alleged in any of the stories:
So, facebook messages, not text. And she didn't discuss the assault at all, at least not beyond very general terms. And the people involved are anonymous. It seems she never explicitly said "he assaulted me" to her friends. She made vague allegations that could describe a lot of scenarios, some that would be disqualifying, some not.
Please provide a source, not just "I heard." Because the Politico and NYTimes articles make zero mention of contemporary therapist notes. You are spreading misinformation. There are therapist notes, but they're not contemporaneous.
They're not anonymous to Politico, they would have spoken to them and verified their identities. They're only anonymous in the story to protect them from harassment from creeps who think they're part of a conspiracy.
Holy shit dude, those messages are not ambiguous at all. Stop supporting rapists. You sound a lot like a MAGA cultist
They are ambiguous! Holy shit, stop supporting political opportunists, you sound like a corporate Dem.
“ended up in a bad situation with him,”
"consensually careless"
"Doesn't listen to you when drunk"
This could describe anything from a guy who puts an unwanted hand on someone's shoulder to full on rape. That's extremely ambiguous! No where does she allege a rape or assault explicitly. That doesn't disprove the rape allegation, but it's also hardly evidence for it.
Rape isn't the same accusation nor the same suspect accuser
Nice false dichotomy.
I'd like neither, because that is an option. Still plenty of time for a different Democratic candidate
The old allegations weren't credible. The new ones are. Simple as that.
So why hasn't he been criminally charged?
hopefully this will be a good lesson for the leftists that will vote for anyone that is
anti-jewanti-israelanti-epstein-classhorseshoe much?
My very first thought was “Again? Is this a recycled article?”
Aren't there any independents, Green party, or Forward Party rep candidates?? FWD has an ethics and values section on their main page showing they mean business!
Vermin Supreme is right next door in NH.
Vermin Supreme the friendly fascist! He does know what's best for you. I can't wait to receive my pony.
Come on in. The shit is steaming and our eyes are burning and we got every kind of emotional take in the book.
once more into the breach
The woman came forward to the NYT earlier to get on record but held back the story until another accuser came forward. She has contemporaneous emails with her therapist dealing with the fallout and people in her life she told the story to around the time it happened who can confirm it, as well as woman she warned after cutting contact with Platner. These allegations are as credible as they get and some of the reactions to this story are frankly disgusting.
https://www.politico.com/news/2026/07/06/graham-platner-sexual-assault-allegation-00987737
You misread the article you linked.
Politico reviewed:
Any ambiguity is removed by the later sentence:
Nowhere in the very article you linked does it mention contemporaneous therapist notes. You are spreading misinformation.
Fyi Politico is openly Zionist and told their staff to leave if they’re not. Why do people treat them as legit. I certainly don’t.
Yeah, smells like a hit job.
Politico, or any other outlet for that matter, can have a shitty editorial line on some things, and do quality reporting on other things.
You should be paying attention to the substance of the accusation here, which is about as credible as it gets. Not blowing it off because it's from an outlet you dislike for a different reason.
And just like... Occam's Razor, the guy with the SS tattoo being a bad guy isn't exactly a wild leap of logic.
There's even a famous skit about the exact symbol Platner had a tattoo of.
Yep. The Tapper interview, as disgusting as Tapper was during it, I mean this is as credible as they come. She also said she was prepared to vote for him, and that his kind of politics is what the country needs. Graham said there would be no more coming out. Its unclear where things go from here.
The double standards for each party is absolutely stunning.
Anyone even know off the top their head how many allegations, some even confirmed in FBI testimony, Don chomo has?
Not to mention the rape scrotus said he had to pay out.
Exactly. If our esteemed representatives in DC gave even a fraction of this same shit about an actual habitual pedophile and rapist -- of his wife Ivanka, other children, and quite possibly his own daughter -- sitting in the highest office in the land, what a different country we'd have today.
Some do, certainly, and I don't want to dishonor the very real efforts of some on both sides to see the truth come out.
But as a whole, their concern about Graham Platner rings hollow as fuck. And at this point I'd vote for fucking Pol Pot raised from the dead before I voted for that dinosaur Susan Collins.
You can choose between a rapist or someone who supports, enables, and keeps in power an entire administration of rapists, including child rapists.
America!
Coming out exactly a week before the candidate can be switched makes this fishy...
If they wanted a real investigation, they'd have said it earlier. And if he is guilty, he can just pull a Cuomo and run anyways.
But if he's innocent and cares most about beating Republicans, he might drop anyways like Al Franken.
Yuuurp. And 90% of people (even on here) are eating it up. Subverting primaries is a Dem past time
If it's this easy to sling allegations around then progressive candidates everywhere are fucked.
Why bother voting when you can just accuse a candidate of rape? It's super effective, apparently. Unless they're a republican, at least...
Crazy thing about this is that there are just enough details that I believe it is real, but just enough missing pieces that it puts it in doubt...
Yes, this is a piece that can make plenty of people feel vindicated about their hunches on Platner. But the way this came out and how the media jumped on this story while it has passed over oodles of testimony of Trump committing sexual assault, I can equally understand people being suspicious as well. And it is a playbook that can be trotted out whether there is a true story behind it or not, anytime there is a Democratic candidate for a position that didn't come from a prestigious institution with everything given to them on a silver platter.
People are crying for "average" people to be part of government, this is an average person we got from Maine and now many are getting upset. People who haven't had anything happen that could be construed as scandalous from their high school prom to now, where a story like this could credibly be denied, are shut-ins like me who aren't interested in dating and wouldn't seriously think to run in politics, or are well-educated with above-average wealth.
Yeah, people make it way too easy for the entrenched powers to manipulate them. At this point if the republicans hold onto a thin senate majority, I won't have any sympathy for the dumbass voters who fell for such a transparent tactic again.
We won't be able to fix our broken system until we stop proving that uncorroborated mudslinging works better than actually offering good policy.
Your argument is that there are so many rapists amongst average people that we have no choice but to elect them?
There are a lot of people who date and don't rape people.
Jesus Christ.
I'm not saying every average person is a rapist, but since it's a common enough experience (21% of women) despite underreporting: https://www.nsvrc.org/statistics/statistics-depth/, I'm saying most people could be believably accused of an incident like this happening in their lifetime. And people who have been long scrutinized in a political career or from an elite institution will tend to be able to stay clear of incidents like these.
And it's an entirely separate issue, that unless Platner steps down, the election is currently a choice between him and an incumbent Senator that at best might say she is concerned about women's rights being taken away but will do nothing, and at worst will support a party that plans to take even more rights away from women, including the right to vote. If one wants to hold a consistent position as to "blue no matter who", the same applies for a potential rapist as it does a bland corporate dem, as it does a former policewoman, as it does a Muslim democratic socilaist.
Listen, as more info comes out verifying the claims from the Politico article or perhaps other revelations I think Platner may be best to step down. That's his choice to make, but I think we should be measured when evaluating every accusation and claim of whatever nature, instead of getting in a frenzy.
I agree he should step down. I don't think it's helpful to push that this is the best representation we can find from average people. I've always been against "vote blue no matter who" for exactly these types of scenarios.
We shouldn't hold the position of "vote blue no matter who". I can't believe the discussion we're all having is that we should vote for a rapist and that the ends justifies the means.
You don't need to hold that position, I can tell that you haven't and I respect that. It is, however a position that can be held amongst many opinions. My point is that, if it was employed in one of the other cases I mentioned, it should be employed here to avoid hypocrisy.
And discrediting and disbelieving rape victims is a past time shared by all political spectrums.
Fine. I have a solution that should make everyone happy. We elect Platner now. In turn, he promises to resign as soon as a credible and progressive candidate can be selected that will share his values. Platner can endorse that person, then the whole state can pressure Janet Mills to appoint that person after Platner resigns. He can win the election and then resign the day he's sworn in.
"Believe rape victims" does not mean "hand the race to a corporatist Dem or a Republican."
This would satisfy things, wouldn't it? Platner wouldn't actually get to serve a Senate term. Justice would be served. Yet, somehow, I think justice may not be your actual highest priority.
Al Franken leaving was so fucking dumb. What he did was so fucking minor.
I will believe the accusations by default but if he does not drop out, Mainers still need to choose the rapist (accused, alleged or not) over the supreme-rapist enabler who will help remove the right for women to vote and have bodily autonomy, continue reckless and expensive wars, subsidizing billionaire excess, and send US taxpayer money to Israel's genocide while starving Maine. If Platner drops out, more likely than not, a replacement like David Costello may write many words in opposition to Collins' party, but push for little action.
I think Platner has 48 hours to research to find if AIPAC or outside groups (not including Cheyenne Hunt & Reckoning Action, Racicot reached out to them supposedly) have unduly influenced the details or timing of this. Some kind of credible evidence to put the evidence behind the allegations in doubt would be needed else this whole campaign is possibly sunk. CNN's Tapper is happy to jump on this story asking leading questions. ETA: And many outlets that would decry HasanAbi as an anti-Semite are readily citing him speaking against Platner.
Politico, the website that published the story originally, is owned by unapologetic pro-Israel billionaires
I dare ask - why believe by default? What's happened to innocent until proven guilty?
I won't reflexively deny the victim. Trust but request verification. Platner is definitely presumed innocent but this is one where we still need more info. And it's not at the standard of a criminal proceeding to determine whether people would want someone representing them in the Senate or not - rather it's more like a job interview.
When it's time to vote blue: "Platner the oyster farmer?"
Platner can't win. The accuser has corroborated contemporaneous communications. He's just going to lose.
Finding this out now is a gift - he can drop out by the 13th. Rs would love to have kept this hidden until then. Now he can be replaced by the 27th (I think?)
Jackson is being floated as an alternative, but I'd love to see Heather Cox Richardson drafted
Haha, that would be great, but there is no way in hell HCR has interest in that position.
Yeah for sure, but ambition for office is almost disqualifying. Just a daydream. I think Jackson is the obvious pick, but don't know the method by which he could become the nominee
Anyone from president of the HOA to president of the US. If they want the job, they probably shouldn't be put there. It would be an interesting twist on politics if a person could not want the position, not run at all, but still get elected and be legally mandated to do the job. I mean, it couldn't be worse than the way things are.
HCR has already said she has no interest in running for office, and reiterated it just last week in one of her live chats. She apparently has the idea of public office suggested to her often.
And honestly she'd be wasted* in office: she'd certainly do well in any position, but no one could do in her stead what she is doing now for us.
*Not wasted in the Kash Patel sense, obv
Fully agree, but you just made me think she'd maybe be hilarious on Drunk History
If Platner wants to defend himself publicly on this, and/or keep running, and/or sue the accuser for libel, he's free to do any or all of that. As anyone who's been around for a few cycles know, its pretty common for candidates and other public figures, when they first reach a certain terminal level of attention or fame, to get a wide range of accusations on business, personal matters, drug use, and past sexual behavior. Just because these appear to be conveniently timed politically, is not evidence for or against their veracity. If there is no actual juice to these accusations, then dealing with people who lob bombs like that into the middle of campaigns is a well-worn playbook that thousands of politicians have run and won with, and he'll be fine. If.
Another aspect as to why this is different is because it's so well substantiated. It's like... Textbook. There's so little to argue with.
The previous claims against him had none of that, and came from his direct opposition. That is suspicious. These claims are not.
You don't find the timing suspicious? JFC, you guys are as delusional as MAGA.
If someone is raped, are they no longer allowed to tell anyone should that person be elected to a political position?
She warned multiple other women and has proof way before he even started his campaign
What proof. Why did she wait 5 years.
Very much with the "if." I'd rather not add more logs to the everlasting bonfire of "women ignored for political expediency." If it is fake, then handle it like a normal person instead of self-destructing.
There are no criminal charges because no prosecutor would waste time and money on allegations with no evidence, and delayed for 5 years.
― Douglas Adams, The Restaurant at the End of the Universe
Just hold a lottery for the senate / house seat. No politics, no filtering.
Stick a fork in him, he's done. The endorsements will never come back, and there's no way other politicians can recover from pulling an endorsement and giving it right back again.
Agreed though, the timing is SUPER sus.
This is why you disqualify the guy with the nazi tattoo immediately....
Anyone with judgements that bad us going to have more skeletons in the closet
This is what always gets me. It's not like there aren't hundreds if not thousands of people who want the job.
I felt this way during the Kavenaugh hearings for the SC. If someone has anything big that would disqualify them if true, even if it isn't, why push that candidate?
It's not a court of law. We're not throwing them in jail. It doesn't need to be proven beyond a reasonable doubt. They are just not getting a job they wanted.
I've seen people not get a job they wanted because they forgot a word during an interview. Why the hell can someone be credibly accused of rape and everyone's like, "well yeah, but we still want them to get this job." Just interview other candidates! There's not a lack of people who would want to be a Senator or SC Justice or whatever. What the hell?
This is built right into our government. We, the people, have said we don't care about rape and rape victims. And now it's clear that it doesn't matter which aisle they're on, people will support their candidate no matter what.
The first one might have been a Republican hit piece, but this one is a lot more credible. The woman warns another woman about him years before any political stuff in chats.
But hey run the nazi-tattoo guy XD what could possibly go wrong.
Sad situation. Either way AIPAC won America lost
Maybe not. I just got done listening to Heather Cox Richardson -- a Mainer herself -- on the subject.
Noting that HCR has never offered a single word of endorsement for Platner (only that she thinks candidates for Senate should have some managerial experience prior to running) she now frames this as a great opportunity and lays out how Platner "was always going to be a heavy lift" because in a state that should be D+15, Platner has only ever run at +2. In addition, Collins has a dismal 17% approval rating, and there's still time to get a new candidate. According to HCR, there are a number of qualified individuals in Maine who could step into the Democratic slot and not only be good candidates but actually win.
You may agree, you may disagree, you may be tempted to call it hopium and maybe you wouldn't be wrong, but inasmuch as there's still time to get a different candidate on the D side who presumably will not bring a history of sexual misconduct with them it's not the worst thing, IMO.
That particular bit is at the 33 minute mark but overall it's an excellent listen:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nkDRcv1pzT4
Yet another purity test failed, why can't we tolerate sex pest Nazis?! Is nothing good enough for you leftists?
First you don't want genocide and war crimes, now you don't support rapists! We all know she is a filthy liar! No people in positions of power would do such a thing. Except for all the ones in office who do. But those guys don't count! They're Republicans!
If being a rapist gets you cancelled by the left, then the left would rather lose than let a rapist in office!
Clearly she's lying about all of it. Never believe a single woman when they confess they were raped by someone I like. That's what MSNBC told me when Biden was being questioned for his actions and defended Clarance Thomas to enter the Supreme Court, known sex pest.
This is just filthy slander, just vote Blue no matter who he rapes!
I genuinely do not know what to believe anymore.
Edit: the timing and optics might be poor, but I at least believe we should consider this credible. Platner should have to defend himself here, not her.
Edit edit: Trauma has no timeline.
This is an intentional strategy that's reaching fruition. There's a threshold of false information being spread-- surprisingly low-- where people begin to distrust all information.
Well, unlike our president, I think it's safe to say that you can believe that Graham Platner didn't rape kids.
Not that this is helpful in any way.
People let some Nazi merc slide because he broke out the working class starter pack dialogue choices. We need to return to context clues and some basic morals. Having a Nazi tattoo is instantly disqualifying in any party but the Republican one.
Here's the only picture I can find of the tattoo, and it's a video of him singing Wrecking ball by Miley Cyrus, so bonus:
https://www.msn.com/en-in/news/other/graham-platner-tattoo-row-explained-all-about-the-ss-totenkopf-aka-the-nazi-deaths-head-tattoo/ar-AA1OUdmb
It's a big black blob that I don't think I'd clock as a tottenkopf, and Ive unfortunately seen a lot of Nazi tattoos.
A drunk marine 20 years picking a "skull and bones" off a flash wall in an eastern European country is 100% plausible. I spent too much time around junior marines as well and they really don't ask any questions, they just go with shit.
Picking a tattoo a 12 year old would think is badass and not trying to find out what it means first 100% lines up with a Marines first deployment.
But like I said, I've unfortunately had to interact with full on actual Nazis in the past, similar to that timeframe even. The guys that intentionally get Nazi tattoos don't just stop at one and theyve left a long paper trail of their racism long before that point.
If he got it cuz he was a Nazi, then it wouldn't be the only obvious piece of evidence. A shit ton of people would have came out and said he's a Nazi.
+1. Everyone says Nazi tattoo like it was a swastika lol. The Death Head was pretty well neutralized in 2007. It was in the same tier as barber wire, just an edgy thing people did. Call of Duty offered it as a official emblem you could put on your playercard lol. The ADL didn't even consider it a hate symbol until 2020.
No idea how it is in america, but here in Germany most people would immediately clock it.
I'd never seen or heard of it till hearing people complain about him having it.
It's on his chest, so usually underneath clothes.
It is an exclusively Nazi symbol. It hasn't been neutralized at all, US Americans are just stupid. The goddamn thing is literally in every piece of media featuring SS officers. It's in memes. It's incredibly recognizable to anyone that actually earned their high school diploma. You can argue whether Platner knew what is was when he got it, but you don't get to argue that the totenkopf isn't an exclusively Nazi symbol, because it is, and that's clearly what the tattoo was of. We're not republicans, we don't substitute actual reality with our delusions because it's convenient.
As a child, I was actually interested it history; and, as an edgelord, especially interested in gruesome totalitarian regimes. I played a lot of war-themed games, inevitably many had Nazis. Of course the games aren't usually historically accurate but led me to read more about the actual events.
I had seen the totenkopf decades ago but did not know this was a Nazi symbol until I saw the Mitchell & Webb skit about ten years ago. If you asked me for Nazi logos, I would have come up with the swastika, the SS lightning bolts, and the Adler (which is used by the good guys in the Contra video game series).
(album cover of Singles 1-12 by Melvins, 1997)
Can confirm, Americans stupid; we were never shown this symbol and now our country is infested with fascists.
It is unambiguously a totenkopf, the stylized skull that SS officers had on their caps. It is exclusively a Nazi symbol and is very recognizable as it is featured in basically any media featuring Nazis. It's not similar to a totenkopf; it's clearly and obviously explicitly a totenkopf. You can argue whether he knew what it was or is lying but we're not going to entertain the idea that it isn't what it clearly is. He had a prominently displayed death's head on his chest for 18 years. It was, in no uncertain terms, a Nazi with a capital N tattoo.
In 2026 should someone have recognized it?
Maybe.
But we're talking about 20 fucking years ago chief
You're right, in the mid aughts we had completely forgotten entirely about Nazi Germany and there was no popular media prominently featuring Nazis in any way whatsoever and there's just no way that anyone could recognize a regularly featured exclusively Nazi symbol worn by SS officers. Your Nazi apologism is showing again.
Yup. The people here are so desperate that they'll accept literally anyone who gives them the most basic lip service. It's pathetic.
It will never not be funny to me that people are totally okay with a pirate tattoo, but not a Nazi tattoo. Pirates routinely raped, tortured, murdered and pillaged.
Pillaged yes, raped/tortured? That's iffy. Murder I'm sure happened, but take Blackbeard for instance, all intimidation, never had to kill anyone until he was attacked by the Navy and killed.
Many of the successful pirates like Bart Roberts had rules about rape.
Every crew had their own rules, but if you want to make a list of bad things pirates did you might want to put slavery at the top. Think there was more pirates that stole slaves and resold them then there were murdering people without reason.
Slavery should definitely be on the list, your right.
Pirates may not have raped people on the boats they took, because there often weren't any. The pubescent cabin boys and powder monkeys were a different story however.
As far as torture, lashings were the standard baseline punishment. Edward Low was known to be particularly violent and liked cutting ears off people on ships he boarded. Keelhauling wasn't as universal as media would indicate, but it was an actual practice.
The Democratic establishment would rather lose to Susan Collins than win with an outsider candidate. The fact that Bill Clinton is accepted in polite society and Platner has to be banished demonstrates that sexual scandals are a cudgel to be wielded selectively.
Maybe if the outsider wasn't a literal rapist Nazi-murderer, you'd have a better chance?
Nobody really knew Clinton was on the Epstein list when he was in office so the worst thing he did in people’s eyes was get a consensual blow job.
You can’t seriously be saying that is as bad as sexual assault (if in fact that’s what happened here).
As for now, most people want Clinton to answer for what he may have done with Epstein.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Clinton_sexual_assault_and_misconduct_allegations#Accusations
Monica Lewinsky was 22 when the scandal broke. It was painted as consensual despite the massive age and authority difference. It was fraternization.
Called this. Haha down voters.
There are a lot of people in here who do not seem to know a story of someone that was sexually assaulted. I would hope to those of you that think this is bullshit to ask a woman in your life if they know someone that has been assaulted, and what they did. Because 99% of women will know someone or be someone like the woman this is referring to.
Her story is pretty believable and the actions taken are similar to many other people who have been assaulted: Cut ties and warn others. And that is exactly what she did. She knew Platner before this occurred and were even having a sexual relationship (this was from a series of interviews with Graham's past relationships.) I think the most damning part of this is that she doesn't appear to have a political agenda. She seems to agree with his messages.
As much as the average person immediately goes to the defense of the person they like more, this seems very credible. it is entirely likely that Planter may not have even been conscious of his actions, having been far too drunk. That isn't really an excuse, though, and I do think his campaign should be finding a replacement ASAP. They can still run a progressive candidate, but holy fuck, they need to move fast.
Sexual assault should be treated as the disqualifying event that it is. I understand questioning the sincerity of the victim, but there are too many things that make me believe her, and if it is true, that should absolutely disqualify him from office.
The guy with the nazi tattoo on his chest turned out to be a POS? What? This has to be some sort of mistake. This seems so uncharacteristic. Sometimes, reality truly is stranger than fiction.
Also a big fuck you to everyone that defended him. We told you so. We told you so, and you didn't listen. You people are so dense. Anyway, talk to you with the next obvious Obama/Letterman/Planter situation, where you'll make the exact same fucking mistake, because this time it really is different.
Have fun in the Republican death camp when doing jack shit to stop them leads to its inevitable conclusion.
I dunno buy a gun
If we don’t elect a rapist, we’ve done jack shit to stop fascism?
Do you even read back what you write after you regurgítate it out to us?
Only rapists with Nazi tattoos can stop fascists. As we all know.
Murdering innocents overseas is totally fine but God forbid he rape a white woman!!
Americans are something else, man.
That's what did it? Not the Nazi shit?
There’s so many comments not caring about rape.
Those who were willing to overlook the other red flags have no issues ignoring or dismissing another one sadly
Love the smears saying people shouldn't have basic media literacy or completely forget that political hit pieces exist. Really shows how moronic and naive these people are. Really cool guys.
This smacks of bullshit.
If you ever get raped, I hope people copy and paste this comment of yours everywhere you go.
Gross. So you want to continue the tradition of hating on victims because of a past incident that allows you to think they earned it...
Really fucking gross.
Just reading the comments on this you can see a lot of Lemmy users have a massive mysogyny problem.
They wanted their special white boy working class savior so goddamn bad they're willing to look theother way on:
Nepotism (he sells oysters to his mommy)
Nazism
Blackwater war tourism
Rape
Just no principles or character at all.
Lmao, mods went haywire on this one. Removed multiple of my replies criticizing rapists for civility. Seems like the liberals are spooked that their Nazi rapist murderer candidate is getting some criticism.
This has been one of the biggest political races in the country for like 6 months
Why does this shit not come out when he announced running instead of the literal second he won the primary?
Fuck him and fuck victim blaming but holy fuck why? Why would you wait and go after the guy who SA you until the second he wins a primary election?
I can excuse war crimes against brown people, but I draw the line at white people rape allegations.
The World's Billionaire Blackmail Machine is working well.
Damn liberal democrats are such pussies and this comment section confirms. Republicans can do whatever the hell they want including fascism rape and murder but the democrats at tea time are in a tiff. Good luck winning back the senate.
Still better than the alternative.
Sucks that's the choice, but it is what it is.
The alternative where he drops out and gets replaced by a not-fatally-damaged Democrat who might actually be able to win?
It's not clear that this is a fatal accusation or that a replacement candidate selected by party bosses would be in a better position to win. Scandals just aren't what they used to be while insider politics has been losing repeatedly.
It's fatal. The tattoo and earlier abuse allegations combined dragged him from a mid-high single-digit lead to a statistical tie in a race with an opponent who usually overperforms. And this latest scandal is so awful that it has caused virtually every major supporter from Chuck Schumer and the DSCC to Ro Khanna and Our Revolution to cut bait. He might still have a diehard base of true believers, but that isn't enough to win.
Yeah, I think so
ITT: "Believe Women! Unless they accuse someone I agree with politically of rape"
It is ok to ask questions, not dismiss the claims. Blindly believing is not a good place to be in either direction. People shouldn't assume its real or fake but be deciding how to move forward and get what we need despite it.
This thread is full of bad takes, agreed. But I would rather it not get simplified to that when the reverse is happening as well.
The timing of the accusation is suspicious. Most rape cases don't involve the balance of power in which millions of lives hang in the balance.
Yeah I think im taking a huge step back from lemmy if these are the dominant voices here. At least now I underatand why I constantly found myself disagreeing with them. This is disgusting behavior.
You’re right.
Everyone saying it's more credible than the last accusation, when the bar was on the floor for the last one. A woman is coming forward at the absolute most politically expedient time for the billionaires (not when he started his campaign, not when he started getting national attention) who voluntarily deleted all evidence of the incident herself but obliquely mentioned some vaguely troublesome things to some people who will all remain anonymous.
Ah yes truly we must all be fools for taking this with a grain of salt.
I don’t know if she is honest or not.
Assuming she is, a trauma brain rewires itself. It is a biological survival mechanism. You absolutely cannot impose neurotypical behaviors upon a neurodivergent brain.
Expecting better evidence when the motives are highly suspect is hardly some imposition. This accusation is coming at an extremely politically convenient time from a source that is extremely pro-Israel (Politico). Their parent company has already profited directly from the genocide in Gaza and Platner has taken a strong stance against it. So yes I will be skeptical to say the least.
She did not delete all evidence. She deleted her messages to Platner. There's a difference and it's disgusting that you're pushing misinformation in order to prop up a rapist.
Read the article carefully
There's a story from the accuser, and a mention of recent emails between her and her therapist that have no specifics. All corroborating people associated are choosing to be anonymous (so might be made up entirely for all we know.) All direct evidence mentioning specifics has been "deleted"
The most compelling evidence presented in the Politico is this chat conversation with another anonymous person with no time stamps
https://static.politico.com/ed/f5/4412f6b44946866944ef85fd8a96/platner-screenshot-1.JPG
https://static.politico.com/61/c2/67b004f844f291369865043ed027/platner-screenshot-4.JPG
So let's assume the chat is real, and happened when claimed, which is giving a lot of grace at this point. It says he is "consensually careless" when drunk. Is that how you would describe your rapist? Interestingly, if there was a response to the direct question of "does he force himself on people " it's cut off from the chat. Weird.
Interesting that that's what you say when someone is asking questions
This is just funny and I would recommend the same to you. Time to do a little research into Politico
When you're asking questions like this, yes, it makes you sound like a rapist.
You know what my rapists sounded like? "Son, you know you are most handsome boy right?"
"Hey, are your parents around?"
"I heard you like to be helpful and are a giver, why dont you give me something."
You can fuck off.
This has nothing to do with the accusations against Platner.
Would you have preferred to have been told you’re lying about being raped?
There's a lot riding on discrediting Graham. He is the most promising progressive candidate in the northeast right now and is aggressively anti-billionaire and anti-establishment. He has over ten thousand volunteers and has the oligarchy scared. Yes I am dubious of this extremely conveniently timed account that has extremely scant hard evidence, being reported from a website who has only painted Graham in extremely critical ways.
The owners of Politico are openly libertarian zionists. Consider the source.
This is incredibly weak copium.
Your man signed up to the military to murder, did the murdering, got out with the second-most recognizable Nazi tattoo on his chest. Then he signs up for Blackwater and rapes a woman.
This is your guy. A progressive winner. Whatever it takes to beat Collins, right? You're a reactionary.
Fuck you! Dont fucking diminish rape like that to an insult against your perceived enemies. Thats crueler to victims of actual rape than you think and d Lowers the reality of it.
Go absolutely fuck yourself.
Questioning rape victim’s accounts and actively working to discredit them is what diminishes rape.
Boohoo. People have questions. If you have ever been the victim you realize that those will be all you get for a while. Questions dont hurt nearly as much as people tossing the idea of abuse around like a joke or an easy insult.
I have, stop pretending like you’re the only one to ever have been raped.
"Actual rape" my guy you're a rapist who hasn't offended yet.
You are disgusting.
Anonymous sources in news stories aren't anonymous to the reporter so for them to be made up it would have to include the reporter in the conspiracy. But if there is corruption in the story they make it hard to verify.
Considering this whole story came from a source who is literally making a profit off of the settler colonialism in Israel, I wouldn't put anything past them
So all those Trump rape reports are fake too, right? Or is it only Democrats who can't ever do rape?
Do you honestly just absorb everything you read on the internet with no regard to who said it or where it came from? Do I really need to explain to you why it matters who is saying it and why?
Hey buddy dude dropped out, you can stop being awful now.
So rape is good when your team does it.
With all the vitriol in the comments on Lemmy alone, is it any wonder why these people want to stay anonymous?
You're nitpicking a rape victim's phrasing about the rape she endured. YOU are part of the reason rape victims are afraid to come forward. Look at how you're talking about this.
Honestly the most disgusting comments seem to be from the people "standing up" for the victim.
We dont come forwards cause people dont like to actually talk about it or deal with real consequences. We have a world not set up for victims to be taken seriously cause strong means right and we dont have space for being sad for them and helping them overcome it. People just want to be "good". But we can't talk about what that entails or what to do when people fail to live up to it without extremes.
She chose to come forward. We should respect what she has to say as the victim in this circumstance.
Am I saying anything about her personally?
This is serious and has serious implications, however ignoring the timing and choices made here is beyond naive. Politico in particular has had it out for Graham since October 2025
Saying "believe women" is not a magic mind control spell
And claiming a rape victim is lying isn't a magic save-the-campaign motto.
I've just been on the internet too long to automatically believe everything I read, especially when it comes from a very motivated source
Yeah, this woman magically knew that Platner was going to run for office years and years ago when she advised her friend to not set someone up with Platner because he doesn't respect consent.
I've been on the internet long enough to know that the knee-jerk reaction is to not believe rape victims. People in general don't believe victims.
And you want me to believe that a man with a history of mercenary work in Afghanistan, past comments that blame rape victims for being raped and talking about how much he enjoyed killing brown people, and other sexual assault accusations is completely innocent here?
Sounds like Republicans making shit up because they're scared. I for one don't give a fuck. Hope he stays in the race and wins.
Republicans protect pedophiles
Same. His opponent voted to put a rapist on the SCOTUS. I'd rather him have one term and out, then bring that fucking GOP piece of shit back. Then again, not my state, not my farm.
Republicans? I wouldn't be surprised if the establishment Democrats are behind this either. They've already seen many they don't like make dramatic wins lately, and here's a guy running on their ticket who actively slammed the establishment and was a disrupter.
I don't know why you're being downvoted. I agree 100% establishment Dems only bear their teeth when they don't like a Democrat candidate. They just roll over and show their belly when they see Republicans abusing us.
That said, unfortunately I think the jig is up for Platner. Most people, myself included, are going to believe these accusations and that's going to lead to way less progressives coming out to vote in November.
Bullshit. Allegations with political timing should always be dismissed. Anything said with a motive to lie, and to be paid to lie, is a problem. Dems want to lose again, and just get paid to lose.
Believe women.
How does someone who’s blackout drunk do all of this?
I have no alcoholics in my family and I’ve never been close to someone who struggled with it so I have no idea what’s normal.
I’m not saying he didn’t do it. I’m just surprised. By all of this.
I had assumed leftists were better at spotting bad people. I feel disappointed in myself for being blindsided by this.
Cant pretend a gender cannot be paid to lie. Above having other motives to.
Can't pretend a man wanting power is unwilling to rape and lie and cheat.
or a lack of evidence to prove guilt in the public court of opinion instead of court of law so such a predator might be addressed for public safety, the maga owned politico trust me bro, after ny times shut her down, does also not fill me with convoicivision to argue further without seeing some evidence more than hearsay
What a shame
Sad but predictable, in that any charasmatic candidate that rises this far with an ideological outlook that would benefit the masses over the billionaires was always going to be in the firing line.
It also shows, at least, that democrats and liberal commentators won't blindly offer their guy impunity and have some sence of morality, even though he was basically a winning ticket and the best chance for change in decades. Had it been the republicans they would have simply powered on and weathered the heat, brashly denying anything thrown at them. They successfully ended truth and accountability under Trump, and it would seem the Dems still cling to those apparently antiquated notions.
We got a rapist in the White House right now. Do sexual misconduct allegations even matter anymore?
Yes
Given the fact you're wishing rape onto someone who was pointing out the current state of US politics I would like to remind everyone that rape survivors can also be assholes.
MRW looking at these comments
You're wishing rape on someone you don't agree with. That's wrong.
Also conflating an observation on the political reality in the usa with supporting rape.
Kinda wild to see.
This has a Gary Hart vibe. Senior Democrats dont want Platner around. Platner told Stewart months ago how no one from the DNC talked to him despite leading in polls.
So now he gets railroaded on 5 year old allegations that will go nowhere.
Sometimes I fucking hate being correct
Gee whiz, why don't more rape victims come forward when supposed allies treat them like this?
She's not just saying whatever the fuck she wants. She has evidence as well.
Questioning the trauma a rape victim is enduring because she isn't acting the way YOU want her to is gross.
No they fucking did not.
Again, a rape victim not acting the way you expect or the way you would act doesn't mean they're lying.
I hope you never date a woman, you'll just never believe them.
or an off balance girlfriend who threatens this if you dont come out and talk to her more than once
You have no idea if she has filed a report by this time. You all have no idea how difficult it is to report rape.
98% of perpetrators never see a court room or jail time.
You clearly didn’t actually read any of the articles. She describes the difficulties she faced coming forward.
Have you read her account in her words at all or just comment sections?
You think those victims told no one but the courts first?
Yeah totally rational behavior when called out for victim blaming.
Have a good one.
Ain't no one "going to the courts" first. That's not even possible with something like this. There are so many steps before you can even touch FOOT in a court, and that's assuming it even gets there at all. People tell their support network first, be that a family member or a friend.
You’re right you don’t get it. Thankfully.
Assuming what she says is true she experienced real trauma. (Not that Tik Tok BS)
Real trauma physically alters your brain. A physically altered brain does not behave the way people expect it to.
Least deranged liberal: "The rapist should sue the victim!"
Lmao literally self reporting
My takeaway is always... The people that raped me didnt change. It doesnt mean that they can't but they didnt and I could continue to hate them for the pieces of shit they continued to be. I could use my past to add to the pile of the present but at some point we have to stop just letting just the past set a whole picture of people and use the present to define them as well. People are not morally singular unlike what idiots think.
I am so tired of people thinking they are being helpful by grandstanding punishment for some rape victims arbitrarily where they think they can enact justice rather than building a world for victims to actually get it. Its not yours to have if you are not the victim.
Wow, nice job sitting there casting dispersion on a rape victim, all because your party is godawful at fielding candidates and you're desperate.
Yikes. The fuck is this shit.
To the people that excused, and went to bat for, a genocide apologist... What's a little rape? Honestly, I'm surprised so many are dropping him for this, maybe there's hope yet.
I'm sure there's something to be said about the perceived victims of the genocide, and the rape, but I don't have time to think about it.
Didn't we already know this months ago?
A second accusation has hit the Platner
Some democrats believe they need this Senate sit so bad they are willing to simply ignore those allegations. I get it, even if those allegations are true he can still help stop Trump and push some socialist policies. Republicans do this all the time: screen loudly the allegations are false so they can claim they don't believe them, not simply don't care about them.
Platner will most likely wait to see how this affect his chances. If he can still win he will keep running.
In the future Dems should look for less sketchy candidates.
To try to give you a serious answer to your question, there are three main western theories of morality. Consequentialism, Virtue Ethics, and Deontology. The people calling for Platner to drop out primarily identify internally with Virtue Ethics.
People are also consequentialists, and are pointing out that if you hold some candidates and not others to a given set of standards, you will wind up living in a fascist shit hole forever. I say this without judgement: assuming you accept that sentence as true some people will conclude we can't let candidates get derailed by scandals if the other side isn't going to, because it creates an electoral disadvantage, and yet another structural advantage for republicans. And some people look at that sentence and conclude 'well fine, I'd rather live under fascism and be able to live with myself'. Neither side is wrong, per se.
Finally the deontologists are kind of split, and those people believe in rules and process. Technically, this is an accusation, not a conviction, so some deontologists want him to stay in. Other deontologists adhere more closely to party norms as rules, and want him out.
What question?
The problem is, he has less than a week to decide to drop or not.
The impact on his candidacy won't be known until AFTER the deadline to drop.
Which is why people are saying the accuser is politically motivated.
Then I guess he has a week to gauge the reaction. I'm sure the "It's politically motivated" excuse will help some people ignore it but I have no idea if that will be enough.
Oh, it won't. Dude is absolutely toast. He can bow out now, or lose to Susan Collins. There is no other option.
She has multiple sources of proof way before his campaign even started
Don't mistake questioning the timing with not believing it happened.
She comes out with it now, one week before the deadline instead of during the primary? Or at any other time since 2021?
When the first allegation came out, that would have been a perfect time to #MeToo! and she did not. She could have dropped it with the Nazi tattoo stuff "Oh, yeah, not just a Nazi, but a rapist too!"
It likely happened the way she described it, and It will absolutely tank his candidacy, but the timing smells. She SHOULD have killed him in the primary.
She said she didn't want to come out because of people like you. She also didn't want to be seen as a victim. She has messages dating all the way back to as many women as she could tell, be careful dating him. She has proof you're just a rape apologist
People like me saying "Don't wait! Do it now!"? I'm fully supportive that she came forward, but she literally picked the worst time to do it.
She had the opportunity to stop him before he ever got this far, and only choosing to do it now, even true, adds suspicion to the accusation where there should be none.
You know the accusations can be true and still have a political agenda? Like victims are people with all the same potential flaws as anyone. Its almost as if you think they are perfect people without agency who can't do anything.
Hell let the lady have a hobby if both are true. She can be correct in her accusations and want to destroy him politically.
I mean if you're fine with rapists and child fuckers in office then you need to look at your priorities
Quite literaly the opposite of my stated position but if you need to put everyone in the rape and pediphiliac bucket then I guess no one can stop you.
Kinda like spinning a cow in your head.
What's the proof?
As a survivor I'm fucking tired of this bullshit. It's fucking on CNN and other news outlets, look it up yourself or look at my comment history.
Men are all rapists to me if they choose not to believe a woman when she's been warning people since 2021
And Women and anyone else you don't like it seems.
Also, as an enjoyer of argument I still take umbrage with you using a traumatic past as a cudgel to beat us over the head with.
You said there are multiple sources of proof. I'm just asking what it is and where it can be seen.
They get pissed at MAGA for doing this shit too.
This entire thing screams "orchestrated hit piece because accusing him of being a Nazi didn't work."
For me everything about this guy screams "this guy had issues in the past". Is he better now? Sure looks like it. Does it matter? No idea. Luckily I don't vote there.
Hey not saying those accusations are not true and all, however warning people of someone is not "proof" of any action a person has done the things they are warning people of.
Hey describing what he did in messages in 2021 and consistently warning other women throughout 2021 to now is good enough for me. People chose not to believe me either, I fought for years to be listened to and it destroyed my life.
But yeah. Let's not believe women and then wonder why they aren't doing so fucking well for the rest of their fucking lives
Well you don't really toss all rational thought away ether. I don't know what you went through, but your personal issues don't actually relate to a valid argument. I don't know if you are trying for a appeal to pity fallacy (argumentum ad misericordiam) or are honestly conflating your personal wellbeing with the level of shits given by random anonymous people on the internet.
I care more about a Nazi tattoo than I do about the same old stupid allegations I always hear about the guy they don’t like. Like it’s so textbook it’s not funny.
Apparently everyone is a rapist. So now the fucking bar is were they raping kids? The president is.
I care less about the tattoo than I do the fact he got a permanent body modification without understanding what he was doing.
That's not the mindset of someone who should be enacting laws that impact the rest of us
Yes, it was a Nazi tattoo in this case, but I wouldn't vote for someone with a language tattoo they can't read either.
It's no wonder Democrats are losers. They panic over a story that can't be confirmed. Republicans still support a guy who forced himself on a 13 y/o girl, probably more than once. Stop this nonsense or remain the party of losers.
These latest accusations are super credible. And when multiple women have come forward saying someone is a sex pest and have contemporaneous documentation corroborating that, it's a little hard to just look past.
Why do we insist on backing the guy with multiple rape allegations and a Nazi tattoo? There's no equally qualified candidate that isn't a rapist?
Ok. Let's elect him anyway. Instead of resigning, let's have him pick a progressive replacement. He can run on the promise of resigning the day after he's sworn in. That would serve justice and support victims.
Yet, something tells me this obvious solution won't make people happy, almost like they're not actually primarily concerned about supporting rape victims...
He can step down now and the Democrats can replace him. Primaries aren't controlled by the state. The party can do what it wants. So why wait?
Because Kamala. If you have to pick someone short notice, you'll end up with another unelectable milquetoast corporate Dem.
I'd rather have a milquetoast corporate Dem than a rapist. I'd vote for one quicker than for a rapist anyways.
You're up against fascists. Your comment translates to
"I'd rather die than fail this purity test"
Credible sexual assault accusations and a Nazi tattoo combined with his blackwater history are indictments on his character. If we're overlooking rape and Nazi shit we'd just be republicans.
Susan Collins isn't a fascist.
I often don't agree with her, but she voted with both the Biden and Obama administrations over 70% of the time.
And I reject that this is a "purity test." This isn't them not aligning 100% with some fringe ideology. This is someone who is literally a rapist. Literally raped real women by force.
If this is the best candidate we can put forward, we deserve to lose.
We all know why, no one wants to say it out loud.
Because he could still be by far the best candidate in the election? Assuming all the allegations are true, if it came down to an election between a supposedly former Nazi sex offender with progressive policies or an open white supremacist with fascist policies that shields rich sex offenders from prosecution, who do you vote for? That's the kind of elections America has now.
He's up against Susan Collins, the most liberal Republican Senator. She votes with the Democrats, like, 70% of the time. And, crucially, doesn't have anyone accusing her of rape.
Edited correction: Has voted with the Democrats 70% of the time during the Obama and Biden administrations. She's been with the Republicans 95% of the time with the Trump admin so far. But it's a weird metric as not all votes are equivalent weighty. But is worth noting the the most bipartisan Dem this cycle (Fetterman) has only sided with the Republicans 44% of the time, so she has historically crossed the aisle more than he has.
This person is a liar. A blatant one at that. Susan Collins votes with Trump 96% of the time, about the same as Mitch McConnell.
https://kdsherpa.substack.com/p/moderate-susan-collins-has-voted
Okay, calling me a liar is strong. I was going off the Wikipedia page for her political positions: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_positions_of_Susan_Collins
This is what I was referring to with the 70%:
And:
A further review does show her voting close to 95% with the Trump presidency: https://votehub.com/trump-score
I do think "Trump Score" is a misleading statistic, in that not all votes are created equal, so knowing which votes someone defected on is almost if not more important than the number of votes. Look at Fetterman. He has a 40% voting rate with the Trump administration, but to hear it here he's basically a Republican with a blue tie.
All that to say, Susan Collins has historically been very moderate, and has had reasonable and nuanced takes on important issues.
Planter has almost certainly raped multiple women.
Would I rather a solid Democrat over Susan Collins? Absolutely. But character matters. And that's true for anybody of either party.
And painting Susan Collins as a far right lunatic is disingenuous at best.
You cherry picked numbers to misrepresent the truth though didn't ya.
And she votes for genocide 100% of the time. Just because Platner is out doesn’t make this ghoul a good option. She voted to acquit Trump in his senate impeachment trial because he “learned his lesson “
Look, I don't like Susan Collins. I'm not saying she's a good choice. I'm saying she's better than Platner.
If the Dems put forward someone who isn't a rapist, I'm all on board.
At the end of the day, character matters. If I have to choose between someone who I disagree with but has morals and someone I generally agree with but is a bad person, I will pick the person with morals.
Paying for the rape and murderer of Palestinians while protecting pedophiles isn’t better. He’s done its not an argument but Collins enables child rapists in. Our government. IDF rapists and genocide.
She only votes against Republican bills when her vote wouldn't matter. Easy to miss
If we have to elect rapists to win then I guess we should lose.
Have some fucking standards and stop acting like electoralism is the end all be all
RAPE EVERYONE OR YOULL LOSE THE ELECTION GAMES!!