President Donald Trump weighed in on the sexual assault allegations facing Maine Democrat Graham Platner, pointing out the accusations of abuse from a woman who worked in conservative politics were not taken as seriously as the latest claims from another woman.
Speaking to reporters shortly before Platner announced that he would suspend his campaign on Wednesday evening, Trump made clear it would be difficult for Democrats to replace their nominee after he won the June primary election.
“So, he won the primary… It’s very hard for them to [replace Platner]. It’s really a question on whether or not you believe the woman,” the president said to the press pool on Air Force One, before adding, “A lot of people say big falsehoods.”
Continuing on to say Platner is “in a bind,” Trump predicted that he would lose anyways if he remained in the race against incumbent Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME).
Trump then compared the Democrat Party’s reaction to the troubling rape allegations made by a woman Platner dated in 2021 that recently came out a month after multiple other women — including one who worked on the other side of the political aisle — shared their own accusations regarding the Senate candidate’s behavior to the New York Times.
“It’s very interesting, when a Republican woman came out with the same charge, nobody believed them,” the president said, referring to Lyndsey Fifield, a staffer on former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley’s 2024 presidential campaign who dated Platner from 2013 to 2015.
“When this woman came out, everybody believed her,” Trump remarked about the new allegations from Jenny Racicot, a Maine Democrat who recently accused Platner of raping her when they were in a casual relationship five years ago.
Fifield, an outspoken conservative on social media, told the Times just before the primary that Platner “could be rough” with her and alleged that he “regularly grabbed her by the shoulders — sometimes hard enough to leave marks.”
She also alleged Platner “twisted her arm behind her back, shoved her into a bedroom, and held the door closed from the other side so she couldn’t get out.”
The Times article detailed allegations from two other women, including Racicot. In that June 4 article, the 41-year-old woman stated that Platner arrived at her house drunk in 2021, after she had asked him not to come over.
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“She declined to elaborate, but said she cut off contact soon after that episode and found his behavior ‘reckless’ and ‘unsettling,’” the article states.
In the latest bombshell that became the reason behind Platner suspending his campaign, Racicot told Politico that Platner raped her when he entered her home uninvited.
“I remember him grabbing my pelvis and being really forceful of me,” she told the outlet. “I remember the specific moment where I thought to myself, like, ‘This is no longer my choice.’”
Racicot explained that she held off on sharing those alleged details in her previous interview with the Times because she did not want to be known as a rape victim, and further explained to CNN that she also hesitated because she agrees with his politics. Her accusations prompted Democrats who previously supported Platner, including close allies Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) and Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA), to publicly denounce him.
Fifield also expanded on her experiences with Platner in an article published Tuesday, alleging to the Washington Post he stealthily pulled condoms off during sex, knowing that she was not on birth control.
According to the Post, Fifield initially made that allegation during a June 20 interview that was off the record, but she decided to make it public in part because “she wanted to show that Racicot was not alone in experiencing issues with Platner involving sexual consent.”
Platner has continued to deny all allegations of wrongdoing by his accusers, and reiterated his claims of innocence in a video that also announced the suspension of his campaign:
“As many of you know, over the past couple days, I have faced some very serious allegations,” he began in the video. “I just want to make it clear: this is all false. The things that have been claimed did not happen. It’s not real.”
Platner further claimed that the “corporate media” and “political establishment” acted as judge and jury without allowing him a full investigation into the allegations.
“We are suspending campaign operations,” he stated in the video. “I want to make clear, though: I intend to file my paperwork to withdraw.”
He also clarified that dropping out of the race is not an admission of guilt, saying, “We’re not doing it because of the allegations, we’re doing it because of the structures that are being taken away from us by those in power.”
The Maine Democrat Party has until July 27 to replace Platner on the ballot, according to state law.
The party approved a plan on Wednesday, shortly before Platner’s announcement, to choose the replacement candidate in a state party convention.
The party approved tentative plans for a nominating convention that would include roughly 600 people who would be selected by county-level Democrat committees, Politico reported.
Olivia Rondeau is a politics reporter for Breitbart News based in Washington, DC. Find her on X/Twitter and Instagram.
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