‘I knew in that moment I wasn’t safe’: 5 takeaways from CNN interview with woman accusing Platner of sexual assault
Graham Platner’s insurgent campaign for Maine’s senate seat is injeopardy after a former girlfriend accused him of sexual assault.
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Jenny Racicot, a 41-year old Maine resident, alleged Monday that Platner entered her home while the two were dating in 2021 and forced himself on her while intoxicated, despite her protests.
Platner, who won the state’s Democratic primary last month, emphatically denied the allegations in a video released Monday, adding that “any accusation of non-consensual behavior is categorically false.”
He did not, however, commit to remaining in the Senate race, saying he was “mindful of the political reality” brought on by the allegations.
Racicot, whose accusations against Platner were first reported by Politico, said in an interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper on Monday, that the alleged attack happened at her home in Downeast Maine five years ago.
Here are five takeaways from the interview.
She alleged that Platner had been drinking
Racicot said she had been seeing Platner casually for about two years when the alleged assault occurred. She saidthe two had been texting back and forth and that Platner had “taken something that I said as an invitation [to come over], and that’s not how I meant it.”
She said Platner did not respond to a follow-up message, arrived at her home a half hour later, and entered through her unlocked front door.
Racicot said that Platner jumped on top of her andshe quickly realized he was acting “different,” adding that he smelled of alcohol and appeared “heavily intoxicated.”
(Platner has previously acknowledged struggling with alcohol abuse, which he has characterized as self-medication stemming from his combat service and post-traumatic stress disorder.)
Racicot said her protests seemed to fall on deaf ears.
“That blank stare is kind of like a photographic memory that I still have of that night,” she said. “That was me recognizing what the situation was. It wasn’t just, ‘hey someone showed up, I’m going to tell him to go home.’ He was heavily intoxicated, had intentions with me, and wasn’t listening when I said no.”
Platner knew on some level he lacked consent, she said
Racicot suggested that, even in his intoxicated state, Platner showed glimpses “in moments” that he was awarehe was doing something wrong.
“It was this weird mix of … coming to, and [then] falling back into that drunken, ‘I don’t know what I’m doing’ state,” she said. “He would apologize in those moments, and then go back to doing what he was doing.”
As the situation escalated, Racicot said she explicitly told Platner to stop. At one point, she said, she remembered swatting away his hand and telling him not to touch her.
“It got to the point where I was like, ‘I feel like I’ve said this enough times. He’s not listening to me, he’s not hearing me,’” she said, adding that “I don’t believe that you can think that that scenario is consensual.”
She said she feared for her safety
Once she recognized that Platner was drunk and wasn’t listening to her, “I knew in that moment I wasn’t safe,” she said.
Platner has alsofaced allegations from another former girlfriend that he grabbed her forcefully during their relationship, although she said he never hit or punched her. He acknowledged “not being a good boyfriend” but denied acting violently towards his former partners.
Racicot said that although her previous encounters with Platner had been consensual, she knew that she wouldn’t be able to fight back physically.
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”I don’t know what this person is capable of,” she recalled thinking. “Even people you know for years, you don’t know the depth of what they’re capable of. I didn’t want to find out how unsafe, how harmed I could be that night.”
She said she chose not to resist the alleged attack “for my safety.”
“Complying is not consenting,” she added. “It’s getting it over with.”
She said she has not talked to Platner since
After the alleged rape, Racicot said she chose to let Platner sleep at her home rather than call the police or force him to drive home while intoxicated. But in the morning, she said she was shocked when Platner woke up and went to put his arm around her.
“I was like, ‘whoa,’” she said. “[It was me] realizing that this person doesn’t know that what happened isn’t OK.”
Racicot told him to leave and said she never wanted to speak to him again. Platner left without arguing or asking her any questions about the night before, she said.
“How can somebody that you’ve been in some type of a relationship with for this long tell you to never speak to [them] again about something you did, and you don’t even ask [them] what you did?” she said.
Racicot said that after a few weeks, she sent Platner a final message, which he did not respond to, and then blocked his phone number and social media.
“This is a person I have known and have trusted and have had [a]very consensual relationship all along,” she said. “Until it wasn’t. That was a really hard thing to understand.”
She said she agrees with his politics
Platner’s campaign has suggested that previous accusations against him have been politically motivated. Racicot, however, said she “couldn’t disagree more” with that notion.
”I’m not mad at anyone who has voted for him all along,” she said. “If he wasn’t who he was, I would be voting for him as well.”
Racicot, who said she was a Democrat, added that she “really agree[d]” with Platner’s politics, and that his platform of change resonated with her and many of her neighbors.
“I like the things that he speaks about,” she said. “They’re important to people, [and] I’m one of those people.”
By coming forward with her allegations, she feared undermining his campaign, she said.
The alleged attack was previously alluded to in a New York Times story published days before last month’s Democratic primary, which Platner won overwhelmingly won his closest competitor, Governor Janet Mills, suspended her campaign.
But prominent Democrats are now calling on him to drop out of the race before a filing deadline next week, which would allow another candidate to replace him on the November ballot.
Racicot stopped short of urging people not to vote for Platner but said her story should “give a clearer picture of who he is and the type of past that he has.”
“I just think it’s fair to the democratic process to let people know who they’re voting for,” she said.
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