Former Maine Democratic Senate nominee Graham Platner, who suspended his campaign last month in the face of sexual assault allegations, is expected to speak at a Labor Day event next month ― and his accusers are not pleased.
Platner is slated to speak at the “Labor Day Rally for Labor” event on Sept. 7 in Ellsworth, Maine, The Bangor Daily News first reported Thursday.
The event is listed on the Hancock County Democrats website, though the latter has emphasized it was not involved in planning the rally. The group also appears to have removed references to Platner from the event listing and deleted social media posts advertising his presence at the event.
A spokesperson for the Hancock County Democrats wrote in an email to JS that the group had been made aware of Platner’s planned speech at the rally and shared it on its website to inform people, but didn’t have any additional information.
Acadia Action, which is organizing the rally alongside its affiliate group Hancock County Activists, did not immediately respond to a request for more information.
Jenny Racicot and Lyndsey Fifield, two women who spoke to The New York Times about dating Platner, called the Labor Day event “a slap in the face” in a statement to CNN’s Jake Tapper.
“While Graham’s behavior is disappointing, it’s hardly surprising,” the statement read. “What is surprising is that there are people who are still willing to give him a platform despite his refusal to take any accountability for his actions.”
AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty
Platner ended his campaign last month after Politico reported on sexual assault allegations from an ex who accused him of entering her home uninvited and assaulting her in 2021. Several other women who previously dated Platner also came forward with alarming allegations that he denied.
Shortly after launching his Senate campaign last year, it was revealed that Platner had a Nazi symbol tattooed on his chest, which he later covered up and apologized for.
The oyster farmer and former combat veteran also apologized for his prior victim-blaming comments on Reddit that people who are “so worried” about rape shouldn’t over-consume alcohol, and that “anyone who actually thinks the military is purposefully covering up rape” is an “idiot.”
After Platner formally announced he was suspending his bid for Congress, Maine Democrats hosted a special convention and nominated former state Senator Troy Jackson as the Democratic Senate nominee.
Jackson will face incumbent Sen. Susan Collins (R) in a race that Democrats see as key to regaining control of the Senate.
Cheyenne Hunt, executive director of national advocacy group Reckoning Action, called Platner’s scheduled speech “disgusting and deeply damaging” in a post on X.
“Graham Platner is trying to make a comeback,” she wrote. “We’ve heard from local organizers that he’s reaching out, attacking the credibility of the survivors who exposed him.”
“Platforming him does nothing but hurt the party and our chances of defeating Susan Collins,” Hunt said.