There is no other way to say this, Graham Platner has to drop out. Earlier today, Politico released an exclusive documenting the allegation that Platner, 41, sexually assaulted a Maine resident, Jenny Racicot.1 This new report, extensive in its detail, comes amid a long-standing record of alleged malfeasance by Platner and merits only one reaction: complete and total rejection. Platner is not fit for public office.

The Allegations and a Pattern

On Monday, Politico’s Jessica Piper and Adam Wren released a detailed report alleging, among other things, that Platner had assaulted a woman he dated. The woman, Jenny Raicot, alleged that Platner forced his way into her home despite her texting him to tell him not to come over.

In her three interviews with Piper and Wren, Raicot explained that:

That night in late 2021, she said she had exchanged text messages with him and told him not to come over, saying she wasn’t in the mood for company. Later that evening, she said she realized when she heard a sound on the stairs that he had let himself into her house, which was unlocked.

Platner came up the stairs, Racicot said, to where she was on a couch. He got on top of her and kept grabbing her, she said, while she repeatedly told him to stop and that she wasn’t interested. Racicot said she smelled alcohol on his breath and believed he was “almost blackout drunk” because Platner ignored her protests and continued to grab her after knocking over an antique sewing kit, spilling small needles everywhere.

“I had been telling him these words, like: ‘No, don’t,’” she recalled.

“And, the look on his face and realizing what was happening, I just realized that, like, I am in a situation where there’s no consent here,” she said.

Platner denies the allegations and is currently reviewing whether or not he will continue to run, but the evidence and pattern of behavior make clear what must happen.2 His candidacy is done.

These allegations don’t come out of nowhere. Taken together, these reports paint a picture of a candidate whose conduct and treatment of women have repeatedly raised red flags. Over the course of his Senate bid, Platner faced a series of disturbing allegations. Previously, the Wall Street Journal reported that Platner had sent sexually explicit texts to women despite being married, something his wife, Amy Gertner, had flagged to campaign staff. 34

In another report, The New York Times reported that multiple women who’d dated Platner described him as “toxic” and “cavalierly contemptuous of women’s emotions...” One of the women, Lyndsey Fifield, a conservative activist, also asserted that Platner was aware of the meaning of his chest tattoo, a Totenkopf, a well-established Nazi symbol. Platner previously said that he didn’t know what it meant when he got it. 5

Some may argue that because Fifield is a conservative activist, her testimony is not credible. Let me be clear, partisan or ideological identification or activity is not grounds for ignoring allegations of predatory behavior. It is one thing to be skeptical, but outright dismissal is dangerous. Allegations must be evaluated based on evidence, not ideology or partisan loyalty. Women coming forward must be given the room to have their claims assessed on the merits of evidence, not rapid tribalism and misogynistic smears.

There are plenty of men who are willing and able to pursue positions of power while hiding behind progressive politics. Demanding more of men in these spaces is a necessity to prevent this very situation.

How Not to Respond to Assault Allegations

Already, some are seeking to downplay the allegations against Platner, arguing that they are part of an establishment media smear campaign against him. The Young Turks’ Cenk Uygur posted a series of tweets defending Platner, arguing that the media is seeking to sink Platner while failing to investigate his opponent, Senator Susan Collins (R-MA). 6

While I am no fan of Senator Collins, there is no excuse for this line of reasoning. Multiple women have gone on the record to describe Platner’s excessive drinking, disturbing comments about rape, and infidelity, and now one woman, who put her name on the line in the very state Platner seeks to represent, has accused him of sexual assault. Senator Collins has nothing to do with that. It has everything to do with Platner and his unfitness for public office.

Taking that seriously is not an issue for the establishment; it is a human rights issue. Women have a right to be heard with dignity and respect, and their allegations of misconduct against figures in our politics, particularly men, deserve due respect, especially when they are against people we want to see elected.

Nor is it the first time Democrats have had to deal with this kind of allegation and weak denial. As Paige F noted in a recent video detailing Platner’s denial, Eric Swalwell also played this game of faux shock.7 These denials are insulting.

@currentaffairsunfilteredGraham Platner has got to go. #politics #podcast #maine #senate

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If America is to achieve a more egalitarian and free state, it must take women’s allegations against men seriously. Not tomorrow, not in some hypothetical future, but now. Progressive campaigns, institutions, and activists must do better.

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Conclusion

The fact of the matter is that Graham Platner is not fit for office. Whatever your politics, principles, or belief systems, calling for Platner to drop out is the bare minimum. Our nation is already being led by men who have shown their consistent disregard for women’s dignity; there is no reason for us to make that worse by allowing new predators into the leadership of the Democratic Party.

I wish I could say that these revelations lower the bar for how men in politics have conducted themselves, but the bar is in hell. If we are to raise it even slightly, then Platner and men like him must be driven from the party post haste. Believe women.

Footnotes

7

Fullman, Paige. “Graham Platner Has to Go.” TikTok video, 2026.

@currentaffairsunfilteredGraham Platner has got to go. #politics #podcast #maine #senate

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.

The Fourth of July is coming, and for many Americans, it feels less like a celebration of greatness and more like a sad display of pride. American pride has dripped consistently, and with it, many, especially those on the left, have raised a serious question: is there any reason to be patriotic? Is America even worth fighting for? Though the nation is suffering from an increasing slide in authoritarianism and corruption, my answer remains and will hopefully always remain an emphatic yes.

America’s Growing Pessimism

The country is increasingly feeling less pride in itself. A June poll showed that an estimated 33% say they are “extremely proud” to be an American, with another 23% describing themselves as “very proud,” down from 2025 and 2024.1 Many Americans are understandably seeing the corruption of the current administration and are appalled by it, even with partisanship influencing public opinion.

And who can blame them? Earlier this week, the New York Times reported that Trump had realized a remarkable $1.4 billion in gains from his crypto investments last year.2 Such a conflict of interest is not only galling in that the president is not bothering to avoid even the appearance of impropriety, but also has no problem making money while he governs the very markets he is investing in, though he claims that he “never speak[s] to any of the people that run the money.”

Even more than its corruption, the Trump administration’s ongoing cruelty remains a serious issue that compounds with each passing day. From sending nonviolent offenders to brutal prisons in El Salvador to considering institutionalizing disabled people, this administration has shown a remarkable willingness to enact inhumane policies. 34 It is no wonder that many Americans feel less than inspired by our current state of affairs.

Yet hope remains.

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Why I am Still Proud to be An American

Despite all the cruelty of the current administration, I am increasingly of the opinion that American pride should be divorced from the government and its influence. Every American must endeavor to answer to their own conscience and be willing to fight and endure for those ideas, even when it is unpopular. The famed American writer, Mark Twain, made a similar observation, saying:

“Each must for himself alone decide what is right and what is wrong and which course is patriotic and which isn't. You cannot shirk this and be a man. To decide it against your convictions is to be an unqualified and inexcusable traitor, both to yourself and to your country, let men label you as they may. If you alone of all the nation shall decide one way, and that way be the right way, you have done your duty yourself and by your country - hold up your head! You have nothing to be ashamed of.” 5

And many Americans have done just that, showing up across this nation and abroad to oppose the corruption and xenophobia that are dripping from this administration’s rotting maw. Nearly 8 million Americans marched in the No Kings Protest earlier this year, rallying America in the largest single-day protest in American history, against Trump and his fascistic movement.6 More recently, an Air Force Major was arrested while carrying a sign outside the Lincoln Memorial, publicly calling for Trump’s impeachment in uniform, knowing full well that that was going to be the outcome. 7 Americans are more than willing to fight the Trump administration, and they will not stop anytime soon.

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Nor are the majority of the American people the hateful and fearful people that Trump has attempted to portray us as. The United States is currently hosting the World Cup, and video after video has shown guests from around the world enjoying American culture, and more importantly, its people.

As Paige F from the excellent newsletter She Knows the Score, noted, our guests:

“…are discovering that Americans are generally kind. Most people are eager to help a lost tourist find their way. That our cities are more diverse than they imagined (and how valuable that diversity is) and our communities more welcoming than they expected. They are discovering that the same country capable of exporting political chaos also exports barbecue, baseball, state fairs, and an inexplicable obsession with putting ranch dressing on absolutely everything.

America’s greatest strength has never been perfection. It has always been its people. 8

As Paige rightly notes throughout her article, patriotism is not merely blind support for an administration or government or jingoistic nationalism. It is, at its core, a desire to see the best in one’s country and the willingness to pursue it to the fullest, even if it is difficult. The willingness to fight remains, and with it, patriotism.

Conclusion

I understand that many Americans will see this as naive, and perhaps it is, but in my humble opinion, it is better to hold on to a defiant hope for a better future and the movement to fight for that future than to engage in despair. Despair doesn’t motivate or organize; it keeps people passive and hopeless. We must never be passive.

If America is to improve and become something that inspires pride in subsequent generations, then Americans must hold onto the ideal of defiance and resistance. America is at its best when it rejects the idea that might makes right, and from what I have seen on the streets of this nation, the American people are beginning to reject that idea and will continue to do so. America isn’t done yet.

Robert Mueller, the former FBI director and special counsel in the Russia investigation, has died.1 Just a day after Mueller’s family announced his passing, President Trump decided to celebrate his death.2 The display of crass hatred is part of a larger pattern of reckless and cruel conduct that would damage most presidents’ careers, but this is who Donald Trump is. This is who leads us now.

What Did He Say?

On his platform, Truth Social, Donald Trump announced Mueller’s death in the most absurd way possible, posting: “Robert Mueller just died. Good, I’m glad he’s dead. He can no longer hurt innocent people!” Celebrating a person’s death is unacceptable, especially when the death is so fresh in the minds of family members and loved ones who have just lost someone dear to them.

Despite this, the President of the United States openly and publicly mocked Mueller with no condolences for his family. There was no attempt at human empathy, no display of concern or care for what this death meant to the Muellers or the country.

This is not the rhetoric of a President— or even a responsible citizen. It is the rhetoric of a petty, reckless man who sees any opposition—no matter how minor that opposition is—as inherently illegitimate and undesirable. It is that same zero-sum thinking that has been guiding Trump, both in his first term and in his current administration.

Cruelty is the Point

Since Donald Trump first came down the escalator in 2015, his politics have been unabashedly dehumanizing. He started his campaign by saying, “When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best…They’re not sending you…They’re sending people that have lots of problems, and they’re bringing those problems with us. They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists.”3

The dehumanization of people, regardless of accuracy, was always part of the Trump brand. It’s why he insists on pointing to critics of ICE raids as threats and criminals.4 It is why he calls Democrats and Americans on the left “the greatest enemy America has…” This is dangerous.

That rhetoric is not healthy for a republic, and it only further incentivizes violence. There can be disagreements among partisan actors, differences of opinion on the Mueller report, but when someone’s very existence is seen as illegitimate, peaceful discourse becomes harder to maintain. If America is to heal and to grow beyond this authoritarian era, this kind of rhetoric must be rejected entirely.

Democrats and Americans across the board must force every Republican politician to answer for this rhetoric. Our country deserves better than this. We deserve better than this. Anything less is a failure.

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In the face of the overwhelming corruption plaguing our nation and in the face of the unmitigated authoritarianism of the current administration, it can feel as though our nation is going down a path with no way out. That feeling, while understandable, especially after the deaths of Alex Pretti and Renee Good, must never overtake us. This is why protests against the Trump administration matter.

Background

On Saturday, I attended a weekly protest outside a Tesla dealership, calling for the end of the ICE raids, Elon Musk’s right-wing agenda, and, of course, the end of Trump’s horrendously corrupt and racist presidency. I have previously attended such protests and was at the ‘No Kings’ Rally in my hometown last year.

However, while most of the responses we received at today’s protest were largely positive, my hometown is increasingly opposed to the administration, and some gave the usual responses to peaceful protest. Phrases like “get a job” were yelled at us, along with the expected middle fingers, while the perpetrators ignored the importance of civil disobedience and the fact that it was a Saturday.

That response and the fact that some continue to feel the protests are pointless annoyances are precisely why I went.

Protest is a right and a resource

As I mentioned before, many Americans feel they have no means to make their voices heard or to organize, but while I was outside, I met numerous people who not only shared their experiences and motivations for opposing the administration, but also organized within their local community. One gentleman even handed me a series of cards with useful responses for dealing with ICE in the event of a confrontation. These ‘know your rights’ cards are part of a larger movement in my area called Immigrant Solidarity DuPage, which seeks to “Educate, organize, and mobilize DuPage County around the rights and collective struggles of the Latino community.”

It is through these kinds of connections that people can help protect themselves, should they ever need to, but also to protect their community. Learning about new resources by networking within your local community is not only necessary but central to being able to assist others who may need help in turn.

It is one thing to look for a big, national movement —and those pushes are important—but it is also important to look for the smaller, more personal elements of resistance. Helping spread information, ensuring everyone knows their rights, and making sure the attention on threats to the local scene are critical to ensuring that this administration doesn’t get away with its current policies.

Staying connected

I started this article focusing on the danger of fear and apathy, the feeling of helplessness that can consume us in the face of the horrors of this administration, but protesting, especially with people who are just as angry and frustrated as you are, serves as a reminder that we are not alone in this fight. We are not fighting this administration as singular, isolated individuals. We are fighting this as a community and as a nation.

More Americans oppose this administration than support it, and that matters not only for our nation’s conscience but also for the long-term trajectory of this fight. Come November, the Trump administration will likely be forced into lame duck status, and there will almost certainly be investigations into the crimes committed by ICE. However, that requires each of us to get involved and make our voices heard before they can silence us.

If you want to get involved, please consider joining your local Indivisible group and finding new events in your area. You can find out if you have an Indivisible chapter here. The American experiment isn’t going anywhere so long as there are Americans willing to fight for it.

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The United States has violated international law and captured Venezuelan head of state Nicholás Maduro. The attack, which took place on Saturday, …

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Russia is not interested in peace, and it is time the current administration acts like it. On Saturday, Russian forces attacked Kyiv, killing two and wounding thirty-two people. The attacks, which come amid negotiations between the United States, Ukraine, and Russia, are yet another sign that Russia is not intereste…

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Two people were killed at Brown University last Saturday. The shooting, which comes amid a flurry of conspiracy theories and claims of political persecution, left two dead and nine wounded, with the …

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The GOP is in danger, and a victory in a Tennessee special election serves as a major warning about why. Despite currently holding a trifecta in government and winning a key special election, Republicans are facing a disturbing reality: they will likely lose the midterms, and it won’t be pretty.

What’s Happening in Te…

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Marjorie Taylor Greene, the infamous right-wing conspiracy theorist turned Congresswoman, is resigning. In a shock announcement on Twitter, the Georgia congresswoman said she would not run for reelection and …

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In a blatant display of authoritarian sword-rattling, President Donald Trump has publicly accused several prominent Democrats of sedition and called for their execution. The posts in question, which appeared on Truth Social, the President’s soc…

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In a display of the right’s growing disdain for the press, a North Carolina Republican official tried to bury a negative story by threatening a reporter. It is yet another example of the authoritarian spirit overtaking the Republican Party.

Threats and Defensiveness

The reporter, ProPublica’s Doug Bock Clark, was writing a p…

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The former officer who shot and killed Sonya Massey, Sean Grayson, was found guilty of second-degree murder on Wednesday, October 29^th, 2025. The judgment, which the Massey family called “some measure” of justice for Sonya, is yet another flashpoint of police brutality in America. While it is good to see that G…

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The country is in crisis, former President Biden said on Sunday. In a speech in Boston, the former President warned that the current administration’s attacks on Freedom of Speech and its expansion of the executive branch’s p…

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Good afternoon everyone,

I hope you are doing well. As some of you may know, I have been away from publishing as of late and haven’t produced a lot of content this month. This is for two reasons:

1. I am currently working on a petition campaign for a state senator, and unfortunately, I am unable to dedicate as much care to writing as I usually would.

2. I’ve …

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I am uncertain whether this article will achieve its intended outcome. Quite frankly, after the recent assassination of Conservative commentator and TPUSA founder, Charlie Kirk, it seems as though we are at a point where words have lost their power. Nonetheless, I feel…

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I also deeply appreciated Mr. Halperin’s focus on the role religion played in his book because both of the men he was writing this book about, Kurt Ver Beek and Carlos Hernández, come from a faith background, and it was nice to see Christianity discussed in a manner that focuses less on culture war issues and more on helping people in need.

Thank you to everyone who tuned into my live video! Join me for my next live video and get notified by subscribing to my newsletter!

Good afternoon everyone,

I hope you are doing well. I just wanted to announce that my previously planned interview with Ross Halperin was rescheduled for this Saturday at 2 PM CST. We will be discussing his book "Bear Witness: The Pursuit of Justice in a Violent Land," and the role Christianity played in Honduras in the…

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Gerrymandering continues to disrupt American politics and society. In a blatant display of corruption, Texas Republicans are attempting to rewrite congressional districts in Texas, hoping to cut out five Democratic seats in the state. Such a move would not only help the GOP protect its slim majority in the House, but…

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The emperor wears no clothes. In yet another display of erratic and unbecoming behavior as President of the United States, D…

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