Several women who previously dated Maine Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner described troubling behavior in a New York Times profile, while Platner denied allegations involving physical intimidation and prior knowledge of his tattoo’s Nazi association.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
Maine Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Graham Platner is denying allegations from a former girlfriend who described physically intimidating behavior during their relationship and questioned his explanation about a tattoo linked to Nazi imagery.
The allegations surfaced in a New York Times profile that interviewed several women who previously dated Platner, who is running to unseat Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine. The report added to scrutiny surrounding Platner after earlier controversy over a skull tattoo associated with the Totenkopf symbol.
Lyndsey Fifield, a conservative commentator who dated Platner from 2013 to 2015, told the outlet that Platner could be rough with her while discussing violence, though she said he never physically assaulted her.
“He said this a lot: If anybody ever broke in here, I would rape them,” Fifield told the Times.
Fifield also alleged that during one argument, 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, telling her to remain there until she was ‘calm.’”
The Platner campaign did not deny that he made the remarks Fifield described, but strongly disputed allegations involving physical intimidation.
Fifield also questioned Platner’s claim that he did not know the meaning of the tattoo, saying he sometimes referred to it as “my Totenkopf.” A former acquaintance previously gave a similar account to Jewish Insider.
At least two other women who dated Platner described what the Times called “patterns of heavy drinking and womanizing.” Maine Democrat Jenny Raciot, who dated him from 2019 to 2021, described his conduct during their relationship as “reckless” and “unsettling.”
The Times also interviewed women who described more positive experiences with Platner while dating him.
In a statement to the outlet, Platner said that during “a very dark period of my life,” he had “too often self medicated with alcohol, and was far from a perfect boyfriend.”
“I take responsibility for all of that, and wish I had been better,” Platner told the Times. “Any characterization beyond that is false, and I believe, politically motivated. I’m not proud of who I was then, but I am proud of the work I’ve done since, and the movement we are building.”
Platner later appeared on MS NOW’s “All In” and told host Chris Hayes that the allegations involving physical conduct and his alleged knowledge of the tattoo’s meaning were “not true.” A video of the interview was published Thursday.
Hayes read from the Times account, including Fifield’s allegations that Platner grabbed her by the shoulders, sometimes hard enough to leave marks, pulled her from a cab by the wrist and, during an argument, pushed her into a room and held the door closed.
“Did that happen?” Hayes asked.
“No, it did not,” Platner said. “There are some allegations in this piece that I just want to be kind of unequivocal about, are simply not true. Anything alleging physicality, anything alleging that I knew what my tattoo was, these are the statements of someone who’s politically motivated. In this piece, there’s a lot about my struggling not being a good boyfriend, certainly self-medicating with alcohol. And I’ve been very up front since the beginning of this campaign that that was a pretty dark period of my life after I came back from my combat service. And that’s what that combat– that’s what that kind of life looks like. And so there are things in this that I absolutely will take responsibility for and have been speaking about openly for months now. But those serious allegations are just not true.”
Hayes followed up by asking whether Platner denied grabbing Fifield by the wrist, putting his hands on her shoulders or pushing her into a room and closing the door.
“Yes,” Platner said. “That is not true.”
Hayes also pressed Platner on Fifield’s claim that he had referred to the tattoo as “Mein Totenkopf,” and on the earlier Jewish Insider report citing an anonymous acquaintance who said Platner used the same phrase. Hayes asked whether Platner knew what the tattoo represented before October, when he said he first became aware of its meaning.
“No, I did not,” Platner said. “And I also think it’s important to note that it’s very likely. And I think that she has that same source. She’s the person who’s been telling people this from the beginning. And it’s a so I feel like you know, we’re kind of rehashing the thing we’ve been through. I had that tattoo for 17 years. It’s a skull and crossbones. I got it with other Marines who I served with in Iraq. In Croatia. And in the time that I had it, I got a security clearance with the State Department. I re-enlist in the United States Army, where I was screened for gang and hate tattoos. And I took my shirt off in front of my family, many of whom are Jewish. We even released as a campaign a video which you’re putting up on the screen right now of me dancing at my brother’s wedding to his wife, who is Jewish and her fully extended Jewish family. And I would not have taken my shirt off in that context if I had known. And so any statement saying that I did know is, this, again, totally false.”
The allegations and Platner’s denials come as his campaign faces renewed attention over his personal history, military background, alcohol use after combat service and the tattoo controversy. Platner has said he accepts responsibility for past struggles and conduct he considers wrong, while rejecting accusations that he physically intimidated Fifield or knowingly displayed a Nazi-linked symbol.
Original article
Comments