Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), a top backer of Maine Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner, is so far declining to say whether he will stand by his protege after the emergence of new and damaging allegations of sexual assault were leveled against him on Monday.
Sanders’s silence comes as Platner’s support on Capitol Hill and beyond is crumbling in the wake of revelations from a woman who dated Platner but says he sexually assaulted her while drunk five years ago.
Recommended Stories
Sanders has been one of Platner’s most staunch advocates since launching his campaign, but his office declined to comment when contacted by the Washington Examiner.
Our Revolution, a progressive group affiliated with Sanders, called on Platner to suspend his campaign.
“Everyone deserves a fair and open process, and Graham Platner is entitled to due process like anyone else,” the organization wrote. “But the allegations against him are credible, and at this point are too serious to treat as a distraction from the campaign or the issues. Sexual violence is a red line.”
“We are withdrawing our endorsement and calling on him to withdraw from the race,” Our Revolution wrote.
The organization emphasized that this is not an “opening” for the Democratic establishment, calling for the next candidate to have “actually lived the fight Graham Platner ran on.”
The Maine Democrat has lost the endorsements of some of his biggest supporters, such as Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) and Sens. Ruben Gallego (D-CA) and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), all calling for him to drop out of the race. The Maine Democratic Party echoed these sentiments.
“Over the past several weeks, multiple women have made serious, credible allegations against Graham Platner. Today’s statements take those allegations even further,” Maine Democratic Party leadership wrote in a statement. “Maine Democratic Party leadership is calling on Graham Platner to withdraw as the Democratic nominee for U.S. senate.”
RO KHANNA AND RUBEN GALLEGO PULL PLATNER ENDORSEMENTS AFTER SEXUAL ASSAULT ALLEGATIONS
Platner hasn’t withdrawn, but he posted a video 11 minutes after the Politico story was released, saying he was taking time to “reflect” on his campaign’s “best path forward.”
“We are taking the time to reflect on the best path forward for the state that I love, the people that I love, the movement I belong to, and the goal of defeating Susan Collins,” Platner said in the video.
