this post was submitted on 07 Jul 2026
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108
Ex-girlfriend of Graham Platner says he removed condoms without consent during sex (www.washingtonpost.com)
submitted 13 hours ago* (last edited 11 hours ago) by velma@sh.itjust.works to c/politics@lemmy.world
87 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

Fifield, 41, is the second woman to allege this week that Platner engaged in nonconsensual sexual conduct. Jenny Racicot, 41, who said she previously dated Platner, told The Post and other outlets on Monday that he sexually assaulted her in late 2021, leading a growing number of allies to drop their endorsements and call on him to withdraw from the race for a Maine seat in the U.S. Senate. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont), his most influential and prominent supporter, said he spoke with Platner on Tuesday and urged him to withdraw from his campaign to unseat Susan Collins, the incumbent Republican.

Platner, 41, a Marine Corps veteran and oyster farmer, also denied Racicot’s allegation but said on Monday that he was “mindful of the political reality” that the reporting will “inflict” on his campaign and was “taking the time to reflect on the best path forward.”

Fifield initially told The Post about the alleged condom removal during a June 20 interview that was off the record. She said she decided to speak publicly about it Tuesday in part because, she said, she wanted to show that Racicot was not alone in experiencing issues with Platner involving sexual consent.

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[–] FullPenguin@lemmy.world 27 points 8 hours ago (1 children)

Fifield, who spent 7 years working for the Heritage Foundation and made all of these accusations a few months ago without any evidence, is the reason why people are so hesitant to take the more recent one seriously.

If the Heritage Foundation is doing anything to take you down, you're probably doing something right.

[–] daannii@lemmy.world 9 points 7 hours ago

Heritage foundation.... Yeah they are pretty much all liars . plus aren't they against contraception?

[–] misterred@feddit.online 23 points 10 hours ago

I heard that Susan Collins is dutifully loyal to a guy that ties 13-year-old children down so that he can fuck them without fear of being bitten or scratched.

[–] webadict@lemmy.world 26 points 11 hours ago (5 children)

I don't wanna be that guy, but purposefully removing a condom during sex without consent is rape.

[–] Soup@lemmy.world 3 points 8 hours ago

Why would you not wanna be that guy? That’s the reality of it.

[–] wheezy@lemmy.ml 5 points 9 hours ago

Well then don't be that guy Platner!

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[–] Semi_Hemi_Demigod@lemmy.world 36 points 12 hours ago (1 children)

I hate politics. And this is precisely why.

[–] Tolookah@discuss.tchncs.de 10 points 10 hours ago (1 children)

Yes politics sucks. The sad part is it only gets worse the less you pay attention, but because you're not paying attention, all is good.

This whole thread though feels like two bots arguing about which one is more right.

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[–] tigermountain@lemmy.world 9 points 9 hours ago* (last edited 9 hours ago) (2 children)

How is it that Trump can say he grabs women by the pussy and still become president and Platner is so far only accused of sexual assault and his support is quickly eroding and he's being asked to leave the race? Can it be the Democrats inability to articulate a response to the rigid parameters imposed on behavior by those in the party who insist such adherence is mandatory? The Republican response to Platner staying in the race is a known quantity that can be addressed and diminished even without the mountain of ammunition the Republicans can give Democrats. Yet the Democrats seem completely unprepared for the fight.

[–] wheezy@lemmy.ml 2 points 4 hours ago

I think you're missing the part where the people that supported Platner are no longer going to support him after finding out he's a rapist. The people that supported Trump were fine voting for a rapist. Like, are you actually asking the Democrats to attempt to convince their voters to vote for a rapist? That's where we are at now?

[–] webadict@lemmy.world 13 points 9 hours ago (1 children)

Maybe, and this is me having to think a few seconds... Progressive voters align more with moral behavior than Trump voters? A lot of progressives want things that make people's lives better because they believe it is the right thing, and I would argue that raping people is a thing that they would deem as bad.

Now, if your argument is that this is only an accusation and not proven... That's a little more understandable. I would argue that this most recent accusation seems very credible. It's also kinda fucking weird to say "If they're okay with the child rapist Trump, we should be okay with an adult rapist!" That's better in a way that sort of makes light of rape.

I feel like if you sexually assault someone, you should never be allowed power should not be a controversial opinion, but I fucking bet it is.

[–] wheezy@lemmy.ml 1 points 4 hours ago

I can't believe this had to be said. But thanks. Holy shit. I'm reminded at times like this that a lot of people that follow politics literally just treat it like a team sport. Like, it's entertaining for them but they aren't actually interested in obtaining power to achieve political goals. They just want their team to win.

[–] velma@sh.itjust.works 28 points 13 hours ago (1 children)

She estimated that Platner removed condoms without her consent at least six times when they had sex at both of their residences in D.C. during their two-year, on-and-off relationship. She said she told him that she was upset about it but that he would make light of the situation.

“I confronted him both during and after [sex] because he knew that I was not on birth control and how dangerous that was,” she told The Post in one interview. In another, she said: “He would act like cute about it, like ‘Oh sneaky me.’”

[–] Snowies@lemmy.zip 7 points 9 hours ago

Fucking gross

[–] kescusay@lemmy.world 14 points 12 hours ago (1 children)

If the guy has any actual desire to do good in the world, the best thing he could do now is drop out. Given his stated politics, I figured the tattoo was from when he was young and stupid, like he said, but this shit... People don't outgrow this shit.

He needs to go.

[–] velma@sh.itjust.works 16 points 12 hours ago (2 children)

I dug up his old Reddit comment about rape victims earlier because I was curious and couldn’t quite remember the details:

“Holy fuck, how about people just take some responsibility for themselves and not get so fucked up they wind up having sex with someone they don’t mean to? Men and women, you make a choice to consume enough of a substance to lose your self control. So if you don’t want to be in a comprising situation, act like an adult for fucks sake.”

He needs to drop out.

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[–] Maeve@kbin.earth 3 points 9 hours ago

I maintain if a partner says they are sexually monogamous then has unprotected sex outside the "monogamous" relationship, while continuing to have unprotected sex inside the "monogamous" without giving one or more partners the option of informed consent, that is also SA.

[–] krashmo@lemmy.world 4 points 10 hours ago (2 children)

So are we saying our preferred outcome is for Susan Collins to retain her seat? I have a hard time landing on that as the morally correct choice no matter what is on the other side of the table. I think what does the most good for the most people in this situation is for her to be out of office.

[–] Blibly@lemmy.world 13 points 10 hours ago* (last edited 10 hours ago) (1 children)

Platner should drop out and they should coalesce around Troy Jackson if he wants to run. Appeal to the base that wanted Platner in the first place and focus on forcing that old corpse Collins out no matter what.

[–] krashmo@lemmy.world 6 points 9 hours ago (1 children)

Who is Troy Jackson? I am not from New England so I don't know much about any state politics there.

[–] NuXCOM_90Percent@lemmy.zip 8 points 10 hours ago (1 children)

If platner had a long track record of community organizing and working towards the things he has claimed on his platform? I would still not be able to say "Let's support the rapist nazi" but I would at least understand the logic.

He has no political or leadership track record. He said a few things you want to hear and that is it.

What he DOES have a track record of is lying. Whether it be blatant lies about a "military history buff" reddit user having no idea what Mitchell and Webb's totenkopf is or, ya know, all the rape?

So we have a wildcard candidate where the only thing we know about him is that he is a rapist nazi. MAYBE it is worth getting someone else on that ticket?

[–] krashmo@lemmy.world 4 points 9 hours ago (3 children)

I don't give two shits about Platner. I care about unseating Susan Collins. Platner seems to have the best chance at accomplishing that, as far as I can tell.

Stopping, or at least slowing down, Trump is the ultimate goal. We know Susan Collins won't do that. All her replacement needs to do is vote with Trump less than 90% of the time for it to be a significant win.

If there's a way to get there without Platner I'm all ears, but all I hear right now is talk of letting Republicans keep the seat and that seems like the worst case scenario to me.

[–] SailorFuzz@lemmy.world 3 points 6 hours ago

Platner seems to ~~have~~ the best chance at accomplishing that

HAD the best chance.

Regardless of if the allegations are true or not, Platner has no shot at this point. This will deflate any momentum he had. It is going to disillusion too many that he will not have the enthusastic support needed to beat Collins. His campaign is just too toxic at this point, people arent going to show.

So either we huff copium, and deny that reality until he gets defeated later OR we pivot now while we still have any shot.

[–] Soup@lemmy.world 2 points 8 hours ago (1 children)

Voting against people is what’s given conservatives disguised as centrists power all around the world. Stop being so proudly stupid and actually demand real change. It can be done, but carrying on like you are only adds barriers to progress.

[–] krashmo@lemmy.world 1 points 7 hours ago (1 children)

It's impressive how stupid this comment was, given that most of it was you loudly professing to be smarter than everyone else.

[–] Soup@lemmy.world 2 points 4 hours ago

Woof.

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[–] betterdeadthanreddit@lemmy.world 4 points 11 hours ago* (last edited 11 hours ago) (1 children)

~~Bad archive service that edits stored content and uses visitors to DDoS a website.~~

[–] velma@sh.itjust.works 7 points 11 hours ago (1 children)

Actually really good point, I meant to grab the original Washington Post link anyway. It's updated.

[–] Maeve@kbin.earth 3 points 9 hours ago

Yet I use that site often and when I've looked into network traffic, the only high traffic comes from one of my devices.

[–] breakfastmtn@lemmy.ca 7 points 13 hours ago

Original link:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2026/07/07/ex-girlfriend-graham-platner-says-he-removed-condoms-without-consent/

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