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.

  • SaveTheTuaHawk@lemmy.ca
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    1 hour ago

    so both these accusers were “raped” in 2021. So why wait until now.

    Why is Platner such a threat to the old Democrats?

      • velma@sh.itjust.worksOP
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        40 minutes ago

        It’s like we all collectively forgot about Me Too or it wasn’t nearly as effective as we wanted it to be.

        I’m incredibly disappointed in the reaction from some on the left to this issue.

  • FullPenguin@lemmy.world
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    14 hours ago

    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.

    • Scotty_Trees@lemmy.world
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      32 minutes ago

      So Maine’s choices are an alleged sexual assualter or a known and confirmed adjudicated rapist and 99.9% likely a pedo protector known as Susan Collins? Two extremely shitty choices, I’ll admit.

    • daannii@lemmy.world
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      13 hours ago

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

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    16 hours ago

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

      • jpreston2005@lemmy.world
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        1 hour ago

        Removing a condom during sex without consent, known as “stealthing,” is classified as a form of sexual assault in several countries, including Britain, Canada and parts of Australia. In the United States, Maine, California and Washington state have laws that address the nonconsensual removal of condoms during sex.

        There is another term for it, however, it still fits the bill as rape.

      • Smoogs@lemmy.world
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        2 hours ago

        we’re not here to censore violence and minimize what happened to an actual victim of violence because your sensitive ears cant hear it. you and your delicate ears are not the victim here. the rape victim is. stop making their trajedy about your ears.

        be a better person than this.

          • velma@sh.itjust.worksOP
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            1 hour ago

            Then don’t be. Rape is too overloaded. Find a more descriptive term.

            We don’t need to load any BS into your words, there’s plenty on display.

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        2 hours ago

        I don’t wanna be that guy, but it is rape. If you think that it isn’t, it’s on you to find the descriptive term, not me.

        • Modern_medicine_isnt@lemmy.world
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          1 hour ago

          So the guy is also accused of not stopping when she said stop. That is also rape. Do you not see a problem with calling them both rape? Which sounds worse, 2 counts of rape. Or 1 count of rape and one count of <something more descriptive>. To me the second one conveys that he has a pattern of disregard for women beyond just one situation. I also think the condom thing shows intentional deception, where as he could claim he was too far into it to stop when she told him to. Combined as seperate things, they are more incriminating.

          • webadict@lemmy.world
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            1 hour ago

            So the guy is also accused of not stopping when she said stop. That is also rape. Do you not see a problem with calling them both rape?

            …No???

            They ARE both rape.

            Just because one rape is different from another rape doesn’t mean they’re not both rape, what the actual fuck are you talking about.

          • velma@sh.itjust.worksOP
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            1 hour ago

            where as he could claim he was too far into it to stop when she told him to.

            This made my skin crawl.

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    15 hours ago

    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.

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      7 minutes ago

      Everyone forgot about Amber Turd already. These are accusations, and already people act like he was convicted. Just shows throwing an accusation could impact someone’s political career just as much as if they were actually convicted. By the time you get proven innocent people will have already made up their minds and moved on.

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      10 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?

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      15 hours ago

      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
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        10 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.

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          2 hours ago

          There is something to be said about these types of people. They fight for the person and not the message. His message is what matters here, and I think a hard line in the sand of “No Rapists” shouldn’t be a hard bar to cover. He had a lot of other issues, but that’s kind of an easy line for a lot of people to draw.

  • velma@sh.itjust.worksOP
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    19 hours ago

    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.’”

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    18 hours ago

    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.

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      18 hours ago

      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.

    • velma@sh.itjust.worksOP
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      17 hours ago

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

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    16 hours ago

    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.

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      15 hours ago

      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
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        15 hours ago

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

    • corsicanguppy@lemmy.ca
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      16 hours ago

      I don’t know him like you do, so I can only say nothing. Don’t wanna slander people.

      • 🍉 DrRedOctopus 🐙🍉@lemmy.world
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        16 hours ago

        I refuse to shed a tear for someone who dated a nazi mercenary, she was OK when he was a nazi paid to kill brown people, she doesn’t get to act innocent.

        she’s still a victim and hopefully gets justice. the same way the people he killed for money deserve justice. But in America, browns lives don’t matter. a white tear is worth more than a brown life.

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          18 hours ago

          I wouldn’t have even known it was a nazi tattoo, and neither did Platner when he got it while deployed as a 20-year-old dumb marine. Enough with this AIPAC-peddled bullshit.

          • 🍉 DrRedOctopus 🐙🍉@lemmy.world
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            18 hours ago

            he wasn’t a stupid 20 years old, he was happy to become a mercenary, and openly reminisces about being a mercenary.

            And being a stupid 20 year old and ending with a nazi is an OK excuse, but the you do tattoo removal or cover up. keeping it after being informed that it is a nazi symbol is a statement.

            DNC propping up a nazi mercenary it’s unacceptable.

            we need antizionist politicians, but we don’t need Nazis

            • velma@sh.itjust.worksOP
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              18 hours ago

              Do you think his on again off again girlfriend would have known as much about Nazi tattoos as the former mercenary?

              Stop victim blaming in here. I, for one, agree with you he was never a good candidate. Let’s cast blame where it belongs - on Platner.

            • lennybird@lemmy.world
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              17 hours ago

              Citation needed. What are you talking about, “mercenary”? A driver?

              In fact, if I recall he actively regrets the actions of Iraq and Afghanistan. People can’t change?

              Sad thing is he’s still better than Collins. We need people advocating for progressive values; not just anti-zionists btw. Don’t get tunnel-vision!

              • 🍉 DrRedOctopus 🐙🍉@lemmy.world
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                17 hours ago

                I am pissed that “Nazi mercenary that killed people that looked like me” is shoved under the rug and cunts online still make excuses like “People can change”

                but removing a condom while having sex with someone who sleeps with nazi mercenaries is suddenly a career ender.

                Don’t get me wrong, it should be a carrer ender. but the first one should be more of a “straight to jail, you have bo place in any human society”, But killing people that look like me is acceptable.

              • velma@sh.itjust.worksOP
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                17 hours ago

                He signed up for several tours as a private mercenary for hire in Afghanistan.

                Clearly he hasn’t changed as much as he claimed.

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                  17 hours ago

                  6 months as a driver for a US Diplomat for the State Department. Hardly a hardened killer, lol.

                  Oh well, I guess it’s all moot now. Susan Collins gets in, which is somehow even worse.

        • velma@sh.itjust.worksOP
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          18 hours ago

          Y’all wanted to elect him to the Senate despite the Nazi tattoo, but you want to dog this woman for having an on and off again relationship with him?

          She still didn’t deserve to be sexually assaulted. He was the one to remove the condoms.

            • velma@sh.itjust.worksOP
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              18 hours ago

              How about you stop blaming his victims when they’re coming forward to inform the public about who Platner really is before getting elected.

              • 🍉 DrRedOctopus 🐙🍉@lemmy.world
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                17 hours ago

                I’m mostly frustrated that killing brown people for money is acceptable profession in the US, but they draw the line at hurting a woman who’s OK with nazi mercenaries.

                In the US, brown lives don’t matter. And this shows it.