July 8, 2026
Another Former Girlfriend Accuses Maine Senate Candidate Of Nonconsensual Sexual Conduct
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RSS Feed Another day, another accusation by a former girlfriend… and yet Maine Democratic candidate Graham Platner has yet to drop out of his bid for the U.S. Senate and a chance to unseat longtime republican incumbent Susan Collins. 41-year-old Lyndsey Fifield told several news outlets that while they were dating, Platner repeatedly removed condoms without her consent while having sex. The act is known as “stealthing” and is considered a crime in multiple countries and states here in the U.S. and is classified as a form of sexual assault. Platner’s camp is vehemently denying the latest accusations, in addition to a former girlfriend’s claims that he raped her while they were dating, saying they are all politically motivated.
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00:00:02
Speaker 1: Hey, there're folks.
00:00:02
Speaker 2: It is Wednesday, July eighth, another day and another damning accusation against Graham Plattner, and the clock is ticking with that. Welcome to this episode of Amy and TJ.
00:00:16
Speaker 1: Roobess.
00:00:18
Speaker 2: It feels inappropriate to be talking about how much is at stake when it comes to politics with his rates, when we're talking about now accusations of criminal activity, which should be the priority. But Robes, this is a high stakes mess that got going on in main right now.
00:00:34
Speaker 3: It certainly is, and it keeps getting worse for Senate hopeful Graham Platner, and all eyes were on him yesterday with the expectation that he was going to drop out of the race, which he has not yet And despite the fact that yes, another ex girlfriend of his is now making further claims. She had already spoken to The New York Times talking about abusive, aggressive behavior, but now she is taking it to another level and actually saying that he repeatedly removed condoms without her consent while they were having sex. And look, that seems so specific and a difficult headline even to receive or get. But yes, this is another act, she says, of non consensual sexual aggression.
00:01:27
Speaker 2: And depending on where you are, this is a crime. So it shouldn't be dismissed when you see the headlines, right, someone who's agreed to have consensual sex with him, Okay, condom came off. You can't dismiss that this is a violation. This is a crime. This is considered rape quite frankly, because you have made a consensual agreement about what you were about to do and the man changes that agreement without your consent.
00:01:52
Speaker 1: This is a very serious accusation.
00:01:54
Speaker 2: So rose for anybody who was quick to try to dismiss or try to blurred lines here, There are not blurred lines when it comes to this. This is criminal activity.
00:02:04
Speaker 4: You know, I remember exactly. It was late yesterday.
00:02:06
Speaker 3: You were getting an alert on your phone, and he thought, my god, these headlines that keep coming across our phones and our devices about this man. It's just it's hard to get your head around the scope of it all.
00:02:19
Speaker 2: Oh, it's hard to get around how he can survive. Most will say he won't survive this race, but he's waiting, and more so, he's going to get out of this race. If anybody's putting money on it, all the money is going towards him getting out, But Robes, he's he seems to be trying to wield whatever little influence behind the scenes he has. He's trying to He's trying to do what he can behind the scenes. But ro if they want him out now.
00:02:44
Speaker 3: Yes, because even when we talked about this yesterday, the one main or major supporter he had in the Democratic Party, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, hadn't spoken well. He has now weighed in and he has said he personally called Graham Platner yesterday. We will get into all of that, but you mentioned the clock is tigging. Yes, July thirteenth is the deadline for Platner to drop out and to be able to be replaced on that ballot, and the Democrats haven'tun till the twenty seventh to decide who yes would be on that ballot. Let's get into this latest accusation though it's coming from forty one year old Lindsay Fifield, and yes, she is the second woman now this week to allege that Platner engaged in non consensual sexual conduct. You remember Jenny Rascott, who was his former girlfriend as well, said that he raped her back in twenty twenty one, Lindsay Fifield saying this occurred during the time where they were dating between twenty thirteen and twenty fifteen. And as I mentioned, she previously accused him of physical abuse, but she's accusing him now of what's called as stellthing.
00:03:54
Speaker 4: Had you heard that term before this?
00:03:57
Speaker 1: As they have studied this over the years.
00:03:59
Speaker 2: So yes, it's not something that's I guess talked about a lot, and it's something they tried to even get a law passed, a federal law against it. But this is something robe that's prevalent.
00:04:10
Speaker 1: I guess.
00:04:11
Speaker 2: You hear about it on college campuses. You hear about it with a lot of young folks in I guess, not so committed relationships, right.
00:04:22
Speaker 1: You hear about it. You hear about it when people who get up quite first situationships.
00:04:27
Speaker 3: Yes, and so stealthing is classified legally as a form of sexual assault in multiple countries and areas. So just I didn't realize this, But in Britain it's against the law, In Canada, it's against the law, in parts of Australia, and in parts of the United States. Here so specifically, in the state of California, it's illegal in Maine, in the state that this is all about in terms of who will become the next senator in Maine, it is illegal. In California, it's illegal in Washington state, there are laws. However, five feel says this happened at least six times in Washington, d C. So that is not an area where this is technically illegal. But certainly this is considered a crime nonetheless by most folks.
00:05:15
Speaker 1: Yeah, this is a crime.
00:05:16
Speaker 2: This is considered rape, This is considered non consensual sexual conduct. So yeah, it's plain and simple. So I mean, yes, he might not be able to be charged because of where it happened, but it does not mean that criminal activity didn't take place just because you happen to be in a jurisdiction that hasn't made a crime yet.
00:05:36
Speaker 3: This is.
00:05:39
Speaker 2: Again, it's just this is sad and it's shocking, and now it's just a pattern this. Many people are saying the same thing about you. But he has Robes defended himself and said any accusation like that absolutely false.
00:05:53
Speaker 4: Yes he did.
00:05:54
Speaker 3: He said, this claim is categorically false and politically motivated, coming from the co founder of Ladies for Kavanaugh.
00:06:03
Speaker 4: This was his response or his folks official statement.
00:06:07
Speaker 3: They say that this is coming, this latest accusation is coming from a person with well documented political agenda, and so what he is referencing.
00:06:17
Speaker 4: Fifield co founded.
00:06:19
Speaker 3: A group that showed support for Bret Kavanaugh after those accusations of sexual assault about him came to light while he was trying to be confirmed for the Supreme Court justice that he has now become. So he's claiming, see, she's a Republican. She defended a Republican who was accused of sexual assault, and now she is turning similar allegations against or towards me, and they're unfounded and they're not true. So he has denied all of them. Obviously he's denied the rape charges as well. I thought this was interesting though, in terms of why she came forward beyond what she's already said, because we mentioned she talked to The New York Times last month about how she was afraid of him when he was drinking, that he allegedly grabbed her by her shoulders blocked her from leaving her room. So she had described all this, but she left out the part about the condoms. She says she was embarrassed.
00:07:12
Speaker 2: Makes sense, No, that makes perfect sense. It makes perfect sense by both of these women did not say it all the first time around. Yes, you can use that to question their stories and question their motives that you should have said at the first time around. Maybe they thought he yes, And some will argue, well, they thought they didn't get them the first time. He didn't drop out, so now they had to come back with something else. That's all politics, And I see why people would say that, But these women have credible stories that are backed up by some documentation and other people who they told to at the time. He's an innocent man until a court a jury tells him otherwise, but or the voters tell him otherwise. But this is just it's awful stuff. And who cares about the politics. You're talking about a man walking around who has not been held responsible criminally for what two women describe as criminal activity.
00:08:03
Speaker 3: Correct, And to that point, I thought it was really interesting what she had to say to CNN. She spoke actually to Jake Tapper, I believe last night or yesterday, but this was how she defended why she didn't come forward and why she's coming forward now. She said, I wanted to tell the truth because it felt like watching him lie was just so difficult for me. I don't care about the main Senate race. That's not on my radar. I'm going to pilates with my kids. You can't be that way in private and not have it translate into how you would govern or how you would legislate. It terrifies me to think of him having any type of power politically, because what.
00:08:43
Speaker 4: Is he going to do with the women in his office? That is quite the statement.
00:08:51
Speaker 1: Yeah, and it can be interpreted right, it.
00:08:55
Speaker 2: Right, doesn't care about the Senate, didn't care about the race, but then made a very clear statement about I need to stop this man from harming others if he gets powered.
00:09:03
Speaker 1: Da da that.
00:09:05
Speaker 2: Yes, folks will take that and run with it and say, that does sound political. That does sound like you had a different motivation beyond just you getting justice or protecting anybody else. But that's up for anybody's interpretation. But that what she feels after what she experienced. I mean, put yourself in somebody's shoes. If this is all correct, and you had this experience with this man and you see him now being celebrated, you see him now expressing things that you certainly believed to be untrue. I can't imagine what that does there.
00:09:37
Speaker 3: Yeah, so she is speaking out and look, her statements, along with Rasakot's statements, have caused just about every I mean, I can't think of one person who's defending him, can you, Because at this point Bernie Sanders has come out and said he spoke with him, told him that these are serious allegations and that he should step aside. We know Elizabeth Warren, Chuck Schumer, Kirsten gillibrand, Rokanna and Mayor Mom Donnie here in New York have all withdrawn their support and their endorsements and asked him vehemently and publicly to step down. And so if we're all wondering why he hasn't yet, well the main Democratic Party is telling the world now what Platner and his team are trying to do behind the scenes, and perhaps explains a little bit why he hasn't already stepped down. And welcome back everyone to this episode of Amy and TJ, where Yes, it is another day where all eyes are on Graham Platner, waiting to see whether or not today is the day he steps down. He steps out of the race for Maine Senate. He's denying the latest allegations this week. One just came out yesterday from another former girlfriend, claiming that he took off condoms, sneaked them off, and then laughed about it afterwards, made it like it wasn't a big deal, even after she repeatedly told him she wasn't on birth control.
00:11:08
Speaker 4: And look, this is considered a crime in many.
00:11:11
Speaker 3: Jurisdictions, and certainly by folks who believe, yes, this is a form of non consensual aggression or at least non consensual sexual conduct.
00:11:22
Speaker 4: And so we're waiting for him to step down. Everyone's asked him to.
00:11:26
Speaker 3: He still hasn't, And the main Democratic party now says that Platner and his team are trying to quote put their thumb on this scale in the party's planning for his replacement. It's an interesting thing. He cares about who's taking his place so much that he's staying in the race until he can have some input or some impact.
00:11:47
Speaker 1: Well yeah, I mean he feels, I mean, these are politicians. I don't care.
00:11:50
Speaker 2: You can look at his every man look with the beard and the shirts and everything else. He's still a politician. And he's a politician who has an.
00:11:57
Speaker 1: Ego and who has desires for power.
00:12:01
Speaker 2: I'm sorry, this is not putting down these folks, but Robes, there's a little bit of that to everybody who's in the Senate. And right now he has built what he feels as a movement that he's about to get kicked out of, yeah, in Maine, a movement that could upend the Senate career of one of the most prominent Republicans in the Senate, Susan Collins. That's a big deal. He wants credit for it, he wants a hand in it. I can in some way understand that, but I just can't see how he's going to have a hand in it. I just he only has the power to be an annoyance right now and to stay on the ballot. And that's until Monday. If he's still he hadn't dropped out by Monday, this dude is going to be on the ballot.
00:12:38
Speaker 3: I wonder do you think that that's a possibility that he would just from his perspective, if he's saying he's innocent, he's saying he didn't do any of these things, and he believes he has I mean, he had seventy percent of the vote there in his primary, just a few weeks ago.
00:12:55
Speaker 4: So do you think there's a chance.
00:12:57
Speaker 3: I mean if the Democratic Party, which they are claiming they will not do anything in terms of funding his bid for Senate and his continued race against Susan Collins. First of all, can he survive that election without the support the financial support of the Democrats.
00:13:14
Speaker 2: Yeah, I can say that because at this point, what do you need. You don't need name recognition, you don't need to put ads out. I mean, we're talking about it nationally, but main is a tiny place. You can ride around that state in a few days and shaking hands and doing local reports, and there there's a whole different dynamic of how the story is being viewed there versus how we might view it nationally. So if he decides to stay in and I rose, what do you do? There's some arguments I didn't think they were great ones by some Democrats.
00:13:46
Speaker 1: Like the hell with it?
00:13:48
Speaker 2: You got the guy in the White House who was convicted of this and that and the other, the hell with it? Just that's just that's a terrible argument. Look, how bad your guy is, so don't complain about how bad our guy is.
00:13:59
Speaker 3: That's a terrible Yeah, And we've heard that that similarly echoed. Sonny Houston said something similar on the view I believe it was yesterday, saying, hey, I'd rather hold my nose and vote for Graham Platner than have Susan Collins that be the representative of May.
00:14:13
Speaker 1: We can't do that.
00:14:14
Speaker 2: That's an awful that we can't do that, y'all. We no matter both sides, you can't. I'm gonna deal with my rapists because you have a rapist too. That's the argument. We now stop doing that, and we're doing it for.
00:14:25
Speaker 1: The sake of well, it's too important. We have to stop this.
00:14:27
Speaker 2: So important for us to have to stop, I say us, that's the argument people are making. It's so important to stop President Trump that we're willing to come. You can't do that. When do you roast you do it. You gotta do what's right, even when it's inconvenient. That's the point of it all.
00:14:45
Speaker 1: Roight this. I hate it hearing people make that argument.
00:14:48
Speaker 3: Yeah, so that has been said and reiterated by several folks. But it's interesting because, as the gram Platner folks say, hey, we're not trying to put our thumb on scale of any party planning to replace us, and yet at the same time they then said, but but we've got more than one hundred and fifty thousand maners voting for Platner, and he would want to make sure that voters and volunteers, not the political establishment, make the decision. So that sounds like he wants to stay in, or at least he wants main voters to have a say in who the Democratic nominee is.
00:15:29
Speaker 4: How could that possibly happen? It can't happen. That ship has sailed, the primary has come and gone.
00:15:35
Speaker 2: He's not going to have They're not going to let him have any influence. But Rose, he might be a hardcore negotiating I'll stay in unless you blank blank blank, unless you give this to me. I'm going to stay in here and make it as hilatious as possible for you. Maybe that's going on behind the scenes. I wouldn't be surprised.
00:15:52
Speaker 1: What roads the dude?
00:15:55
Speaker 5: What if you say your innocence, why would you drop if you say you're in, if you say this is all a political this is a political attack that's manufactured.
00:16:08
Speaker 1: Hey, why not?
00:16:09
Speaker 4: Yeah?
00:16:10
Speaker 3: Because if he does drop out, I mean truly, that does make him look guilty there's no question. And in the meantime, while we're waiting to see what Blatner does, several main Democrats are already trying to take his spot, Troy Jackson and Nirav Shaw. But Troy Jackson specifically, who ran for the main governor earlier this year, has already filed paperwork to run for Senate on Tuesday.
00:16:33
Speaker 4: He did this yesterday. So yes, folks are getting ready. People are saying pick me, and all the while Platner says, hold up, still mine to decide what to do with. And so we wait.
00:16:46
Speaker 3: We will continue to monitor this developing story. As always, we'll bring you the latest in the meantime.
00:16:52
Speaker 4: Thanks for listening to us. I'm Amy Robock alongside TJ. Holmes.
00:16:55
Speaker 1: We'll talk to you soon.
Speaker 1: Hey, there're folks.
00:00:02
Speaker 2: It is Wednesday, July eighth, another day and another damning accusation against Graham Plattner, and the clock is ticking with that. Welcome to this episode of Amy and TJ.
00:00:16
Speaker 1: Roobess.
00:00:18
Speaker 2: It feels inappropriate to be talking about how much is at stake when it comes to politics with his rates, when we're talking about now accusations of criminal activity, which should be the priority. But Robes, this is a high stakes mess that got going on in main right now.
00:00:34
Speaker 3: It certainly is, and it keeps getting worse for Senate hopeful Graham Platner, and all eyes were on him yesterday with the expectation that he was going to drop out of the race, which he has not yet And despite the fact that yes, another ex girlfriend of his is now making further claims. She had already spoken to The New York Times talking about abusive, aggressive behavior, but now she is taking it to another level and actually saying that he repeatedly removed condoms without her consent while they were having sex. And look, that seems so specific and a difficult headline even to receive or get. But yes, this is another act, she says, of non consensual sexual aggression.
00:01:27
Speaker 2: And depending on where you are, this is a crime. So it shouldn't be dismissed when you see the headlines, right, someone who's agreed to have consensual sex with him, Okay, condom came off. You can't dismiss that this is a violation. This is a crime. This is considered rape quite frankly, because you have made a consensual agreement about what you were about to do and the man changes that agreement without your consent.
00:01:52
Speaker 1: This is a very serious accusation.
00:01:54
Speaker 2: So rose for anybody who was quick to try to dismiss or try to blurred lines here, There are not blurred lines when it comes to this. This is criminal activity.
00:02:04
Speaker 4: You know, I remember exactly. It was late yesterday.
00:02:06
Speaker 3: You were getting an alert on your phone, and he thought, my god, these headlines that keep coming across our phones and our devices about this man. It's just it's hard to get your head around the scope of it all.
00:02:19
Speaker 2: Oh, it's hard to get around how he can survive. Most will say he won't survive this race, but he's waiting, and more so, he's going to get out of this race. If anybody's putting money on it, all the money is going towards him getting out, But Robes, he's he seems to be trying to wield whatever little influence behind the scenes he has. He's trying to He's trying to do what he can behind the scenes. But ro if they want him out now.
00:02:44
Speaker 3: Yes, because even when we talked about this yesterday, the one main or major supporter he had in the Democratic Party, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, hadn't spoken well. He has now weighed in and he has said he personally called Graham Platner yesterday. We will get into all of that, but you mentioned the clock is tigging. Yes, July thirteenth is the deadline for Platner to drop out and to be able to be replaced on that ballot, and the Democrats haven'tun till the twenty seventh to decide who yes would be on that ballot. Let's get into this latest accusation though it's coming from forty one year old Lindsay Fifield, and yes, she is the second woman now this week to allege that Platner engaged in non consensual sexual conduct. You remember Jenny Rascott, who was his former girlfriend as well, said that he raped her back in twenty twenty one, Lindsay Fifield saying this occurred during the time where they were dating between twenty thirteen and twenty fifteen. And as I mentioned, she previously accused him of physical abuse, but she's accusing him now of what's called as stellthing.
00:03:54
Speaker 4: Had you heard that term before this?
00:03:57
Speaker 1: As they have studied this over the years.
00:03:59
Speaker 2: So yes, it's not something that's I guess talked about a lot, and it's something they tried to even get a law passed, a federal law against it. But this is something robe that's prevalent.
00:04:10
Speaker 1: I guess.
00:04:11
Speaker 2: You hear about it on college campuses. You hear about it with a lot of young folks in I guess, not so committed relationships, right.
00:04:22
Speaker 1: You hear about it. You hear about it when people who get up quite first situationships.
00:04:27
Speaker 3: Yes, and so stealthing is classified legally as a form of sexual assault in multiple countries and areas. So just I didn't realize this, But in Britain it's against the law, In Canada, it's against the law, in parts of Australia, and in parts of the United States. Here so specifically, in the state of California, it's illegal in Maine, in the state that this is all about in terms of who will become the next senator in Maine, it is illegal. In California, it's illegal in Washington state, there are laws. However, five feel says this happened at least six times in Washington, d C. So that is not an area where this is technically illegal. But certainly this is considered a crime nonetheless by most folks.
00:05:15
Speaker 1: Yeah, this is a crime.
00:05:16
Speaker 2: This is considered rape, This is considered non consensual sexual conduct. So yeah, it's plain and simple. So I mean, yes, he might not be able to be charged because of where it happened, but it does not mean that criminal activity didn't take place just because you happen to be in a jurisdiction that hasn't made a crime yet.
00:05:36
Speaker 3: This is.
00:05:39
Speaker 2: Again, it's just this is sad and it's shocking, and now it's just a pattern this. Many people are saying the same thing about you. But he has Robes defended himself and said any accusation like that absolutely false.
00:05:53
Speaker 4: Yes he did.
00:05:54
Speaker 3: He said, this claim is categorically false and politically motivated, coming from the co founder of Ladies for Kavanaugh.
00:06:03
Speaker 4: This was his response or his folks official statement.
00:06:07
Speaker 3: They say that this is coming, this latest accusation is coming from a person with well documented political agenda, and so what he is referencing.
00:06:17
Speaker 4: Fifield co founded.
00:06:19
Speaker 3: A group that showed support for Bret Kavanaugh after those accusations of sexual assault about him came to light while he was trying to be confirmed for the Supreme Court justice that he has now become. So he's claiming, see, she's a Republican. She defended a Republican who was accused of sexual assault, and now she is turning similar allegations against or towards me, and they're unfounded and they're not true. So he has denied all of them. Obviously he's denied the rape charges as well. I thought this was interesting though, in terms of why she came forward beyond what she's already said, because we mentioned she talked to The New York Times last month about how she was afraid of him when he was drinking, that he allegedly grabbed her by her shoulders blocked her from leaving her room. So she had described all this, but she left out the part about the condoms. She says she was embarrassed.
00:07:12
Speaker 2: Makes sense, No, that makes perfect sense. It makes perfect sense by both of these women did not say it all the first time around. Yes, you can use that to question their stories and question their motives that you should have said at the first time around. Maybe they thought he yes, And some will argue, well, they thought they didn't get them the first time. He didn't drop out, so now they had to come back with something else. That's all politics, And I see why people would say that, But these women have credible stories that are backed up by some documentation and other people who they told to at the time. He's an innocent man until a court a jury tells him otherwise, but or the voters tell him otherwise. But this is just it's awful stuff. And who cares about the politics. You're talking about a man walking around who has not been held responsible criminally for what two women describe as criminal activity.
00:08:03
Speaker 3: Correct, And to that point, I thought it was really interesting what she had to say to CNN. She spoke actually to Jake Tapper, I believe last night or yesterday, but this was how she defended why she didn't come forward and why she's coming forward now. She said, I wanted to tell the truth because it felt like watching him lie was just so difficult for me. I don't care about the main Senate race. That's not on my radar. I'm going to pilates with my kids. You can't be that way in private and not have it translate into how you would govern or how you would legislate. It terrifies me to think of him having any type of power politically, because what.
00:08:43
Speaker 4: Is he going to do with the women in his office? That is quite the statement.
00:08:51
Speaker 1: Yeah, and it can be interpreted right, it.
00:08:55
Speaker 2: Right, doesn't care about the Senate, didn't care about the race, but then made a very clear statement about I need to stop this man from harming others if he gets powered.
00:09:03
Speaker 1: Da da that.
00:09:05
Speaker 2: Yes, folks will take that and run with it and say, that does sound political. That does sound like you had a different motivation beyond just you getting justice or protecting anybody else. But that's up for anybody's interpretation. But that what she feels after what she experienced. I mean, put yourself in somebody's shoes. If this is all correct, and you had this experience with this man and you see him now being celebrated, you see him now expressing things that you certainly believed to be untrue. I can't imagine what that does there.
00:09:37
Speaker 3: Yeah, so she is speaking out and look, her statements, along with Rasakot's statements, have caused just about every I mean, I can't think of one person who's defending him, can you, Because at this point Bernie Sanders has come out and said he spoke with him, told him that these are serious allegations and that he should step aside. We know Elizabeth Warren, Chuck Schumer, Kirsten gillibrand, Rokanna and Mayor Mom Donnie here in New York have all withdrawn their support and their endorsements and asked him vehemently and publicly to step down. And so if we're all wondering why he hasn't yet, well the main Democratic Party is telling the world now what Platner and his team are trying to do behind the scenes, and perhaps explains a little bit why he hasn't already stepped down. And welcome back everyone to this episode of Amy and TJ, where Yes, it is another day where all eyes are on Graham Platner, waiting to see whether or not today is the day he steps down. He steps out of the race for Maine Senate. He's denying the latest allegations this week. One just came out yesterday from another former girlfriend, claiming that he took off condoms, sneaked them off, and then laughed about it afterwards, made it like it wasn't a big deal, even after she repeatedly told him she wasn't on birth control.
00:11:08
Speaker 4: And look, this is considered a crime in many.
00:11:11
Speaker 3: Jurisdictions, and certainly by folks who believe, yes, this is a form of non consensual aggression or at least non consensual sexual conduct.
00:11:22
Speaker 4: And so we're waiting for him to step down. Everyone's asked him to.
00:11:26
Speaker 3: He still hasn't, And the main Democratic party now says that Platner and his team are trying to quote put their thumb on this scale in the party's planning for his replacement. It's an interesting thing. He cares about who's taking his place so much that he's staying in the race until he can have some input or some impact.
00:11:47
Speaker 1: Well yeah, I mean he feels, I mean, these are politicians. I don't care.
00:11:50
Speaker 2: You can look at his every man look with the beard and the shirts and everything else. He's still a politician. And he's a politician who has an.
00:11:57
Speaker 1: Ego and who has desires for power.
00:12:01
Speaker 2: I'm sorry, this is not putting down these folks, but Robes, there's a little bit of that to everybody who's in the Senate. And right now he has built what he feels as a movement that he's about to get kicked out of, yeah, in Maine, a movement that could upend the Senate career of one of the most prominent Republicans in the Senate, Susan Collins. That's a big deal. He wants credit for it, he wants a hand in it. I can in some way understand that, but I just can't see how he's going to have a hand in it. I just he only has the power to be an annoyance right now and to stay on the ballot. And that's until Monday. If he's still he hadn't dropped out by Monday, this dude is going to be on the ballot.
00:12:38
Speaker 3: I wonder do you think that that's a possibility that he would just from his perspective, if he's saying he's innocent, he's saying he didn't do any of these things, and he believes he has I mean, he had seventy percent of the vote there in his primary, just a few weeks ago.
00:12:55
Speaker 4: So do you think there's a chance.
00:12:57
Speaker 3: I mean if the Democratic Party, which they are claiming they will not do anything in terms of funding his bid for Senate and his continued race against Susan Collins. First of all, can he survive that election without the support the financial support of the Democrats.
00:13:14
Speaker 2: Yeah, I can say that because at this point, what do you need. You don't need name recognition, you don't need to put ads out. I mean, we're talking about it nationally, but main is a tiny place. You can ride around that state in a few days and shaking hands and doing local reports, and there there's a whole different dynamic of how the story is being viewed there versus how we might view it nationally. So if he decides to stay in and I rose, what do you do? There's some arguments I didn't think they were great ones by some Democrats.
00:13:46
Speaker 1: Like the hell with it?
00:13:48
Speaker 2: You got the guy in the White House who was convicted of this and that and the other, the hell with it? Just that's just that's a terrible argument. Look, how bad your guy is, so don't complain about how bad our guy is.
00:13:59
Speaker 3: That's a terrible Yeah, And we've heard that that similarly echoed. Sonny Houston said something similar on the view I believe it was yesterday, saying, hey, I'd rather hold my nose and vote for Graham Platner than have Susan Collins that be the representative of May.
00:14:13
Speaker 1: We can't do that.
00:14:14
Speaker 2: That's an awful that we can't do that, y'all. We no matter both sides, you can't. I'm gonna deal with my rapists because you have a rapist too. That's the argument. We now stop doing that, and we're doing it for.
00:14:25
Speaker 1: The sake of well, it's too important. We have to stop this.
00:14:27
Speaker 2: So important for us to have to stop, I say us, that's the argument people are making. It's so important to stop President Trump that we're willing to come. You can't do that. When do you roast you do it. You gotta do what's right, even when it's inconvenient. That's the point of it all.
00:14:45
Speaker 1: Roight this. I hate it hearing people make that argument.
00:14:48
Speaker 3: Yeah, so that has been said and reiterated by several folks. But it's interesting because, as the gram Platner folks say, hey, we're not trying to put our thumb on scale of any party planning to replace us, and yet at the same time they then said, but but we've got more than one hundred and fifty thousand maners voting for Platner, and he would want to make sure that voters and volunteers, not the political establishment, make the decision. So that sounds like he wants to stay in, or at least he wants main voters to have a say in who the Democratic nominee is.
00:15:29
Speaker 4: How could that possibly happen? It can't happen. That ship has sailed, the primary has come and gone.
00:15:35
Speaker 2: He's not going to have They're not going to let him have any influence. But Rose, he might be a hardcore negotiating I'll stay in unless you blank blank blank, unless you give this to me. I'm going to stay in here and make it as hilatious as possible for you. Maybe that's going on behind the scenes. I wouldn't be surprised.
00:15:52
Speaker 1: What roads the dude?
00:15:55
Speaker 5: What if you say your innocence, why would you drop if you say you're in, if you say this is all a political this is a political attack that's manufactured.
00:16:08
Speaker 1: Hey, why not?
00:16:09
Speaker 4: Yeah?
00:16:10
Speaker 3: Because if he does drop out, I mean truly, that does make him look guilty there's no question. And in the meantime, while we're waiting to see what Blatner does, several main Democrats are already trying to take his spot, Troy Jackson and Nirav Shaw. But Troy Jackson specifically, who ran for the main governor earlier this year, has already filed paperwork to run for Senate on Tuesday.
00:16:33
Speaker 4: He did this yesterday. So yes, folks are getting ready. People are saying pick me, and all the while Platner says, hold up, still mine to decide what to do with. And so we wait.
00:16:46
Speaker 3: We will continue to monitor this developing story. As always, we'll bring you the latest in the meantime.
00:16:52
Speaker 4: Thanks for listening to us. I'm Amy Robock alongside TJ. Holmes.
00:16:55
Speaker 1: We'll talk to you soon.