香农·沃茨向伯尼·桑德斯、鲁·卡纳等支持普拉特纳的人发出警告，指责他们无视预警信号
2026-07-07T17:24:13-04:00 / 福克斯新闻
作者：利奥·布里塞尼奥 福克斯新闻
发布时间：2026年7月7日 美国东部夏令时下午5:24 | 更新时间：2026年7月7日 美国东部夏令时下午6:00
https://www.foxnews.com/video/6400461657112
新指控曝光后民主党人纷纷脱离普拉特纳竞选阵营
福克斯新闻记者亚历克西斯·麦克亚当斯详细报道了缅因州民主党参议院候选人格雷厄姆·普拉特纳面临的日益加深的危机：周一，一名前女友指控普拉特纳2021年曾实施强奸，此前他还曾被指带有纳粹纹身、此前存在身体虐待指控，如今各界纷纷呼吁普拉特纳退出竞选，伯尼·桑德斯也加入了这一行列。特约嘉宾杰森·查菲兹就指控曝光后普拉特纳失去关键背书的政治影响发表评论。
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妮拉·坦登和香农·沃茨这两位顶尖的民主党政治操盘手，正呼吁缅因州民主党参议院候选人格雷厄姆·普拉特纳辞职，此前周一曝出了引发轰动的强奸指控。
坦登是美国进步中心的首席执行官，该中心是一家与拜登和奥巴马政府关系密切的中左翼智库，数月来一直批评普拉特纳。
“我会一直对那些没有对这位候选人进行背景调查的人感到极度愤怒，但在现实生活中你无法做出最佳选择。除非人们展现出远超当下的勇气，”坦登在周一转发的一条X平台帖子中说道。
普拉特纳的核心盟友在重磅强奸指控撼动竞选活动后倒戈
妮拉·坦登，管理和预算办公室主任提名人，2021年2月9日在华盛顿特区美国国会山举行的听证会上接受参议院国土安全与政府事务委员会对其提名的质询。（利·沃格尔/ pooled/法新社 via 盖蒂图片社）
除了呼吁普拉特纳下台，坦登和沃茨还强烈告诫民主党，在11月3日大选临近之际，该党应如何应对当前局面。
普拉特纳此前曾就纳粹纹身、过去涉及种族的网络言论以及 relational infidelity（译者注：此处指情感不忠，常见译法为感情出轨）的传闻进行过辩解，周一下午，据《政治报》报道，他被指控在严重醉酒的情况下强奸了前女友珍妮·拉西科特，且在拉西科特多次要求停止后仍继续行为，这让他再次陷入舆论风暴。
拉西科特周一晚间在报道发布后不久接受了CNN采访，告诉主持人杰克·塔珀，根据字典定义，普拉特纳“强奸”了她。
“我当时就想，这个男人喝醉了，根据字典定义，他强奸了我，而他却在指责醉酒女性，”拉西科特说道。“所以我觉得这种说法非常奇怪。而且我还觉得，结合他所有关于女性、性侵犯、强奸的言论，甚至，嗯，你知道，《纽约时报》那篇文章里提到的，他曾威胁要用强奸对付他人的言论，为什么这个人的人生、他的评论中，到处都存在这种问题，仿佛这是他挥之不去的念头？”
普拉特纳否认了这些指控，称其“令人不安、严重且虚假”。
普拉特纳的竞选团队在《政治报》报道发布后不久在X平台上发布了一段视频，普拉特纳在视频中再次称指控是“虚假的”，并补充说他将“反思”未来的最佳前进方向。
“因此，无论报道多么不准确，但考虑到它将造成的政治现实，我们将花时间反思对我所热爱的州、我所爱的人民、我所属的运动以及击败苏珊·柯林斯的目标而言，最佳的前进道路是什么，”普拉特纳在视频中说道。“这就是我们启动这场竞选时的目标，如今这些目标依然是我的目标。”
沃茨通过其枪支管制组织“美国枪支意识母亲需求行动”（Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America）的宣传活动声名鹊起，她第一时间关注了这一报道，批评她眼中那些无视普拉特纳行为预警信号的党内人士。
“也许你们该听听党内女性的声音，你们这群F—ING IDIOTS！！！！”沃茨在X平台的一篇帖子中写道。
“是谁不顾他在网上发表过偏执、种族主义和性别歧视言论？不顾他带有骷髅头纹身？不顾家暴指控？伯尼·桑德斯、伊丽莎白·沃伦、鲁文·加列戈、马丁·海因里希、鲁·卡纳。我是不是漏了谁？”沃茨补充道。
关键参议院选举临近截止日期前，重磅性侵犯指控撼动普拉特纳竞选阵营
参议员伯尼·桑德斯与民主党参议院候选人格雷厄姆·普拉特纳于2026年5月24日在缅因州奥罗诺市缅因大学柯林斯艺术中心举行的“打击寡头统治”巡回演讲活动中同台。（乔·拉德尔/盖蒂图片社）
缅因州民主党已呼吁普拉特纳退选，沃茨随即把矛头指向了可能的替代人选。
她开始抨击让参议员伯尼·桑德斯（佛蒙特州独立议员）亲自挑选替代者的想法。
“伯尼·桑德斯——史上最不会识人善任的人——至今仍未谴责他强加给缅因州民主党、可能导致我们失去参议院席位的致命 flawed 候选人（译者注：此处指存在严重缺陷的候选人）。为什么？他会试图挟持我们，直到我们选出他看中的另一个垃圾候选人，”沃茨写道，她大概率指的是该州另一位进步派人士特洛伊·杰克逊。
值得注意的是，桑德斯周二撤销了对普拉特纳的背书，并呼吁普拉特纳退出竞选。
据倡导组织“进步胜利”称，曾担任缅因州参议院议长的杰克逊自身也面临指控，据称他曾与一名女性同事发生肢体冲突。
“所以不，我们不会选这个F—ING家伙，”沃茨在另一篇帖子中写道，并附上了“进步胜利”关于杰克逊的声明。
坦登也对用另一位崭露头角的进步派人士替换普拉特纳的想法表示不认可。
“这里最民主的做法难道不是选出在州长选举中得票最多的候选人吗？我认为他们都相当不错，但那可能是最能获得选民信任的选择，”坦登写道。
和沃茨一样，坦登也批评了那些认为杰克逊可能是合适替代人选的声音。
桑德斯打破沉默谈普拉特纳，呼吁这位丑闻缠身的进步派候选人“退选”
民主党参议院候选人格雷厄姆·普拉特纳于2026年6月9日在缅因州布鲁因希尔的初选活动上发表演讲。（C.J.冈瑟/盖蒂图片社）
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“也许那些把我们拖入这场困境的人该停下来思考一下未来的正确道路。我这话是对鲁·卡纳说的，毫无不敬之意，”坦登说道，她提到了卡纳在普拉特纳的消息曝出仅数小时后就发布的一篇赞扬杰克逊成就的帖子。
此前曾全力支持普拉特纳的卡纳周一与其他几位知名民主党人一同撤销了对他的背书，并呼吁普拉特纳退出竞选。
利奥·布里塞尼奥是福克斯新闻数字频道国会团队的政治记者，此前曾供职于《世界杂志》。
‘F—ING IDIOTS’: Top female operatives torch Platner enablers as rape allegation rocks Dem campaign
Shannon Watts put Bernie Sanders, Ro Khanna and others who endorsed Platner on notice for ignoring red flags
2026-07-07T17:24:13-04:00 / Fox News
By Leo Briceno Fox News
Published July 7, 2026 5:24pm EDT | Updated July 7, 2026 6:00pm EDT
https://www.foxnews.com/video/6400461657112
Dems flee Graham Platner campaign after new allegations
Fox News correspondent Alexis McAdams details the deepening crisis for Maine Democratic Senate candidate Graham Plattner, now facing calls from Bernie Sanders to withdraw after a former girlfriend accused Plattner of rape in 2021, adding to existing controversies like a Nazi tattoo and previous physical abuse allegations. Contributor Jason Chaffetz reacts to the political fallout after Platner lost key endorsements following the allegations.
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Neera Tanden and Shannon Watts, a pair of top Democratic political operatives, are calling on Maine Democratic Senate nominee Graham Platner to step down amid a bombshell rape allegation that emerged Monday.
Tanden, the CEO of the Center for American Progress, a center-left think tank that had deep ties to the Biden and Obama administrations, has been critical of Platner for months.
“I will remain incredibly angry at the people who didn’t vet this candidate, but in life you don’t get the best choices. Unless people show a lot more courage than they have,” Tanden said in an X post that was re-upped Monday.
TOP PLATNER ALLY TURNS ON HIM AFTER BOMBSHELL RAPE ALLEGATION ROCKS CAMPAIGN
Neera Tanden, nominee for director of the Office and Management and Budget, testifies before the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs committee on her nomination during a hearing at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., Feb. 9, 2021.(Leigh Vogel/Pool/AFP via Getty Images)
In addition to calling for his removal, Tanden and Watts are also strongly cautioning the party about its next move as the state nears the Nov. 3 general election.
Platner, who has fended off stories about a Nazi tattoo, past online comments on race and relational infidelity, came under renewed fire Monday afternoon when Politico reported that he had allegedly raped a former girlfriend, Jenny Racicot, while heavily intoxicated after allegedly being told repeatedly to stop.
She also went on CNN Monday evening shortly after the report was published to tell host Jake Tapper that “by dictionary definition” Platner “raped” her.
“I thought, here’s a man who was drunk and who, by dictionary definition, raped me. And he’s blaming drunk women,” Racicot said. “So, I just felt like that was a very odd take to have on that. And I also feel like, with all of the comments that he made about women, sexual assault, rape, even, um, you know, the comments that he had made that was in The New York Times article about, you know, threatening people with rape, like, why does this person have this issue, like scattered throughout their life, throughout their commentary, like it‘s on their mind?”
Platner has denied the allegations, calling them “troubling, serious, and false.”
The Platner campaign posted a video on X shortly after the Politico story published where Platner again called the allegations “false,” adding he was going to “reflect” on the best path forward.
“So, regardless of the inaccuracy of the reporting, but mindful the political reality it will inflict, 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 says in the video. “Those were the goals when we launched this campaign, and they remain my goals today.”
Watts, who has grown in prominence through advocacy with her gun control organization, Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, immediately highlighted the story, criticizing party figures who, in her view, had blown past warning signs about Platner’s behavior.
“MAYBE LISTEN TO WOMEN IN THE PARTY YOU F—— IDIOTS!!!!” Watts wrote in a post on X.
“Who endorsed him despite the fact that he said bigoted, racist and sexist things online? Despite his Totenkopf tattoo? Despite accusations of domestic assault? Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Ruben Gallego, Martin Heinrich, Ro Khanna. Who am I missing?” Watts added.
EXPLOSIVE SEXUAL ASSAULT ALLEGATION ROCKS PLATNER CAMPAIGN AHEAD OF KEY DEADLINE IN CRUCIAL SENATE RACE
Sen. Bernie Sanders and Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner stand together during a Fighting Oligarchy tour stop at the Collins Center for the Arts on the University of Maine campus in Orono, Maine, May 24, 2026.(Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
With the state Democratic Party calling on Platner to step aside, Watts wasted little time setting her sights on a possible replacement.
She began striking out against letting someone like Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., handpick an alternative.
“Bernie Sanders — the worst judge of character in history — hasn’t yet condemned the fatally flawed candidate he forced upon the Dem Party in Maine, likely causing us to lose the Senate. Why? He’s going to try and hold us hostage until we pick his other sh—- candidate,” Watts wrote, likely referring to Troy Jackson, another progressive in the state.
Notably, Sanders dropped his endorsement of Platner on Tuesday and called on Platner to drop out of the race.
Jackson, a former Maine Senate president, faces allegations of his own, having reportedly gotten into a physical altercation with a female colleague, according to Progressive Victory, an advocacy group.
“So no, we’re not going to pick this f—— guy,” Watts wrote in another post, highlighting Progressive Victory’s statement on Jackson.
Tanden also hinted at her disapproval at the idea of swapping Platner out with another up-and-coming progressive.
“Isn’t the most democratic thing to do here is select the candidate who won the most votes in the Gov’s race? I think they were all pretty good, but that might be the most credible with voters,” Tanden wrote.
Like Watts, Tanden criticized voices suggesting Jackson might be a suitable alternative.
SANDERS BREAKS SILENCE ON PLATNER, CALLS ON SCANDAL-PLAGUED PROGRESSIVE TO ‘STEP ASIDE’
Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Graham Platner speaks at his primary election event June 9, 2026, in Blue Hill, Maine.(CJ Gunther/Getty Images)
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“Maybe the people who got us into this mess should take a beat on the right path for the future. And I say that with the utmost respect to Ro Khanna,” Tanden said, highlighting a post from Khanna that noted Jackson’s achievements just hours after the news about Platner had broken.
Khanna, who had fiercely supported Platner, rescinded his endorsement on Monday along with several other high-profile Democrats, who are calling on Platner to drop out of the race.
Leo Briceno is a politics reporter for the congressional team at Fox News Digital. He was previously a reporter with World Magazine.