New Platner Accuser Tells CNN’s Jake Tapper She Considers What He Did Rape: ‘Yes, Absolutely’

Jenny Racicot, the woman who accused scandal-plagued Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner of sexually assaulting her when they dated several years ago, told CNN anchor Jake Tapper that she “absolutely” considers what happened to be rape.

Racicot, a 41-year-old resident of Maine, told Politico’s Jessica Piper and Adam Wren that Platner had drunkenly assaulted her, speaking to the outlet’s reporters on three separate occasions. Politico also reviewed text messages on Racicot’s phone and spoke to her therapist and another ex-boyfriend of hers who said she had confided in him about Platner.

The Politico report described how Racicot said she “had an on-and-off relationship with Platner,” after they met on the dating app Bumble in 2019.

Racicot had previously been quoted in a New York Times article about Platner in which she accused him of “reckless” and “unsettling” behavior but that had been overshadowed by accusations from another Platner ex, Lyndsey Fifield.

Politico reported that Racicot said Platner had been very drunk when he came over to her house late at night in late 2021, despite her replying to his text messages to say she did not want company, and that let himself into her house without permission then forced himself on her.

Racicot told Politico that Platner had fallen asleep afterwards and she did not kick him out because she was concerned he was too drunk to drive and could hurt someone. Racicot added that the next morning Platner said he did not remember what had happened and she told him to leave and not contact her again.

She considered reporting the incident to the police but “feared retaliation from Platner,” Politico reported.

Platner has denied Racicot’s allegations, telling Politico, “Any accusation of non-consensual behavior is categorically untrue.” A growing list of Democrats have publicly revoked their endorsements of Platner and rumors are swirling he is weighing dropping out of the race. He already won Maine’s primary, but under state law, there is still a short period of time during which he can be replaced.

On Monday’s episode of The Lead, Tapper interviewed Racicot about Platner, going through what she had told Politico in detail. The CNN anchor said that he had been communicating with Racicot after the Times article.

Racicot told Tapper that she had known of Platner before matching on Bumble because he “grew up in the next town over” and they had a mutual family friend.

She denied any political motivations to making these accusations, saying that she was a Democrat, wanted a Democrat to represent her in the Senate, and she “really agree[d] with his politics.”

“That was actually one of the huge reasons that I didn’t come forward,” Racicot said, calling it a “huge moral conflict” that she “struggled” with going public, knowing her story would hurt his electoral chances.

About the night of the alleged rape, Racicot said she was clear about telling him “don’t come over” a few times and thought “he got the message” but he showed up about half an hour later. She said she lived in an area where it was common to not lock your doors and he let himself in.

Racicot described Platner as “heavily intoxicated” and “had intentions with me” but “wasn’t listening” as she said “no, no” and “don’t touch me” over and over.

Tapper asked her about Platner’s controversial Reddit posts, specifically one about women being drunk and getting raped.

“I thought, here’s a man who was drunk and who, by dictionary definition, raped me,” said Racicot. “And he’s blaming drunk women. 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 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, scattered throughout their life, throughout their commentary, like it’s on their mind? Why do they have such a strong opinion about women coming forward with allegations, I just feel like this isn’t the first time.”

Tapper asked her directly if she considered what Platner did to her to be rape:

TAPPER: This is obviously been very difficult for you to talk about, for five years. And even when you’re telling the story, you don’t use the word. So let me just be, and I apologize, let me be as direct as I can. Did Graham Platner rape you?

RACICOT: By definition? Yes, Absolutely.

TAPPER:  Because he had non-consensual sex with you.

RACICOT: Yeah.

TAPPER: Forced himself on you?

RACICOT: Mm-hhm [nodding].

RAPPER: Even after you had told him no. And fought him off.

RACICOT: Yeah. He violated multiple layers of consent that night by coming into my home, when I asked him not to. And by advancing on me when I told him not to. And, and furthermore, another incident that I had told him not to do.

TAPPER: And with protection.

RACICOT: Yeah. Yeah. So yeah, by the way that my nervous system reacted to this experience? Absolutely.

Racicot recalled how she felt “afraid for her safety” because Platner’s “level of intoxication” was so high “he wasn’t listening to me.”

“I knew in that moment I wasn’t safe,” she said, explaining that she didn’t think it was “safe to physically fight back” because Platner was “big” and “strong” and she didn’t “know what this person is capable of” in that moment.

“I just had to evaluate my safety and come up with the least worst outcome to this situation,” she continued. “And so I felt like complying for my safety was the least worst option.”

“But that’s not consenting,” said Tapper.

“No, complying is not consenting,” she agreed.

“Complying is letting him rape you, ” said Tapper.

“, Is getting it over with,” she said.

“So that he didn’t hurt you even more,” said Tapper.

“I didn’t want to find out how unsafe I could get that night or how harmed I could be that night,” said Racicot.

Watch the clip above via CNN.

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