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Woman Who Dated Graham Platner Says He Raped Her in 2021. Aired 4-4:30a ET

Aired July 07, 2026 - 04:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[04:30:00]

ABBY PHILLIP, CNN ANCHOR: All right, everyone, thanks for watching these night. You can stream the show anytime with an all access subscription in the CNN app or at cnn.com slash watch CNN's coverage continues next.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Good evening from the NEWSROOM. Tonight, the woman who says Maine Democratic Senate Graham Platner raped her.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JENNY RACICOT, GRAHAM PLATNER ACCUSER: He was heavily intoxicated, had intentions with me and wasn't listening when I said no, and --

JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR: And you were saying, no, don't, no, don't over and over and over.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: That is Jenny Racicot talking to CNN's Jake Tapper about some of what she says happened nearly five years ago. Jake joins us shortly with more of their exclusive conversation.

As you know, this is not Platner's first controversy. There have been a number of them. This one, however, is already causing one-time supporters to back off supporting him as a candidate. Shortly after the story broke, Ro Khanna, the Democratic Congressman from California posted the following. "I've been very clear that sexual assault or violence against women is a red line. These allegations are very serious and credible. Graham Platner should drop out of the race. I am withdrawing my endorsement."

Arizona Senator Ruben Gallego also withdrew his support. Since then, Democratic Senator Elissa Slotkin has also said that he should end his campaign quickly. So has Elizabeth Warren from Massachusetts. And shortly before airtime, Senate Democratic Leader Charles Schumer joined that call, as did New York's Kirsten Gillibrand.

State party leaders in Maine put out a statement tonight containing a simple message, get out. Quoting now, "Maine Democratic Party leadership is calling on Graham Platner to withdraw as the Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate."

As for the candidate, he says he's quote, "Taking the time to reflect on the best path forward," and said this about the allegations.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GRAHAM PLATNER, (D) MAINE SENATE CANDIDATE: I wanted to directly address the troubling, serious and false allegations against me. Any accusation of non-consensual behavior is categorically false.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: His campaign also weighed in. I want to read that statement in full. It said, "These allegations are very serious, and Graham vigorously denies them. They are also coached and coordinated by out of establishment operatives. For a year, opponents of this campaign have thrown everything they can at Graham, calling him a Nazi, a war criminal and a communist. None of it has been true. And this is no different. It is not a coincidence that this story comes a week before the ballot deadline, just as the previous false allegations came a week before the primary. Graham began this campaign to fight for a Maine where everyone is treated with dignity and where Mainers are put first, and no amount of desperate smears will stop this movement from seeing that vision through."

Now, this is the first allegation of rape against him. But there have been other allegations involving his behavior with women. That campaign statement references it. In addition, "The New York Times" recently spoke with several women who dated Platner, describing what some called unsettling behavior.

Jenny Racicot was one of those women who talked to "The Times," though what she told them stopped short of what she's now saying. And Platner two weeks after that "Times" piece ran, he was asked if anything else in his past had yet to come out.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Are there other skeletons from your past that still may emerge in this race?

PLATNER: No.

LULU GARCIA-NAVARRO, "THE NEW YORK TIMES": Is there something new you want to get ahead of?

PLATNER: No, I mean, look, I've been -- I've lived my life. I know what I've what I've been through. I know what I've -- I know what my behavior has been, I know all of it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: As we learned tonight, that turned out not to be the case. We want to play some of Jake's interview. And a warning, there is strong language used and some of it is difficult to hear.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RACICOT: It was a night where him and I were texting back and forth, and he had taken something that I said as an invitation, and that's not how I meant it. And I quickly clarified, and he sent a message back indicating that he would come over. And I said, no, don't come over. Like I'm not in the mood. Don't come over. And I was more stern with that message. And then I didn't hear back from him. So, I thought that that meant he got the message or gave up on it or whatnot. And so, like half-an-hour later, I heard a noise outside my door. And, then he came in, he just came into my house. It was unlocked.

I live in an area where you don't usually have to lock your doors. I do now. So, he came in and I realized, OK, he didn't listen. He's in my home.

And I was laying on the couch. It was probably pretty late at night and I was getting -- I was already ready for bed. I just wasn't in bed. And so, he had kind of like jumped on top of me and indicated that he had intentions that were sexual in nature. And I remember just at first being like, hey, I'm not into this. Like, don't, I'm not in the mood. Like, don't -- whatever.

[04:05:00]

And it got to the point where I was like, OK, I feel like I've said these enough times. Like he's not listening to me or he's not hearing me. And I looked at him and I remember this very specific look in his eyes, and I could smell alcohol. And I was like, this is different. He is heavily intoxicated, like -- and that blank stare was kind of like a photographic memory that I still have of that night.

And his -- that was me recognizing what the situation was. And this wasn't just like, oh, hey, somebody showed up and I'm going to tell him to go home, like, he was heavily intoxicated and had intentions with me and wasn't listening when I said no, and --

TAPPER: And you were saying, no, don't, no, don't. Over and over and over.

RACICOT: I remember, you know, obviously, I've had to recall a lot of this. This is something that I tried for many years to forget. And so, small details, you know, might get past me, but yes, I remember very specifically saying I'm not into this. And my message previously, I told him I had had an old back injury. And I remember saying like, I'm not in this, I've had a long day. My back hurts like, like I was in that kind of mood, like, leave me alone mood.

And there was a little bit of like, a scuffle, like altercation. The house that I live in has like this antique sewing kit that I kept beside the couch and that got knocked over. He like backed into it or something was maybe pushed into it by me or something happened in that moment and that thing got spilled.

TAPPER: Do you remember pushing him away?

RACICOT: I remember potentially pushing away with my legs. Like, and then as he backed into it, it spilt and all of the sewing needles and tape and yarn and everything went everywhere. Everything had fallen onto the floor. And in that moment, I evaluated my safety. Like a drunk person who's blackout drunk is in my home, has these intentions with me, you know, has already caused this amount of destruction and not listening to me. And so I basically felt safe as just complying.

TAPPER: You normally use protection.

RACICOT: Yes.

TAPPER: And this time he didn't and you didn't want that?

RACICOT: No.

TAPPER: And he didn't care.

RACICOT: No, I don't think -- my words were falling on deaf ears or drunk ears.

TAPPER: And you were still saying, don't do this or I'm not into this.

RACICOT: I remember specifically him like grabbing at my chest and I like hit his hand and I said, don't touch me. And I remember that during the altercation.

TAPPER: And then, he kept going?

RACICOT: Yes, and it was this weird mix of like coming in and out of, I don't think consciousness is the word, but like coming to and kind of falling back into that drunken, I don't know what I'm doing state. And yes, and he just, he would apologize in those moments and then go back to doing what he was doing.

TAPPER: So, he was aware that he was doing something wrong and saying, sorry.

RACICOT: Yes, I feel like he was in moments. So after everything ended, I ran to the bathroom, which is just beside my bedroom. And I was in there for a while and just trying to like comprehend things.

And when I came back out, he was asleep in my bed. And at that point, I didn't know what my options were. Like, obviously I don't want this person in my house.

And when I, you know, earlier had realized how drunk he was, I knew that he had driven over that way. Like I'm surprised he made it to my house. And if I woke him up and sent him home, like I'm now making the decision to put somebody that drunk on the road.

And I didn't want to live with the fact that like if he got into an accident or hurt somebody else. So I was like, I'm going to let him sleep. And the second he wakes up, I'm going to tell him to leave.

And so he slept. I lay there in like a state of panic all night. In the morning, he woke up and he went to go put his arm around me.

And I was like, whoa. And in realizing this person doesn't know that what happened wasn't OK. And so I remember taking his arm and throwing it back at him.

And I said, are you fucking serious, Graham? And he's like, what? And I'm like, do you not remember what happened last night?

He's like, no. And I'm like, OK, I need you to get dressed and leave and never talk to me again. Like nothing that happened was OK.

[04:10:00]

And he did. He just got up and got dressed and left and didn't seem concerned. He left.

He didn't talk to me. And I waited a couple weeks because I knew that with what had happened, I could have gotten pregnant and I wanted to wait and to make sure that wasn't the case. And so I waited until that happened.

And I sent him kind of like a final send off message, and --

TAPPER: What did it say?

RACICOT: I remember a few pieces of it. And I remember saying that like, nothing that happened that night was OK or consensual.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: And Jake joins me now. I should reiterate that Platner and his campaign deny these allegations. What else did Miss Racicot say?

TAPPER (on camera): It's really, I mean, it was a long interview. We ran 20 minutes of it on air, but it went a lot longer. She said some really interesting things.

One of the things I asked her was if he had either the next morning acknowledged or apologized or a couple of weeks later when she reached out to him and said, I'm not pregnant, thankfully, and you still did this and it's not OK. Or even after "The New York Times" first wrote about Jenny Racicot a month ago, she alluded to a bad night but didn't go into it. If he had come forward at any time and expressed any remorse or accountability, would you be still doing this?

And she said she didn't know. But I do sense that the alleged rape was horrible, but also his indifference was also horrible.

COOPER: Yes, she said that when she told him to get out, that I mean, he just kind of seemed fine with it.

TAPPER: Yes, she said that, you know, you don't remember what you did last night. It was not OK. And he said no and then left. I mean, so, you know, and to this day, as you know, he denies anything. But I'm wondering what exactly he denied because he doesn't get specific about what he denies.

COOPER: You also asked why she decided to tell her story now. And I want to play part of that.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TAPPER: Why did you ultimately decide to do it? Why come forward?

RACICOT: A few reasons, one of the biggest ones is that I think that there are a lot of men in this world relying on the silence of women and to be where they are, and I don't want to contribute to that. I also want to just get my life back.

TAPPER: There are going to be people, maybe even his campaign, certainly his supporters who say this is politically motivated. What would you say to that?

RACICOT: I couldn't disagree more. That was actually one of the reasons that I didn't come out.

TAPPER: Because you agree with his politics.

RACICOT: I do, I really agree with his politics. I think we need somebody with those political stances and who are willing to do the work. And, you know, I see his political videos, they get me fired up as well. I understand why people want someone like him in office. You know, and I felt like me coming forward would essentially potentially take that away. And I felt really uncomfortable with the responsibility of and the weight of my story and what that might do.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: In denying her allegations, the campaign also says quote, "They are also coached and coordinated by out of state establishment operatives." She didn't look very coached to me or controlled. Did she seem that way to you and that --

TAPPER (on camera): No.

COOPER: -- coached and coordinated, I mean.

TAPPER: No, she said.

COOPER: I've talked to people who are coached before and --

TAPPER: No, I found her very credible, very charming. She was very nervous. You know, after "The New York Times" story came out, you know, my booker got her number and I called her or texted her and like, she did not want to come forward. This was not something she wanted to do.

Now, it is true that she reached out to Cheyenne Hunt, who is kind of an activist for survivors of sexual assault and harassment and rape. And she was involved a bit in the in the Eric Swalwell story. And Jenny reached out to Cheyenne because she had heard Cheyenne was providing help to people like counseling and assistance with, you know, how do I move on with my life?

Because one of the things that she talked about in the interview, is that, like, this has caused her to have intimacy issues with subsequent partners. Because Graham was someone that she trusted and then he did this to her, allegedly.

So, it is true that she reached out to somebody in a different state, but it's somebody who helps survivors of sexual assault and not somebody who's coaching. It's really kind of a wild allegation.

COOPER: Jake Tapper, thank you so much.

TAPPER: Thank you, Anderson.

[04:15:00]

COOPER: Well, joining me now from Washington is CNN political director David Chalian. So, David, as we mentioned, major supporters have been rescinding their endorsements now of Platner. The main Democratic Party leadership is calling him to drop out.

Do you see any path forward for his candidacy tonight?

DAVID CHALIAN, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: It's really hard to see what that path would be at this point, Anderson. It is collapsing around him. The main Democratic Party is significant because they are going to be in the position, the state party, should he drop out to pick a replacement.

But I would also note what you noted at the top, Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand, you know, the Senate Democratic leader, the head of the Democratic campaign committee, stating clearly that he must drop out. And if he doesn't, they're not going to spend a dime in the state of Maine. And the super PAC that is allied with Schumer has said the same.

They're going to redirect resources elsewhere. So this becomes a very quick math problem. Not only is his support cratering, but he's just not going to have the money to be able to proceed with this campaign.

COOPER: And if he decides to drop out of the race, what happens next? Who might replace him?

CHALIAN: Well, there are a slew of Democrats up in Maine, some of whom just ran for governor in the Democratic primary there and came up short. So a couple of their names have been mentioned. They have long ties in Democratic politics in Maine.

Troy Jackson is one. A logger who used to be the president of the Maine Senate, may fit a profile like Platner, but without all the Platner baggage, perhaps. So he's a name to watch.

But the Maine Democratic Party would get together and be able to choose the nominee if Platner gets out. He has to do it by next Monday, a week from today at 5 p.m. Eastern, according to state law. And then the state party would have two weeks after, so by July 27th, to actually put forward a nominee to appear on the November ballot.

COOPER: And if Platner does not drop out, did the State or National Parties have any mechanism to force him out? CHALIAN: Not that I can see in state law. And I think you're seeing the mechanism right now, which is public pressure, saying money won't be there, and rallying behind alternatives. It's really sort of shaming him out of the race, something that he had been resistant to. But you heard his statement in that video tonight. He is reflecting on the future path here. He seems to state that he understands the political implications of this, even if he denies the allegations.

COOPER: And just to remind people how crucial this race is for determining control of the Senate.

CHALIAN: Yes, I mean, it is unbelievably consequential. So Democrats need a net gain of four seats to go from the minority party to the majority party in the United States Senate. And where do you look on the map to start to do that?

Well, the first place you look is if you're a Democrat, you say, is there a Republican up for reelection in a blue state? Well, Susan Collins, the Republican incumbent, is the only Republican running for reelection in a state that Kamala Harris won in 2024. So this is supposed to be one of the top tier targets to have Democrats start making their build towards the potential four flips that they would need as a net gain to win the majority.

Without Maine, if Susan Collins is to win reelection here, this becomes a much, much tougher climb for Democrats to win the majority.

COOPER: All right, David Chalian, thanks very much.

Just ahead, what our political team from across the partisan spectrum makes of this latest allegation and what impact it may have on Democratic hopes to retake the Senate.

Also later, President Trump admitting he stepped in to get a suspended U.S. soccer star reinstated for the game tonight. That and what the rest of the world thinks of his knowledge of foul play.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: All I did, I asked for a review because I didn't think it was a foul. And, you know, again, I'm good at this stuff. I didn't think it was a foul.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[04:20:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: With Democratic leaders now calling on Graham Platner to end his race against Senator Susan Collins after a woman came forward and accused him of rape. We're talking tonight about the impact, first and foremost, on his accuser and what she faces now that she's speaking out. Here again is what she told Jake Tapper.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) RACICOT: I waited a couple of weeks because I knew that with what had happened, I could have gotten pregnant and I wanted to wait and to make sure that wasn't the case. And so I waited until that happened and I sent him kind of like a final send off message. And --

TAPPER: What did it say?

RACICOT: I remember -- I remember a few pieces of it, and I remember saying that like nothing that happened that night was OK or consensual.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: Well, there's also the question of what happens next to Platner, who has just been accused of a major felony, which he categorically denies. And on national politics, potentially, who controls one chamber of Congress this fall?

Joining me now is CNN political commentator Alyssa Farah Griffin. Also, Christine Quinn, Executive Committee Chair of the New York State Democratic Committee and CNN senior political commentator Scott Jennings. Christine, what's your response to when you hear her story?

CHRISTINE QUINN, EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE CHAIR OF THE NEW YORK STATE DEMOCRATIC COMMITTEE: It's horrible, it's horrible and there is no way a woman comes forward and says something like this. And the detail she has and the way that she has and is making it up. I mean, her statements are completely, completely credible and it is incumbent on everyone to believe what she is saying. And it is incumbent on Graham Platner to get out of this race immediately, and then I hope he is prosecuted to the fullest extent of the Maine law.

COOPER: And Alyssa, based on what you've seen, do you think the response so far to this is markedly different than previous?

ALYSSA FARAH GRIFFIN, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: It is markedly different. You know, a number of prominent Democrats have asked for him to step aside. But I want to know why, I knew the first accuser who did not accuse him of sexual assault, but of domestic violence that came forward in "The New York Times". She was a longtime GOP operative. She's somebody I've worked with, but that does not make her allegations any less credible.

I don't know why that wasn't the line. I don't know why the Nazi tattoo wasn't.

[04:25:00]

I don't know why demeaning Purple Heart recipients, homophobic slurs, racist and bigoted slurs on his reddit posts weren't enough. When politics becomes winning at all costs, we end up with the worst people in office and I think this is what we are running into.

Democrats did not do their due diligence in vetting this man and now their path to the Senate looks significantly bleaker because they went all-in on this one. COOPER: Which people had raised that concern about the vetting. The flip side of it is, you know, if you want candidates who are, quote, unquote, authentic.

QUINN: He went typically what?

GRIFFIN: He went to an elite prep school, but kind of masquerades as a working man. Like this isn't even that authentic of a guy. This is what I think and I've seen it happen on the right to some degree. This is what happens when the base of a party sometimes takes over the establishment, and they want to burn it to the ground.

This is a man who has dabbled in antisemitic tropes. He has gone the -- I would struggle to find things to defend him at this point. Yet most of the establishment stand stood beside him and Democrats, one of their strongest arguments they want to make going into the midterms is it's about character, it's anti-corruption. It's about getting the Epstein files out.

When you're standing by a man who's been accused of these things, you can't make that case as credibly.

COOPER: Scott, if Platner does decide to step aside, do you think the Maine Democratic Party will be able to nominate someone new without alienating former Platner supporters? How do you see it?

SCOTT JENNINGS, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, that's great question, because something that Alyssa said, I agree, by the way, with everything Alyssa said, she raised all the correct issues and said this is what they had signed on to. The only thing I disagree with is when she said that he hadn't been vetted. No, he had been vetted.

All of the things that have been stated, it was all out in the public and people like Ro Khanna, Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Tim Walz, "The Bulwark," "Pod Save America," all of these people came together to overlook it all, to explain it all, to rationalize it all.

He was vetted. People knew all these things and a whole bunch of Democrats in Maine showed up and voted for him anyway. And a bunch of donors from around the country sent him money anyway. I agree with Alyssa's question.

What changed? Why are you bailing on Graham Platner now? You already signed off on Nazi tattoo, a self-described communist, somebody who's had rape fantasies, somebody who has been on a social media platform known as a playground for predators, and on, and on, and on, and on and on.

And the difference between this accuser and the previous one is simply this, she's a liberal. It's OK, I guess, for Democrats that their candidates assault conservatives. But he broke into someone's house. And apparently, according to her, raped her. And because her politics are correct, they can now believe it.

All of this whole thing is disgusting but to say that they hadn't vetted him, or that they didn't know about all this, is totally false. They knew it and they signed up for it and I don't know why they're backing away from this scumbag today when they had already signed off on all that other crazy behavior.

COOPER: Christine, what do you say to that?

QUINN: I mean, look, there's not a lot to defend in this scenario in Maine right now. You know, I'd like to think that they didn't do a good vetting, right? I'd like to think that folks didn't know all of this in the way that Scott said, that things came out as revelations as it moved forward.

You know, the kind of looking back on this very, very soon, I hope, will give us the answers to that question about whether there was vetting and how deep it was. But, you know, the Republican woman who came out in "The New York Times" was treated terribly.

You know, when somebody says, whether it's Donald Trump or Platner supporters this is a scheme by the other side. You know, that is code for trying to cover something up. It is what people say when they have done something wrong. And a lot of people owe her an apology for how she was treated.

GRIFFIN: And by the way, sexual assault and domestic violence are underreported crimes because women are so often not believed. And I think that it was so wrong how Lindsey Fifield was treated after that "New York Time" reporting came out. And then for the statement today from the Platner campaign, it seemed to once again allege that there may be some kind of smear campaign underway, rather than just denying the allegations and moving on.

I do think the pressure is going to be overwhelming for him to step aside, because as you covered, they have about a week to replace him on the ticket. Now, our own David Axelrod said on your program, Jared Golden is somebody they could put into that. A moderate Democrat, a centrist, somebody who won a competitive district before.

That's going to be their best bet at this point. But I mean, it is really hard to be a heavyweight like Susan Collins when you change your candidate at this juncture and defended this guy.

COOPER: Scott, how do you think the Collins campaign deals with this? Do they even need to? I mean, this has a life of its own, obviously.

JENNINGS: Yes, I don't really think they need to deal with it at all. I mean, she's not in charge of picking the Democratic opponent for herself. All she needs to do is be herself.

She's the most moderate bipartisan senator in the United States Senate, and she doesn't have any of these kinds of crazy allegations. Not one single issue for her laying out there.

All she has to do is campaign as someone who does what she thinks is right, no matter who the President is, no matter which party had the idea. She's a very bipartisan person.