Former Obama administration aides and "Pod Save America" podcast hosts Jon Lovett and Tommy Vietor have called for Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner to withdraw from the race following a rape allegation made against him. The hosts described the allegations as "damning and sadly believable" and suggested Platner has not been honest about his past.
Jenny Racicot, a Maine resident, accused Platner of rape in interviews with Politico and CNN, alleging that the Senate hopeful entered her home uninvited nearly five years ago while intoxicated and assaulted her. Racicot, who was seeing Platner intermittently at the time, stated she immediately ended contact with him after the alleged assault, recalling a moment where she felt "This is no longer my choice."
Lovett and Vietor expressed that the latest allegations appear credible, especially in light of previous controversies surrounding Platner. Vietor commented on a video of Platner responding to the claims, stating his takeaway was that Platner "has to drop out of the race."
"The allegations in the story are really bad and troubling," Vietor said. "They seem credible. They're backed up by documentation. And so, obviously, the impact politically is not just what's in the story. It's this cumulative impact of a series of articles and allegations about him. And the feeling that he's just not been fully transparent and honest about some of the allegations."
The podcast hosts noted that while some voters may have overlooked past scandals to signal anger at the establishment, the current allegations present a different challenge. Lovett suggested that Platner may not have been honest with himself about his past struggles.
"He has to end the campaign so that we have a chance of defeating Susan Collins," Lovett said. "I think the story is horrible. Starting from when you interviewed him about the tattoo, he has not always been transparent about it. That has become increasingly true, that his denials have just not been backed up by what came next."
Lovett added that the current allegations comport with Platner's past admissions of heavy drinking and potential memory loss. "And so then we have a video of him categorically denying something which it doesn't seem he's really in a position to deny," he stated.
Platner's campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.