Maine Democratic Senate hopeful Troy Jackson struggled to articulate his reasons for prolonged support of Graham Platner, who recently suspended his campaign for the U.S. Senate following a sexual assault allegation.
During an interview on MS NOW Thursday, Jackson was pressed by host Katy Tur about his history of backing Platner, which included campaigning together and filing paperwork to potentially replace him as the Democratic nominee before the rape allegation surfaced.
Tur questioned Jackson on why he maintained support for Platner through other controversies, including a reported Nazi tattoo, a New York Times article detailing allegations of aggressive behavior toward an ex-girlfriend, and perceived racist and sexist Reddit posts. Jackson cited Platner's explanations of past actions as periods of his life he had grown from, and that he was more focused on Platner's policy positions like Medicare for All.
"Well, the Nazi tattoo and the Reddit posts, I mean, I didn’t know — I mean, I haven’t ever been on Reddit, but, you know, when people talked about those things, and then he turned around and said, you know, that these were times whenever they were dark for him and, you know, he’d grown and all this stuff," Jackson stated. "I mean, they were, you know, a different time period for him. And I understood, you know, that people can change."
Jackson added that Platner had assured him there was nothing in his past to worry about, and that the candidate had lied to him and others. However, Jackson characterized the sexual assault allegation as a "red line" he would not cross.
"But when it came to a credible sexual assault, it became clear that that was — that was it. It was, you know, a red line that I wasn’t going to cross. And, you know, the other thing about it was Graham told me point-blank that there was nothing in his past that I had to worry about. And he, you know, he lied to me, and he lied to a lot of us," Jackson said.
The New York Times report described Platner being physical with his ex-girlfriend Lyndsey Fifield, including instances of grabbing her wrist and pulling her out of a cab, and pushing her into a bedroom while holding the door shut.
Jackson has been a notable ally of Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., previously serving as his Maine political director and endorsing him over Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential primary. Sanders has not yet endorsed another candidate for the Maine Senate seat. Under Maine law, Platner has until July 13 to withdraw for Democrats to replace him on the November ballot, with the state party having until July 27 to select a new nominee if he steps aside.