Platner’s downfall doesn’t mean the ‘Me Too’ party’s hypocrisy hasn’t been exposed

The Democratic Party, the political party that championed the “Me Too” movement—the party of “sister, I do believe you”—has been exposed by the case of Graham Platner. Although the radical Senate candidate himself lamented that his withdrawal was due to pressure from the Republican Party, the truth is that this pressure did not materialize until the accuser was a woman who shared his political ideology.

When the first voices emerged warning of “inappropriate behavior” toward several women by the former Navy SEAL, many Democrats—both men and women—turned a deaf ear. For example, when the sexting scandal involving at least six women broke shortly after his marriage, there was no shortage of voices within the Republican Party claiming that Platner was “a good and honest man who has had to struggle and has matured.”

Democrats justified his actions by citing PTSD following his deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan

They also found an excuse for some of his old statements posted on Reddit in which he downplayed the severity of rape and insinuated that victims who were abused were to blame for what happened if they had had too much to drink.

His defenders claimed this was because Platner suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder following his deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan.

But even worse was his reaction when the first allegations of inappropriate behavior or even sexual abuse by several ex-girlfriends surfaced, as reported in a mild article by The New York Times. They described “disturbing” encounters with Platner, which at times involved physical intimidation.

The “sister, I believe you” response turned out to be exclusive to Democratic voters or those further to the left

In the wake of the allegations, quite a few Democrats attacked one victim, the conservative Lyndsey Fifield. For example, Democratic Senator Sheldon Whitehouse mockingly downplayed the Times’ report:

“Seems like a lot of nothing,” Whitehouse said. “I mean, the only one who had anything to say that seemed unsettling was a woman who works for right-wing political operations.” The “sister, I believe you” response turned out to be exclusive to Democratic voters or those on the far left.

Jenny Racicot, the left-leaning voter who was the Democrats’ turning point with Platner

In fact, the left-leaning newspaper failed to highlight the person who ultimately proved to be the turning point in the party’s stance: Jenny Racicot, a left-wing ex-girlfriend of Platner who alleged that she had been violently assaulted by the Senate candidate.

In statements to Politico and CNN, Racicot recounted how a completely drunk Platner barged uninvited into her rural home one night in 2021, grabbed her by the hips, and forcibly raped her, despite her repeated pleas for him to stop.

From that point on, there was a succession of withdrawals of official endorsements, shocked reactions, lamentations and calls for Platner to step aside. But above all, there was fear that Democrats’ facade of sympathy for rape victims had fallen away. It was merely—and had always been nothing more than—a political ploy.