The fallout from Maine Democrat Graham Platner’s troubled Senate campaign may not end with his withdrawal on Friday, following an accusation of rape. The controversy is now threatening to create political headaches for California Democrat Ro Khanna well ahead of 2028.
Khanna, the Silicon Valley congressman widely viewed as a likely presidential contender, is facing criticism from detractors who say he continued to promote Platner despite troubling accounts about the Maine politician’s alleged treatment of women.
That scrutiny intensified because Khanna appeared alongside Platner even after The New York Times published a report describing what it called Platner’s “unsettling” behavior toward former girlfriends.
“We reject misogyny. We reject it. You know who else rejects it? Graham Platner,” Khanna told attendees at a get-out-the-vote rally in Bar Harbor last month.
The rally, paid for by Khanna’s congressional committee, Ro for Congress, included a nearly 30-minute speech from Platner. He was later accused by former girlfriend Jenny Racicot of drunkenly entering her unlocked home in 2021 and raping her.
The New York Times report, published June 4, detailed allegations from three former girlfriends who described Platner as intimidating and threatening toward women, with several accounts involving alcohol.
One former girlfriend, Lyndsey Fifield, said she was “shaken” by aspects of Platner’s behavior. According to the report, she described incidents that included him physically grabbing her, keeping an AR-15 assault rifle in his apartment and speaking about fantasies of killing people.
Khanna had notably doubled down on his support of Platner before abruptly pulling his endorsement and calling for him to drop out after Racicot’s rape allegation came to light this week.
The Silicon Valley congressman appeared in a video where he sat down with Platner in Maine to have an “honest conversation about the human toll and his journey.”
“I got the Platner call wrong obviously,” Khanna admitted to Politico following the rape accusation. “But it doesn’t negate from the progressive movement.”
California Republicans blasted Khanna for what they called his poor judgment.
“Socialists excuse bad behavior toward women when it fits their extreme agenda,” Corrin Rankin, chairwoman of the California Republican Party, told The California Post.
“They talk about justice but refuse to hold their own accountable while pushing laws that hurt the rest of us, give the government too much power, and take away chances for opportunity.”
A spokesperson for Khanna defended the rally he hosted in Maine, noting the congressman has been hosting similar gatherings across the country to boost Democratic candidates.
“This was an event that had multiple candidates including Troy Jackson and Matt Dunlap in addition to Platner and had nurses and labor union leaders speak,” the spokesperson told The Post. “Ro and his campaign have not given a single dollar to the Platner campaign.”
Racicot’s accusation that the Maine veteran entered her home without permission and raped her in 2021 is only the latest in a serious of disturbing reports about the wannabe senator.
One of his ex-campaign aides also revealed Platner had been sending sexts to as many as six women who weren’t his wife around the time he announced his Senate bid in August 2025. Offensive posts on Reddit forums were also unearthed, including Platner scoffing at victims of sexual assault.
Platner has also faced repeated questions over a tattoo of a Nazi symbol.
He has denied the rape accusation and chalked up much of his past conduct to heavy drinking and post-traumatic stress.
In a video released Wednesday, Platner blamed “large forces,” “corporate media” and the “political establishment” for tanking his candidacy.
