‘I Couldn’t Stay Silent’: NYT Reports Explosive Allegations Against Maine Senate Candidate Graham Platner

The hits keep coming against embattled Democrat candidate Graham Platner in the U.S. Senate race for Maine.

The New York Times released a report Thursday in which former girlfriends of Platner described a disdain for women, with one alleging physical intimidation and mistreatment. Platner also allegedly made bizarre comments about how he would rape someone if that person broke into his home.

Women romantically involved with Platner in the past described him as “demeaning to women and, in at least one case, even physically threatening.”

Lyndsey Fifield, who dated Platner on and off from 2013-2015, spoke to the Times about her experience. She said that Platner “regularly grabbed her by the shoulders—sometimes hard enough to leave marks—and, on one occasion, yanked her out of a cab by her wrist after an argument when she wanted to stay in the car.”

The report was released shortly before Thursday’s episode of “The Tony Kinnett Cast.” Daily Signal national correspondent Tony Kinnett, who knows Fifield, addressing the new allegations against Platner on his show.

‘Deeply Troubling’

The Times report, Kinnett said, is “deeply troubling,” and there’s “a very good reason for a lot of panic on the inside of the Democratic Party because of some of these details.”

Kinnett pointed out that the article describes Fifield as having “grappled with how to process her experiences,” which meant she “was re-experiencing trauma” as she “was struggling with how to phrase” what happened.

“During one argument, she recalled, he twisted her arm behind her back, shoved her into a bedroom and held the door closed from the other side so she couldn’t get out, telling her to remain there until she was ‘calm.’ Eventually, Ms. Fifield said, she fell asleep and left the next morning,” the Times reported, quoting Fifield as saying: “It hurt. It didn’t cause an injury. It didn’t break my arm.”

Notably, this detail is not referenced until the 22nd paragraph of the Times story. Kinnett blasted the Times for how it covered the new allegations, echoing similar criticism from Daily Caller editor-in-chief Amber Duke. Kinnett suggested it would be different the situation for a Republican or a conservative Supreme Court nominee.

Platner: ‘I Would Rape Them’

Platner also told Fifield “that rape was about power,” which “was something that stuck with her through the years.”

“He said this a lot: If anybody ever broke in here, I would rape them,” Fifield shared, with Platner adding it would “not be in “a sexual way, not in a gay way.” As Fifield also said, “He was like, I would rape them to show them I’m dominant.”

“Asked about those remarks, a Platner campaign official did not dispute them,” the article mentioned.

The New York Times also mentioned that the Platner campaign “strongly disputes” claims of physical intimidation or altercations.

“Throughout this campaign, I’ve been open about what was a very dark period of my life where I struggled with undiagnosed PTSD, too often self-medicated with alcohol, and was a far from perfect boyfriend. I take responsibility for all of that, and wish I had been better. Any characterization beyond that is false, and I believe, politically motivated. I’m not proud of who I was then, but I am proud of the work I’ve done since, and the movement we are building in Maine,” Platner said in a statement for CNN.

He made similar statements when speaking with MS Now’s Chris Hayes about that report.

Fifield: ‘I Couldn’t Stay Silent’

Early Friday morning, Fifield responded to the Times story with a lengthy X post. She said the New York Times approached her and she reluctantly agreed to share details of their relationship.

“I couldn’t stay silent as he continued to lie and lie and lie,” Fifield explained. “I want my daughters to boldly speak out if they’re ever abused as I was.”

Fifield also criticized the Times for its handling of the story. After first being approached in April, it took weeks for the Times journalists to publish the story.

“They kept coming back to us saying the editors needed more,” Fifield said. “I needed to go on the record (okay). We need more screenshots (okay). I met every bench mark they set, eager to provide more sources or evidence as needed.”

Even so, Fifield wrote, the Times left out important details and published a quote from Platner’s campaign attacking her character.

“After the story went up I began to ask them … wait, where are the stories from the other women? Where are their accusations of sexual assault? Why am I the focus? Why are there 11 paragraphs dedicated to detailing my work history (more than has been published about Graham’s by far)?” she wrote on X.

“The Times also failed to include any mention that I DID confide in multiple friends through the years that Graham had been abusive—long before he was running for office. Those friends confirm they told the Times so,” Fifield wrote.

She added: “It dawned on me that this really was a set up all along. The journalists I trusted who convinced me to share a story I never wanted to tell methodically delayed and twisted this into a gift to the Platner campaign. Violating the trust of his victims. Shattering the trust I placed in them with the most vulnerable story of my life.”

‘Tremendous Amount of Courage’

Rob Bluey, president and executive editor of the Daily Signal, spoke to CNN’s Jake Tapper about the Times report during a Thursday night TV appearance. Bluey previously worked with Fifield for several years.

Bluey told Tapper that Fifield was a credible person, adding, “It took a tremendous amount of courage for Lyndsey to come forward and tell this story, along with the other women who are now speaking out.”

He said “many of the other women are doing something that they feel is important now,” noting that Maine holds its primary election Tuesday. “Frankly, the voters of Maine need to make a decision,” which “is going to have big implications about whether Graham Platner is going to move forward,” he added. “I think these allegations need to be fully vetted.”

Maine Gov. Janet Mills, a Democrat, suspended active campaigning but is still on the ballot for Tuesday’s primary.

Thursday’s report came out days after reporting from the Times on sexually explicit text messages that Platner sent to women who were not his wife, as well as a Kik profile. On Tuesday, Platner met with Senate Democrats in Washington, D.C.