{"id":1320,"date":"2026-06-05T21:40:43","date_gmt":"2026-06-05T21:40:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=1320"},"modified":"2026-06-05T21:40:43","modified_gmt":"2026-06-05T21:40:43","slug":"sen-kirsten-gillibrand-mum-on-graham-platner-bombshell-after-leading-metoo-charge-against-al-franken","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=1320","title":{"rendered":"Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand mum on Graham Platner bombshell after leading #MeToo charge against Al Franken"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

WASHINGTON \u2014\u00a0Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) led the #Metoo effort that took down former Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) and tried to tank Supreme Court justice nominee Brett Kavanaugh\u2019s confirmation \u2014 as a self-styled champion of zero-tolerance feminism.<\/p>\n

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But as head of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, the New York Democrat has refused to disavow embattled Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner, even after bombshell New York Times allegations from ex-girlfriends that he despised women and at times physically manhandled them.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are still going to win Maine,\u201d Gillibrand told CNN\u2019s chief congressional correspondent Manu Raju after the latest New York Times story interviewing his former girlfriends broke Thursday.<\/p>\n

A source close to the DSCC told The Post that the main campaign arm for Senate Democrats is now reconsidering spending heavily on ads in Platner\u2019s race to\u00a0unseat incumbent Republican Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) as a result of the sexual misconduct revelations.<\/p>\n

Platner\u2019s wife, Amy Gertner, revealed to a campaign aide last August that her husband had been sexting on his phone with at least six women outside their marriage, forcing the couple to seek marriage counseling, The Times and Wall Street Journal reported.<\/p>\n

And the candidate had maintained an active account \u2014 with a picture of himself stripped to the waist and wearing only a white towel \u2014\u00a0on the private messaging app Kik, which has been accused of being a hotbed for adultery, casual hook-ups and sexual predation.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s on top of new details gleaned in the Times from ex-girlfriend Lyndsey Fifield about a tattoo on the candidate\u2019s chest that he had previously denied knowing was a Nazi symbol \u2014 despite referring to it as such in conversations with her more than a decade ago.<\/p>\n

Gillibrand struck a different tone following accusations of sexual misconduct that eventually drove Franken from office in December 2017.<\/p>\n

\u201cI do not feel that he should continue to serve,\u201d Gillibrand said in a press conference that same month.<\/p>\n

\u201cEnough is enough. I mean, this is a conversation we\u2019ve been having for a very long time and it\u2019s a conversation that this country needs to have,\u201d she added. \u201cWe, as elected leaders, should absolutely be held to a higher standard.\u201d<\/p>\n

Two years later, she defended her decision in a New Yorker interview that \u201cthe women who came forward felt it was sexual harassment. \u2026 So it was.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSome of the allegations against me are not true. Others I remember very differently,\u201d Franken had said in his resignation speech.<\/p>\n

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Gillibrand had also claimed Senate Republicans \u201cdon\u2019t believe women\u201d during Kavanaugh\u2019s confirmation process. <\/p>\n

She sat next to actress Alyssa Milano in the Senate hearing in 2018 in support of Kavanaugh accuser Christine Blasey Ford, whom she insisted was telling the truth about an alleged high school sexual assault that should disqualify Kavanaugh from the Supreme Court.<\/p>\n

Platner was facing a Democratic primary challenge from Maine Gov. Janet Mills before she suspended her campaign on April 30. <\/p>\n

He now appears poised to win his party\u2019s nomination in the June 9 election, barring an unprecedented swap between then and the November contest.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Governor remains on the ballot, and in the wake of this week\u2019s stories, people across Maine are reaching out to tell her they\u2019re voting for her and encouraging her to get fully back into the race,\u201d a source close to Mills told CNN.<\/p>\n

Platner has denied any assault allegations from his exes and vowed to stay in the race. <\/p>\n

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) has also stuck by his endorsement of Platner, with winning Maine critical to his goal of Democrats retaking the Senate. <\/p>\n

But not all of his colleagues are holding the line.<\/p>\n

\u201cReports of threatening behavior and anti-semitism like the ones made against Graham Platner are serious and deserve scrutiny,\u201d said Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-NH), who is retiring from office in January 2027.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s also critical to acknowledge how difficult this is for the women who\u2019ve come forward,\u201d Hassan added. \u201cCharacter matters now more than ever, and any high-profile campaign including Mr. Platner\u2019s involves the close examination of a candidate\u2019s history, statements and behavior, as well as the candidate\u2019s reaction to the pressure that such examination entails.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cUltimately the people of Maine will decide who has the character and judgment to best represent them,\u201d she noted.<\/p>\n

Reps for Gillibrand and the DSCC did not immediately respond to requests for comment.<\/p>\n

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Ally Goelz contributed to this report<\/em>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) led the # MeToo effort that took down former Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) and tried to tank Supreme Court justice nominee Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation \u2014 as a self-styled champion of zero-tolerance feminism.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1319,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1320","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics"],"yoast_head":"\nSen. 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