Khanna: ‘I should’ve listened to by wife’ about Platner

Campaign Khanna: ‘I should’ve listened to by wife’ about Platner Comments: by Tara Suter - 07/14/26 5:44 PM ET Comments: Link copied by Tara Suter - 07/14/26 5:44 PM ET Comments: Link copied

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Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), who formerly backed ex-Maine senate candidate Graham Platner, said he “should’ve listened to my wife” about the former candidate, who has been accused of sexual assault.

Khanna, a progressive, had backed Platner’s campaign during its run, and even attended a rally alongside the former Senate candidate last month.

He said the oyster farmer’s campaign showed “the power of building an FDR coalition with moral clarity on foreign policy in battleground states,” referencing former President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s progressive politics.

Khanna continued to support Platner after a New York Times report in which several women who were romantically involved with him described their relationships as “unsettling” and “toxic.”

“I’m humble enough when I make a mistake, I’ll own up to it, and I made a lot of endorsements, but this one was a mistake, and I should have seen more of the signs that were there of his toxic treatment to women,” Khanna told The Bulwark’s Tim Miller on a Monday episode of “The Bulwark Podcast.” “I have drawn the line at sexual assault and sexual violence and was the first to withdraw.”

Platner formally withdrew from the Maine Senate race last week, allowing Democrats to choose their new nominee this month.

He had announced earlier that week he would be suspending his campaign after two women accused him of sexual assault and sexual misconduct. One of the women alleged that Platner raped her in 2021. He has denied the allegations.

Maine Democrats have until July 27 to formally nominate a new candidate for the upper chamber, as they seek to oust Republican Sen. Susan Collins later this year.

Collins is viewed as one of the most at-risk Senate Republican incumbents this election cycle, with Democrats needing to flip her seat if they have any hope of taking back control of the Senate in November.

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