\n<\/p>\n
Maine Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner engaged in a pattern of \u201cintimidating and disturbing\u201d behavior toward multiple women and lied about not knowing the meaning of his Nazi tattoo, according to a new report<\/a> from The New York Times\u00a0citing former girlfriends.<\/span><\/p>\n The Times report centers on three of Platner\u2019s former girlfriends, who described volatile and \u201ctoxic\u201d relationships with the Senate hopeful, claiming he demeaned women, became physically threatening, and was repeatedly unfaithful.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Lyndsey Fifield, a Virginia conservative who dated Platner from 2013 to 2015, recalled him as \u201ccavalierly contemptuous of women\u2019s emotions,\u201d according to the Times.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Fifield also alleged that Platner knew full well the meaning behind his infamous Nazi tattoo, saying he referred to the symbol as \u201cmy Totenkopf.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n The accusation cuts against Platner’s previous claim that he did not understand the significance of the symbol, which was used by Nazi Germany’s SS.<\/p>\n Fifield, who has worked for Republican campaigns, also claimed that Platner regularly grabbed her by the shoulders hard enough to leave marks. She recounted an incident in which he allegedly twisted her arm behind her back, shoved her into a bedroom, and held the door shut, telling her to stay there until she was \u201ccalm.\u201d Fifield said she eventually fell asleep and left the next morning, according to the Times.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cIt didn\u2019t cause an injury, it didn\u2019t break my arm<\/span>,\u201d <\/span><\/i>she told the Times.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The Platner campaign strongly disputed claims of physical intimidation, according to the Times.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI take responsibility for all of that, and wish I had been better,\u201d Platner said, according to the Times. \u201cAny characterization beyond that is false, and I believe, politically motivated. I\u2019m not proud of who I was then, but I am proud of the work I\u2019ve done since, and the movement we are building in Maine.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Fifield went on to describe Platner as a troubled veteran with \u201cwarrior ethos\u201d who would contemplate killing people he considered a threat.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cHe said this a lot: If anybody ever broke in here, I would rape them,\u201d she recalled, saying that he added that it would not be in \u201ca sexual way, not in a gay way.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cHe was like, I would rape them to show them that I\u2019m dominant,\u201d she told the Times.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n A second woman, Jenny Racicot, 41, a Maine Democrat who said she dated Platner on and off from 2019 to 2021, said his uncovered social media posts disparaging women sounded all too familiar.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWhen I saw the old comments that he made online,\u201d she said, \u201cI recognized a version of him that I had experiences with.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Both women agreed that the oyster farmer, who is challenging Senator Susan Collins (R-ME), has a deep disdain for women. <\/span><\/p>\n Platner’s odds to pick up the seat for Democrats have plunged<\/a> in recent days, according to prediction markets.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n