BAR HARBOR, Maine — Rep. Ro Khanna of California on Friday said that Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner should apologize to the women who recently came forward describing disturbing behavior during their relationships with him.
In a brief interview with NBC News, Khanna — here to rally on behalf of Platner and other Democratic candidates before Tuesday’s primary — said that he rejected the behavior Platner allegedly displayed against three women who described their past relationships with Platner to The New York Times.
Khanna said that Platner has shown redemption. When asked whether Platner should go further and apologize to the women, Khanna agreed.
“I think he should apologize. I believe what he did was wrong, was misogynistic, was toxic or volatile,” he said in a brief interview with NBC News. “I know he’s ashamed of it and I certainly think it would be appropriate to apologize and say how he now understands why it’s important to stand up to a misogynistic culture.”
Three former girlfriends described “toxic” and “unsettling” behavior from Platner when they dated, and one woman, Lyndsey Fifield, said Platner once “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.’”
Platner disputed some of the allegations, including that he had been physically abusive.
In an interview with MS NOW on Thursday, Platner said, “Anything alleging physicality, anything alleging that I knew what my tattoo was, these are the statements of someone who’s politically motivated.”
Fifield has worked for conservative groups and Republican campaigns.
Khanna was the highest-profile national figure to back Platner a day after the serious allegations were leveled against the Senate candidate.
Later, in front of a crowd gathered for an event featuring Platner and candidates for governor and Congress, Khanna defended Platner.
“He understood that those years that he came back were not the best years of his life,” Khanna later said before a crowd. “Then he, unlike others, took accountability for it. And he’s worked to be a better man, a better human being.”
