Horror novelist Stephen King took to X on Monday to publicly back Graham Platner, the embattled Maine Democratic Senate candidate facing a sexual assault allegation, even as the candidate's own party rushed for the exits. King told his followers he hoped Platner would not drop out, then pivoted to attack President Trump, drawing immediate backlash from commentators who found the author's priorities revealing.
The episode laid bare a tension that the left has never resolved: the gap between its stated principles on believing women and its behavior when a political ally stands accused. King's posts arrived the same day the Maine Democratic Party, Senate Democratic leadership, and a growing list of endorsers called on Platner to withdraw from his challenge to Republican Sen. Susan Collins.
Platner's troubles began when AP News reported that former girlfriend Jenny Racicot, 41, told Politico that Platner entered her rural Maine home uninvited in 2021 while deeply intoxicated and sexually assaulted her. Racicot said Platner forced himself on her despite her repeated objections.
"He violated multiple layers of consent that night."
That was Racicot's description of the alleged encounter, as reported by multiple outlets. Platner denied the accusation, calling "any accusation of non-consensual behavior" in his words "categorically false."
Into this wreckage stepped Stephen King. Fox News Digital reported that the famed Maine writer and outspoken Trump critic posted on X:
"Graham Platner may drop out. (I hope he doesn't, but.) Meanwhile, the Abuser in Chief just keeps on keepin' on."
The "Abuser in Chief" line was an apparent reference to President Trump, who has long denied sexual misconduct allegations leveled against him. King followed up with a second post invoking Scripture.
"Tell you what--if you knew the whole truth about everyone in the Senate and House of Reps, those chambers would be dead empty. Jesus said, 'Let him without sin cast the first stone.'"
The response was swift. Washington Post columnist and Fox News contributor Marc Thiessen fired back on X: "You hope he doesn't?? WTH is wrong with you?" New York Post columnist Karol Markowicz wrote sarcastically, "We all hope he doesn't!" And conservative personality Fusilli Spock added: "I absolutely love it when people show you who they are."
The criticism cut to a simple point. A woman had accused a candidate of a violent crime. The candidate's own party was distancing itself. And one of the most famous liberals in America responded by changing the subject to Trump and quoting the Bible, a book King's political allies rarely invoke when the accused sits on the other side of the aisle.
King's defiance stood in stark contrast to the Democratic establishment's rapid withdrawal. Rep. Ro Khanna pulled his endorsement and called on Platner to drop out, saying the allegations were "very serious and credible." Sen. Ruben Gallego also withdrew his endorsement, calling the claims "troubling and deeply serious."
The fallout extended to the highest levels of Senate Democratic leadership. National Review reported that Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand and Chuck Schumer issued a joint statement demanding Platner's immediate withdrawal.
"Graham Platner needs to immediately withdraw as the Democratic nominee for Senate and allow Maine Democrats the opportunity to choose a new candidate who can defeat Susan Collins."
The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee went further, stating it would spend no money on the Maine race if Platner remained the nominee. Under Maine state law, Platner can be replaced on the ballot if he withdraws by July 13, with a replacement named by July 27. That deadline gives the party a narrow window, and explains the urgency behind the public pressure campaign.
Platner, who defeated Gov. Janet Mills for the Democratic nomination, has not committed to withdrawing. In a video address, he acknowledged the political damage but stopped short of conceding the race. He called the reporting inaccurate while conceding its political consequences.
"So, regardless of the inaccuracy of the reporting, but mindful the political reality it will inflict, we are taking the time to reflect on the best path forward for the state that I love, the people that I love, the movement I belong to, and the goal of defeating Susan Collins."
That statement, simultaneously denying the facts and weighing whether to quit over them, captured the candidate's impossible position. He framed his decision not as a question of innocence or guilt but as a strategic calculation about "the movement."
The sexual assault allegation did not emerge in isolation. It arrived atop a growing pile of troubling accounts from former girlfriends describing a disturbing pattern of behavior by Platner toward women.
Another ex-girlfriend, Lyndsey Fifield, accused Platner of physically grabbing her by the shoulders during arguments, twisting her arm behind her back, and pushing her into a bedroom. The Washington Free Beacon reported that Fifield also accused the New York Times of omitting sexual assault accusations from multiple women in a published story about Platner's relationships, with editors allegedly saying "it was too much."
Fifield described feeling used by the journalists she trusted with her account. "It dawned on me that this really was a set up all along," she said. "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."
Platner's resurfaced Reddit posts added another dimension to the controversy. EMILY's List flagged deleted posts in which Platner wrote that sexual assault victims should "take some responsibility for themselves" and "act like an adult for f***s sake." Racicot told reporters that when she learned about those posts, her reaction was immediate: "I was like, that makes sense. This person does not respect women."
Beyond the allegations involving women, Breitbart reported that Platner has a "Totenkopf" skull-and-crossbones tattoo associated with the Nazi SS, which Fifield said he would joke about being a Nazi tattoo. He also posted on Reddit about retaining firearms, writing: "Still got the guns though. I don't trust the fascists to act politely." Despite all of this, his campaign posted a job listing for a Research Director on July 7, paying $7,000 to $11,000 per month, a sign the operation had not shut down.
The accumulation of allegations, deleted posts, and personal conduct painted a picture that even Maine voters had begun to register in polls, with nearly half calling Platner "too extreme" even before the sexual assault allegation surfaced.
King's intervention matters less for its political impact, Platner's campaign may already be functionally over, than for what it reveals about the left's selective application of its own standards. For years, progressives built an entire political infrastructure around the principle that women who allege sexual assault deserve to be heard and believed. Gillibrand herself made that cause a centerpiece of her Senate career.
Yet when the accused is a Democrat running against Susan Collins in a seat the party desperately wants, the response from at least one of the left's most prominent cultural voices was to invoke Scripture about casting stones and redirect attention to Trump. King did not address Racicot's account. He did not express concern for the accuser. He expressed hope that the accused would stay in the race.
The party apparatus, to its credit, moved more quickly than King did. Schumer, Gillibrand, Khanna, Gallego, and the DSCC all called for Platner's exit. But the speed of their withdrawal also raises a question the initial reporting on the allegation left open: how much did party leaders know before Politico published, and when did they know it?
Fifield's accusation that the New York Times suppressed the most damaging allegations against Platner, at the direction of editors who decided "it was too much", suggests that the warning signs were visible long before the July crisis. If the party apparatus had acted on earlier reports of Platner's conduct toward women, it might not now be scrambling to meet a July 13 ballot deadline.
The political fallout has already reshaped the Maine Senate race. With the DSCC pledging to withhold funds and Senate leadership demanding a new nominee, Platner's path to November looks nonexistent even if he refuses to withdraw.
The July 13 deadline looms. If Platner drops out before then, Maine Democrats can name a replacement by July 27 and attempt to mount a competitive challenge to Collins. If he stays, the party loses its investment, its credibility on the issue, and quite possibly the seat.
Fox News Digital reached out to Platner's campaign about King's comments. No response was reported.
Stephen King has made a career out of writing about monsters. Apparently, his standards for identifying them depend on which party they belong to.
