Graham Platner was accused of rape on Monday, and it quickly became clear that he will never be a United States Senator. After days of delay, he finally suspended his campaign in a long and grievance-filled video on Wednesday night. The prospect of his victory was doubtful even before Monday, when a woman he once dated, Jenny Racicot, went on the record to Politico alleging that in 2021, a very drunk Platner let himself her house, when she had told him not to come over. Racicot says she realized he was there when she heard strange noises; then, she says he raped her, forcing intercourse without a condom while she repeatedly told him no.

Politico reported that it reviewed emails between Racicot and her therapist about the alleged encounter. The outlet also interviewed a boyfriend Racicot later confided in about the alleged incident, and reviewed messages she shared with another woman warning her away from Platner, long before the start of his political career. Platner denies wrongdoing, saying: “Any accusation of non-consensual behavior is categorically untrue.” But he put out a video saying that he would “reflect on the best path forward” for his campaign. Since Platner may have known about the inevitability of this accusation becoming public, one wonders if the best time for such reflection might have been several months ago, when Maine voters still had the chance to select a more worthy and more viable candidate.

Such apology videos were a staple of Platner’s campaign, which will be remembered, above all, for a series of consecutive and sometimes bizarre scandals – all of which concerned the personal conduct of the candidate, an oyster farmer and former mercenary, and each of which was accompanied by promises from the campaign that there were no more skeletons in the closet yet to be revealed, promises that were scarcely uttered before a new scandal developed.

Based on all this, it is my assessment that Racitot’s allegation is credible. Many others seem to agree: seemingly every prominent Democrat quickly called on Platner to drop out of the race. But at least one major politician came to his defense. Asked about Platner on Wednesday, Donald Trump, who has been accused of sexual misconduct by more than two dozen women, said: “It’s really a question of whether or not you believe the woman. A lot of people say big falsehoods.”

Platner’s controversies were egregious in their own right, and frequently bizarre. There was of course his Nazi-icon tattoo, a Totenkopf,........

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