President Donald Trump seemed to cast doubt on Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner's sexual assault accuser when asked by the press on his way back to Joint Base Andrews from the NATO summit in Turkey.
"Do you think the Democrats should be able to pick a replacement for Graham Platner? He's had all these new allegations that have come out now. Democrats are talking about picking a replacement for him," said a reporter. "Should they be able to do that?"
"They're picking what?" asked Trump, and the reporter repeated the question.
"Well, so he won the primary, right? It's very hard to do," said Trump. "It’s really a question of whether or not you believe the woman. A lot of people say big falsehoods. It's, uh, he's in a bind. He's in a bind. But should they be able to do it? Well, I guess he's going to lose. I would imagine he's going to lose."
Platner's accuser, Jenny Racicot, came forward with a detailed story and some corroborating evidence, including text messages dating back to the time of the event. Platner is widely believed by political observers to be preparing to exit the race within days, or even hours, opening the door for Maine Democrats to choose a replacement.
"It's very interesting," Trump added. "When a Republican woman came out with the same charge, nobody believed her. When this woman came out, everybody believed her." (The woman to whom Trump is referring, Lyndsey Fifield, never accused Platner of sexual assault, but did say he was physically aggressive at times.)
This is not the first time Trump, who has himself been accused of sexual assault by a number of women, has publicly doubted accusations against public figures, even when they are Democrats or his direct political rivals. He was famously slow to believe the allegation of sexual assault against former President Joe Biden by Tara Reade, which ultimately had little impact on the 2020 race.