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The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
World
Joseph Gedeon and Shrai Popat in Washington

Bernie Sanders calls on Graham Platner to withdraw from Senate race amid sexual assault claims

Bernie Sanders and Graham Platner shake hands on a stage in front of a crowd holding campaign signs with an American flag behind them
Bernie Sanders and Graham Platner shake hands at a Fighting Oligarchy event in Portland, Maine in May 2026. Photograph: Sophie Park/Bloomberg via Getty Images

The progressive senator Bernie Sanders called on Graham Platner to withdraw from the US Senate race in Maine, citing “very serious allegations” of sexual assault, hours before the embattled nominee faced another claim of sexual misconduct.

While Platner has denied the new allegations, reported by Politico, and later by the Washington Post, the initial report prompted a wave of prominent Democrats to urge him to stand aside as the party’s nominee in the consequential Senate contest.

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