NYT Scribe Jodi Kantor’s Recent Defense of Graham Platner Called Out Amid New Allegations: ‘How’s This Aged?’

New York Times reporter Jodi Kantor’s previous downplaying of earlier allegations against Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner are facing renewed scrutiny after a new accuser alleged he sexually assaulted her, prompting a wave of Democrats to abandon his campaign.

A bombshell Politico report published Monday detailed allegations from 41-year-old Maine resident Jenny Racicot, who said she had an on-and-off relationship with Platner for more than two years before accusing him of rape.

Racicot alleged that during one encounter she described as “not consensual,” Platner entered her home “uninvited” while intoxicated.

In an interview with CNN later Monday, Racicot said her decision to come forward was not politically motivated.

Platner denied the allegations in a video statement but announced he was pausing his Senate campaign to “reflect on the best path forward.”

The latest allegation quickly reignited criticism of Kantor, whose appearance on CNN in early June drew backlash after she characterized previous claims against Platner as different from more widely recognized abuse scandals.

On June 4, The Times had reported claims from several women, including a former girlfriend who said that Platner became violent during their relationship, including allegedly twisting her arm during an argument.

“They’re not about a boss and a young female employee being subjected to sexual advances. They were mostly made in the context of consensual relationships,” Kantor said at the time while discussing reporting by her colleagues at The Times.

“There are these, like, very sensational texts about sex. There are allegations from former girlfriends that are not — the way my colleagues reported them were not like classic abuse allegations,” she continued.

Kantor added that the women’s accounts were “mostly like ‘being his boyfriend gave me a view into him and I did not like what I saw. His character was scary. He had this Nazi tattoo.’ Et cetera.”

Referring to allegations of physical abuse reported by the newspaper, Kantor also said: “There was one allegation of crossing a line physically,” before adding, “but I think that means that these are pretty different accusations than, say, the one that — the ones that President [Donald] Trump faced.”

“I think it speaks to the kind of confusion of the long post-MeToo moment, in which, like, gender-related accusations get bundled together, but they’re actually very different,” she added.

Kantor’s comments were resurfaced as several prominent Democrats, including Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) and Sen. Rubén Gallego (D-AZ), withdrew their endorsements following Racicot’s allegations.

Gallego’s reversal prompted a sharp response from Lindsey Fifield, the former girlfriend whose allegations were detailed in an earlier Times report.

“Mine weren’t sufficiently troubling or serious for you, right?” Fifield wrote on X.

But it was pollster Kristen Soltis Anderson who tweeted out the video of Kantor’s past comments:

Fox News chief political analyst Brit Hume soon followed, accusing Kantor of attempting to “soft-peddle” the previous claims:

Another user noted Kantor’s past involvement in breaking stories about disgraced Hollywood exec Harvey Weinstein and other #MeToo stories, asking: “How’s this aged?”

Watch above via CNN.

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