Politics

Maine’s Democratic Party leadership calls on Platner to drop out following Blue Light News report

Published

3 hours ago

July 6, 2026

The leaders of Maine’s Democratic Party are calling on Senate candidate Graham Platner to withdraw from the race, after POLITICO reported Monday that a woman who he dated said he forced her to have sex with him.

Their call for Platner’s exit is notable, given the state party has the ability to replace him on the ballot, should he choose to drop out before the July 13 deadline outlined in Maine law. Leaders would then need to select his replacement by July 27.

“The Maine Democratic Party leadership stands with women and survivors, and that principle does not bend based on party affiliation,” Chair Charlie Dingman, Vice Chair Imke Schessler and Executive Director Devon Murphy-Anderson said in a joint statement posted to social media.

Maine Democrats join several prominent party members — including former Platner supporters Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) and Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) — in pushing for the progressive oysterman to drop out or condemning his actions after Blue Light News reported new allegations of him sexually assaulting a former partner.

Platner has denied the accusation, saying that the allegations are “troubling, serious, and false. Any accusation of non-consensual behavior is categorically untrue.” However, he also said on social media that he was “taking the time to reflect” on his candidacy.

Jenny Racicot, a 41-year-old Maine resident, had told Blue Light News that Platner entered her home uninvited five years ago and forced himself on her despite her repeatedly telling him to stop. She said she cut off contact with him after telling him that his actions that night were not consensual.

“We are entrusted with deciding who represents our values and who carries our banner,” Dingman, Schessler and Murphy-Anderson wrote in the Monday statement. “That responsibility requires judgment, leadership, and a willingness to act when circumstances demand it.”

The Maine Democratic leaders said it is their “responsibility to hold every candidate who seeks to represent our state to the highest standard” and that it is imperative the party defeats GOP Sen. Susan Collins in November.

“This Senate race comes at a pivotal moment in the struggle against a government, supported by Senator Collins, that serves the interests of the wealthy and powerful at the expense of ordinary Maine people,” they wrote. “It is essential that we refocus this campaign on that struggle.”

Other prominent Maine Democrats — including state Senate President Mattie Daughtry — called on Platner to exit.

“Sexual violence has absolutely no place in our society, and it cannot be tolerated from those seeking our highest positions of power,” Daughtry said on X. “To that end, I am calling on Mr. Platner to withdraw his candidacy immediately. Maine deserves a nominee for U.S. Senate with the dignity, judgment, and personal character this seat demands.”

Politics

The California Democrat who says he ‘won’t cheer FIFA’s capitulation to power’

Published

1 minute ago

July 7, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

Sam Liccardo said he “groaned excessively” when the U.S. national team’s Folarin Balogun was given a red card.

Yet the Silicon Valley representative objected after President Donald Trump pressed FIFA to review the play at issue, before the world soccer organization suspended the penalty and allowed the U.S.’ lead scorer to play in today’s knockout round match against Belgium.

“We can’t win this way,” Liccardo, a Democrat, wrote on social media. “I won’t cheer FIFA’s capitulation to power.”

Few other American politicians have expressed a similar sentiment, perhaps wary that they’ll be viewed as rooting against their own country’s success. But Liccardo joined a chorus of international officials who took issue with the pressure campaign that culminated in Balogun’s return to the pitch, while stressing that the “right outcome” had been reached despite what he viewed as foul play by FIFA leadership.

“The fact that we should see this outcome after this corruption summit between FIFA and Donald Trump accentuates the distaste for many,” he told Blue Light News in an interview just over an hour before the U.S.-Belgium match.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Were you at the match where the red card was issued in Santa Clara?

I was not, I’m ashamed to say. It’s slightly outside my district, and a few thousand dollars outside my tax bracket. … I watched on television and cheered wildly for the U.S. team, and groaned excessively when Balogun got his red card.

Democrats have accused President Trump of a lot of instances of corruption throughout his second term, so why speak out on this particular incident?

Well, I think in your question there’s an implication, and it’s a fair one, which is: Far be it from me to suggest that FIFA could ever be corrupt. But at least we could say that for once it was Americans that benefited from the corruption, not the Qataris or the Russians.

Look, I root for the U.S. men’s team every time they take the field, and, like virtually everyone else watching that game, I felt Balogun was treated very unfairly. That being said, since 1962, FIFA has never allowed a player to appear at a World Cup game after receiving a red card in the game immediately following. The intervention of a head of state — in what should be an international celebration of sports that should be above politics and beyond it — is troubling. And the fact that we should see this outcome after this corruption summit between FIFA and Donald Trump accentuates the distaste for many. [FIFA has repeatedly asserted that Trump’s call for a review had no impact on its decision, and Trump said the same today, while confirming he had asked for another look at the play.]

Do you think your constituents feel the same way?

People feel all kinds of different ways, and I don’t blame anyone for saying, “Hey, this is the right outcome.” That’s fine. I’m simply saying it’s the right outcome for the wrong reasons. And it’s hard to blame you global fans of the sport for having hard feelings.

Like, you said, a lot of people probably feel that this was the right outcome. Has that made this at all a tricky situation for Democrats to address politically?

No, because politicians shouldn’t address this. It’s not my problem to solve, and it’s certainly not Donald Trump’s problem to solve. So, I don’t have any problems. I’m a spectator, like everybody else. I’m simply saying we all want an umpire that calls balls and strikes, and we know that umpires get it wrong plenty of times. We just don’t want somebody bribing the umpire to get us a ball rather than a strike.

You’re a bystander in some ways, but this is also not your first time encountering FIFA. In addition to being a co-chair of the World Cup Caucus, you were the mayor of San Jose when the city was participating in the bidding process to host that tournament. Didn’t you and some of the other Bay Area mayors even go on a tour with FIFA officials of Levi’s Stadium a few years ago?

Yeah, I think we were at the stadium, and then we went to San Francisco. That’s what you do when you’re the mayor of the largest city in the region and you want the World Cup to come to your region.

So, when you say that FIFA is a corrupt organization, has that always been your view, or did this particular incident kind of drive you there?

It’s the view of the Department of Justice that indicted them for more than $150 million in bribes in 2015, it’s the view of lots of other folks who are concerned about how the Qataris ended up with the World Cup. We can go on and on. It’s not my view that matters here. The point is this: Nobody wants to see the head of state of any country calling an international sports organization to get a better call. That’s not the way sports should work.

The Olympics are coming to California in 2028. Should Democrats be trying to guard against Trump exerting influence once again to aid the host country in that international competition?

No, elected officials should be refraining from getting engaged in international sports competitions, the area where people don’t want politics. So it’s not about what we do or don’t do. It’s not about us standing up to Trump or not standing up to Trump. It’s about the fact that we should want international sports competitions to be free of political influence.

Politics

Trump was introduced to red and yellow cards in 2018

Published

16 minutes ago

July 7, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

President Donald Trump said earlier Monday that he didn’t know what a red card was before last Wednesday’s U.S.-Bosnia match.

But FIFA President Gianni Infantino actually gave him a lesson on soccer’s disciplinary system during a 2018 Oval Office meeting after the United States secured the right to co-host the 2026 World Cup.

During the visit, which followed the successful United Bid, Infantino explained the sport’s use of yellow and red cards before pulling one of each out from a case.

“In soccer we have referees and they have cards: yellow cards and red cards,” Infantino told Trump. “Yellow card is a warning, and when you want to kick out someone, a red card. Like this!”

Trump appeared amused by the demonstration.

“I like that,” he said picking up the red card and holding it up. “Thank you.”

Infantino then joked that the cards might come in handy beyond the soccer field.

“That could be used for, I don’t know, the next media session,” he said.