Congress
Trump on Platner: ‘It’s really a question of whether you believe the woman’
President Donald Trump told reporters that the firestorm engulfing Maine oysterman Graham Platner is “really a question of whether you believe the woman” who accused him of sexual assault.
The remark, made to reporters on Air Force One on Wednesday, was among the president’s first public comments on the Democratic Senate nominee since POLITICO’s report this week that a woman who Platner dated said he forced her to have sex with him five years ago — which he has denied.
Platner has lost significant support across the Democratic Party since the article published. He is expected to speak Wednesday as his campaign publicly battles with the Maine Democratic Party over next steps, should he drop out of the race against GOP Sen. Susan Collins.
My colleague, Megan Messerly, who is traveling with the president en route back to the United States from the NATO Summit, asked Trump whether Democrats should be able to pick a replacement for Platner, who won the Democratic primary last month. The president appeared skeptical and invoked the story of another woman, Lyndsey Fifield, who alleged Platner mistreated her and faced attacks because of her ties to the Republican Party. Fifield did not accuse Platner of sexual assault.
Here’s the full exchange the president had with reporters on Air Force One.
Do you think that the Democrats should be able to pick a replacement for Graham Platner? He’s had all of these new allegations that have come out. Now Democrats are talking about picking a replacement for him. Should they be able to do that?
Trump: They’re picking what?
A replacement for Graham Platner if he steps out of the race.
Trump: Well, so he won the primary, right?
And now there are these new allegations.
Trump: It’s very hard for them to do. It’s really a question of whether you believe the woman. A lot of people say big falsehoods. It’s a — 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.
It’s very interesting when a Republican woman came out with the same charge, nobody believed her. When this woman came out, everybody believed her.
House Republican leaders are pushing ahead with a vote on a stopgap funding bill Tuesday — even if the vote could mean freezing the House floor for the rest of the week.
Several House Republicans angry over how GOP leaders have handled the spending legislation are threatening to tank a subsequent vote on a procedural measure setting up debate on several additional bills. The funding bill is expected to get a vote first under special fast-track procedures, and House Majority Leader Steve Scalise said GOP leaders will “handle each vote as it happens.”
“We know [procedural votes] are always difficult with a small, small majority, and you look at attendance and all those things, but at the end of the day, the [continuing resolution], it’s the first vote,” Scalise told reporters Tuesday. “That’s really important to avoid a government shutdown, and then we’ll … take it from there.”
Many of the Republicans threatening a floor revolt are upset with a provision delaying a hemp products ban. That includes Rep. Pete Sessions of Texas, a former Rules Committee chair, who said he plans to vote against the procedural measure that the panel advanced on Monday.
The Texas Republican is not typically one to defy leadership and said “if they took out the language on this hemp issue” he would support the rule.
Rep. Andy Harris (R-Md.), chair of the House Freedom Caucus, also said he plans to vote against the bill, as did Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas), who sent a letter to top Republicans arguing the continuing resolution would extend taxpayer dollars for abortion services. Other GOP hard-liners, such as Reps. Paul Gosar of Arizona, Ralph Norman of South Carolina and Keith Self of Texas, were noncommittal on the key vote.
House GOP leaders appear to be watching the absences on both sides. House Majority Whip Tom Emmer said in an interview Tuesday “we’ll see” if the rule is adopted, pointing to the dozens of members who skipped votes Monday night.
Several Republicans are already speculating the House could head home early if the stopgap funding bill is passed and holdouts stymie the rest of the legislative agenda. So far, GOP leaders aren’t indicating a change of plans.
“We’re moving forward to continue working as long as we can keep getting the agenda moved,” Scalise said. “We have other things we want to do.”
Speaker Mike Johnson told a closed-door meeting of senior House Republicans on Monday night that he met with GOP megadonor Elon Musk in Austin last week, according to two people who were in the room, as House GOP leaders hope he’ll bolster their campaign efforts in key battlegrounds.
Blue Light News first reported the planned meeting between Johnson, Musk and some other Republicans last week. Republicans involved in the matter are hopeful Musk will start unleashing a portion of the $100 million-plus he reportedly plans to spend on the midterms to boost House Republicans through his super PAC, America PAC — likely in the form of field organizing support and other resources.
Johnson didn’t say in the Monday meeting whether Musk made any commitments during the meeting in Austin last Friday, which came as the speaker barnstormed Texas battleground races that will help determine House control next year. But Republicans in the room took it as a suggestion Musk could unleash spending on their behalf, according to the two people.
A spokesperson for America PAC did not respond to an inquiry. A spokesperson for Johnson didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
How much trouble is the GOP leadership floor plan in? Rep. Pete Sessions of Texas, a former Rules Committee chair who is not in the habit of defying party leaders, said he plans to vote against the procedural measure advanced by the panel last night. He cited concerns about the delay of a hemp products ban in the short-term spending bill leaders want to pass Tuesday.
“I think they’ve got to change it,” Sessions said. “Let’s just make it a clean [continuing resolution]. I’ll vote for that.”
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