#MeToo No More? Hassan Slammed Kavanaugh, Franken, And Cuomo But Silent On Platner

By Michael Graham, NH Journal

New Hampshire U.S. Sen. Maggie Hassan was first sworn into office in January 2017. That October, the #MeToo movement exploded into the mainstream public consciousness after the wave of revelations about liberal Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein.

Hassan promptly jumped on board, embracing the “Believe all women” attacks on U.S. Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, and calling for the resignations of U.S. Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

But in an interview with WMUR’s Adam Sexton that aired Sunday, Hassan took a notably different approach to Maine Democrat Graham Platner.

The two-term Democrat acknowledged Platner’s problematic behavior, but she repeatedly refused to say if she would support or denounce his U.S. Senate candidacy.

“Look, there are allegations against Graham Platner that are serious, and they deserve scrutiny,” Hassan said. “I think a lot about the women who came forward recently. That’s a very hard thing to do, and the people of Maine need to assess not only those reports, but they also need to see Graham Platner’s response to them.”

When Sexton pressed Hassan for a yes-or-no answer on whether she fully supports Platner for U.S. Senate, Hassan dodged.

“I think the people of Maine have a lot to balance, and they ultimately need to make that decision,” Hassan said.

That answer is a far cry from Hassan’s rhetoric during the Kavanaugh confirmation battle in 2018. When Christine Blasey Ford made vague and unsubstantiated accusations about events from high school, Hassan took to the floor of the U.S. Senate to defend the claims as “extremely serious” and “credible.” She also accused Republicans, who pointed out the holes in Blasey Ford’s testimony, of trying to “silence women.”

“We will not stand for these attempts to silence women and shove them back into the dark,” Hassan said.

Hassan also took a hard line against former comedian Franken after multiple women accused him of misconduct.

U.S. Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.) poses with “P*ssy Hat” wearing protesters at 2017 Women’s March in Concord.

“It is clear that Al Franken has engaged in a pattern of egregious and unacceptable behavior toward women, and he should resign,” Hassan said. “We are experiencing a sea change in our culture that is long overdue, and we must continue working to empower all women and do everything we can to prevent sexual harassment, misconduct and assault.”

She also called on New York’s Cuomo to resign when he came under a sexual harassment investigation by the New York attorney general. When he announced he was quitting, she said in a statement, “It’s appropriate that he will do so.”

In Platner’s case, however, Hassan has applied a different standard. No condemnation, no calls to withdraw, just “leave it to the voters.”

“We have a candidate who’s had serious allegations of antisemitism and physical threatening against him,” Hassan acknowledged. “He has responded to those allegations, but at the end of the day… the people of Maine say that there’s also a character or moral issue about whether you stand up to Trump and how.”

Platner has faced weeks of controversy over his offensive online comments, allegations of physical abuse from former girlfriends, sexually explicit messages sent to women while he was married, and his tattoo of the SS Totenkopf image on his chest.

Platner has denied the abuse allegations and has said he did not know the meaning of the tattoo when he got it. He has since covered it up.

Sexton asked Hassan directly whether the tattoo alone should be disqualifying. Again, she declined to give a yes-or-no answer.

“That is really concerning to me,” Hassan said. “And again, what I hear from the people of Maine who have to make this decision is that they are balancing his account about that tattoo along with the other allegations he’s had — allegations of antisemitism and physical threatening, and those are serious allegations.”

Then Hassan pivoted to Republican U.S. Sen. Susan Collins.

“People are weighing those against what they tell me their concern about Susan Collins is, which is that she just doesn’t stand up to Trump when she really could make a difference,” Hassan said.

Hassan isn’t the only Democrat dodging questions about their party having a Nazi-tattooed, racism-posting, alleged woman abuser on the ballot. U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen and her daughter Stefany, who is running in the NH-01 Democratic primary, also refuse to say if they could support Platner. And the Senate’s top Democrat, Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York, has endorsed Platner.

A recent strategy memo from the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) may explain why Democrats are willing to give Platner the “Bill Clinton” pass. It lays out why Platner, far from being a lost cause, is a serious contender for Maine’s Senate seat.

“The political fundamentals in Maine remain challenging, and it is a fatal mistake to assume Platner is too damaged to win,” the NRSC said.

Is Hassan putting the politics of a possible 2026 Democratic Senate majority ahead of her past #MeToo principles? She says no.

“So I believe character matters,” Hassan said. “And I believe it matters both in your personal life, and also in the way you conduct yourself, and whether you stand up to wrongdoing.”

Does that mean she would refuse to campaign with Platner?

“I am going to focus on the New Hampshire race right now,” she told Sexton. “I’m very glad I don’t live in Maine.”

This story was originally published by the NH Journal, an online news publication dedicated to providing fair, unbiased reporting on, and analysis of, political news of interest to New Hampshire. For more stories from the NH Journal, visit NHJournal.com.