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Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., has been conspicuously silent amid allegations against Senate hopeful Graham Platner despite her prominent role at the height of the #MeToo movement spearheading outrage against two men facing sexual misconduct accusations.
Platner allegedly engaged in aggressive physical behavior, according to an ex-girlfriend who spoke with The New York Times. He is expected to become the party’s nominee for U.S. Senate in Maine in Tuesday’s election.
But Gillibrand has remained silent in the wake of the accusations, despite her vocal support for alleged victims of powerful men in the past.
In 2017, when a mere “#MeToo” allegation could sink a political career, Gillibrand was among the loudest voices who called for the resignation of then Minnesota Democratic Sen. Al Franken. Eight women had accused him of sexual harassment — including claims that he groped or forcibly kissed women without consent.
Franken resigned from Congress in disgrace amid the scandal after immense pressure from inside his own party and from the political right.
He later said in an interview with Conan O’Brien that he “deserved due process” that he never got.
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Gillibrand stood by her decision to go after a member of her own party when she was running for the Democratic nomination for president despite media scrutiny.
“I know the issue of Sen. Franken is hard for many Democrats. But he had eight credible sexual harassment allegations against him, and I had to choose whether to stay silent, or not. If some megadonors have a problem with that, that’s on them,” she said on X in 2019.
“Silencing women for the powerful, or for your friends, or for convenience, is neither acceptable, nor just,” she said in another post.
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She was at it again when Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh in 2018, when he was in the throes of the confirmation process, faced an unproven allegation of groping Christine Blasey Ford decades prior when they were teenagers.
“I think this should affect every senator’s view on Judge Kavanaugh,” she told the Democrat and Chronicle at the time. “I’m hopeful the Senate will at least have some measure of review, maybe a hearing, some measure of analysis of this accusation, and have some measure of clarity on whether this is disqualifying. I believe it is disqualifying, given what we know.”
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The New York senator raged against Kavanaugh on Twitter, now X, during his confirmation proceedings and repeatedly said she believes women who allege misconduct by men.
“#IBelieveChristine Blasey Ford,” she said on the platform. “Her credible allegation of sexual assault against Brett Kavanaugh should disqualify him from ever being confirmed to the Supreme Court.”
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Her hypocrisy is now on display as Gillibrand, who once called out members of both parties once allegations are made public against them, has remained silent as Platner faces a number of controversies, including an accusation of physical misconduct.
Lyndsey Fifield, who once dated Platner, told The New York Times that Platner was physically rough with her.
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“[S]he said he regularly grabbed her by the shoulders — sometimes hard enough to leave marks — and, on one occasion, yanked her out of a cab by her wrist after an argument when she wanted to stay in the car,” the paper reported.
“During one argument, she recalled, he twisted her arm behind her back, shoved her into a bedroom and held the door closed from the other side so she couldn’t get out, telling her to remain there until she was ‘calm.’ Eventually, Ms. Fifield said, she fell asleep and left the next morning,” according to the report.
Platner’s campaign has denied the accusations.
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In a marked change from their loud-cried “believe all women” tune, many Democrats online have accused Fifield, who has worked in the conservative political sphere, of simply being a Republican operative.
Gillibrand has not commented since the Times report was published.
Before the allegations of physical misconduct, Platner faced other significant controversies, and was hauled to Washington, D.C. for a sit-down with powerful elected Democrats to do crisis talks just a week before his primary election in Maine.
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Chief among those controversies is a Nazi-linked tattoo on his chest, a lewd post about masturbating inside portable toilets and exchanging sexual messages with women while he was married.
Before the Times report but after other scandals already emerged, Gillibrand and other Democrats lined-up to reiterate their support for Platner.
Gillibrand outside those meetings with the candidate said she thinks her party will win in the Pine Tree State in November, and confirmed she still has confidence in the Maine Democrat.
“I’m very confident we are going to win Maine,” she told reporters outside the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee building when asked if she still supports the progressive candidate.
“I do. I have confidence that we are going to win Maine and I have no doubt.”
Gillibrand’s office did not return a request for comment on Monday. Neither did Platner’s campaign or a contact for Franken.
Fox News Digital’s Kiera McDonald contributed to this report.
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