Platner Accuser Jenny Racicot Speaks To CNN's Jake Tapper About Bombshell Allegations

[0:00] You described your relationship with Graham Plattner as a very good example of what modern [0:06] dating is like. [0:07] Yeah. [0:08] What do you mean by that? [0:09] What I mean by that is that, you know, I think there's a lot of situationships. [0:13] I think people are dating multiple people at the same time, whether that's known or [0:18] not known by the people involved. [0:21] So it was just a very, very common practice is what I viewed it as. [0:26] And kind of casual? [0:27] Yeah. [0:28] Very casual. [0:29] And when did you meet him? [0:30] I met him on Bumble actually in 2019 and I had known who he was. [0:36] He grew up in the next town over. [0:37] We had like a mutual family friend, so I always knew of his existence, but that was when we [0:41] actually met. [0:42] And what did you think of him? [0:45] At first I thought he was great. [0:47] You know, he's very well-spoken, he's intelligent, he's charming. [0:53] You know, I thought a lot of good things. [0:54] We had a great first date. [0:55] It went and flowed really well. [0:57] He has described himself as self-medicating with alcohol. [1:01] Yeah. [1:02] He has described himself that way. [1:04] So I would think maybe that would have... [1:05] Yeah. [1:08] And unfortunately, that's something that I think a lot of people are desensitized to, [1:13] um, in general, heavy drinking, um, and especially out of the relationship that I had just come [1:21] out of. [1:22] So it wasn't anything abnormal to me. [1:23] I remember we were out one night and he was drinking and that's when he told me that he [1:28] has PTSD. [1:29] When the New York Times story came out, you were in it, um, but you didn't go as far in [1:36] that story as far today. [1:39] Yeah. [1:40] Why not? [1:41] Um, I didn't want to, I didn't want to have to violate this huge level of privacy to my own [1:47] life, to be able to infer that this person is not honest and trustworthy. [1:52] Um, I felt really protective of, of my own privacy throughout this whole process. [1:57] And I, it got to a point where my privacy was no longer going to happen. [2:02] And that was when I kind of just made the decision that like, I'm going to say my piece [2:06] and, and get it out there. [2:09] I had tried to give the impression that something, you know, worse happened. [2:13] And that's when it was like, I refused to comment further. [2:16] You definitely alluded to a bad night. [2:18] Yeah. [2:19] So bad that you never saw him again afterwards. [2:21] Yeah. [2:22] Um, but just to underline the point, you're not coming forward. [2:28] No, not at all. [2:29] That was actually one of the huge reasons that I didn't come forward and, and still struggled. [2:34] Like that was a huge moral conflict to, to feel like. [2:39] Because you'd like a Democrat to be in the Senate. [2:41] Yeah. [2:42] Yeah. [2:43] I like the things that he speaks about. [2:44] They're important. [2:45] They're important to people. [2:46] I'm one of those people. [2:48] But at the end of the day, you feel he's not being honest. [2:52] He's not being honest. [2:53] No. [2:55] And we should know this is 2021. [2:57] We're talking about it. [2:58] It's only five years ago. [2:59] Tell me about that. [3:00] When was it? [3:01] Um, it was at the end of 2021. [3:03] I remember it being shortly after I moved back into my winter home. [3:06] Um, because that is where it happened. [3:09] And it was a night where him and I were texting back and forth. [3:13] And he had taken something that I said as, as an invitation. [3:18] And that's not how he meant it. [3:19] And I quickly clarified and he sent a message back indicating that he would come over. [3:25] And I said, no, don't come over. [3:27] Like I'm not in the mood. [3:28] Don't come over. [3:29] And I was more stern with that message. [3:32] And then I didn't hear back from him. [3:34] So I thought that that meant he got the message or gave up on it or whatnot. [3:39] And so, um, like half an hour later, I heard a noise outside my door. [3:45] And, um, then he, he came in, he just came into my house. [3:49] It was unlocked. [3:50] I live in an area where you don't usually have to lock your doors. [3:53] Um, I do now. [3:54] So, um, he came in and I realized, okay, he didn't listen. [3:58] He's in my home. [3:59] And I was laying on the couch. [4:02] It was probably pretty late at night and I was getting, I was already ready for bed. [4:06] I just wasn't in bed. [4:07] And so he had kind of like jumped on top of me and indicated that he had intentions that [4:16] were sexual in nature. [4:17] And I remember just at first being like, Hey, I'm not into this. [4:22] Like, don't, I'm not in the mood. [4:23] Like don't whatever. [4:25] Um, and it got to the point where I was like, okay, I feel like I've said this enough times. [4:31] Like he's not listening to me or he's not hearing me. [4:34] And I looked at him and I remember this very specific look in his eyes and I could smell [4:41] alcohol and I was like, this is different. [4:43] He is heavily intoxicated. [4:47] Like, and that blank stare was kind of like a photographic memory that, that I still have [4:53] of that night and his, that was me recognizing what the situation was. [5:02] And this wasn't just like, Oh, Hey, somebody showed up and I'm going to tell him to go home. [5:06] Like he was heavily intoxicated, had intentions with me and wasn't listening when I said no. [5:12] And you were saying, no, don't know. [5:16] I remember, um, you know, obviously I've had to recall a lot of this. [5:21] This is something that I tried for many years to forget. [5:24] And so small details, um, you know, might get past me. [5:31] But yes, I remember very specifically saying, I'm not into this. [5:35] In my message previously, I told him I had had an old back injury. [5:38] And I remember saying like, I'm not in this. [5:40] I've had a long day. [5:41] My back hurts. [5:42] Like, like I was in that kind of mood, like the leave me alone mood. [5:46] And there was a little bit of like, uh, scuffle, like altercation. [5:53] Um, the house that I live in, um, has like this antique sewing kit that I kept beside the couch. [6:00] And that got knocked over. [6:04] He like backed into it or something. [6:06] It was maybe pushed into it by me or something happened in that moment. [6:10] And that thing got spilled. [6:12] Do you remember pushing him away? [6:14] I remember potentially pushing away with my legs. [6:17] Like, um, and then as he backed into it, it spilt. [6:23] And all of the sewing needles and tape and yarn and everything went everywhere. [6:27] Everything had fallen onto the floor. [6:29] And in that moment, I, I evaluated my safety. [6:35] Like a drunk person who's blackout drunk is in my home, has these intentions with me. [6:41] Um, you know, has already caused this amount of destruction and, and not listening to me. [6:46] And, um, so I basically felt safe as just complying. [6:53] You normally use protection. [6:55] Yeah. [6:56] And this time he didn't. [6:57] No. [6:58] And you didn't want that. [6:59] No. [7:00] And he didn't care. [7:01] No, I don't think I've, my words were falling on deaf ears or drunk ears. [7:07] And you were still saying don't do this or I'm not into this. [7:11] I remember specifically him like grabbing at my chest and I like hit his hand and I said, [7:17] don't touch me. [7:18] And I remember that during the altercation specifically. [7:22] And then he kept going. [7:24] Yeah. [7:25] And it was this weird mix of like coming in and out of, I don't think consciousness is the word, [7:31] but like coming to and kind of falling back into that drunken, I don't know what I'm doing state. [7:36] Um, and yeah. [7:40] And he just, he would apologize in those moments and then go back to doing what he was doing. [7:44] So he was aware that he was doing something wrong. [7:47] Yeah. [7:48] And saying sorry. [7:49] I feel like he was in moments. [7:52] Is there any way that he thought this was consensual or no? [7:56] Just because I don't believe that you can think that that scenario is consensual. [8:02] You have to, you have to understand that that wasn't when somebody is repeatedly, I mean, [8:08] when somebody in the middle of it says, don't touch me, like that's obviously not consensual, [8:15] especially if he's apologizing on occasion. [8:18] Yeah. [8:19] Yeah. [8:20] And that next morning. [8:22] So after everything ended, I ran to the bathroom, which is just beside my bedroom. [8:32] And I was in there for a while and just trying to like comprehend things like, [8:37] Were you crying? [8:38] Were you? [8:39] I honestly don't, I don't think I was crying. [8:42] I was like more in shock and, and yeah, just trying to understand like what had just happened, [8:49] especially like this is a person I have known and have trusted and have had very consensual relationships [8:54] with like, um, you know, long until it wasn't. [9:00] And so that was a really hard thing to understand that this was a person I trusted. [9:07] And so I spent a little bit of time in the bathroom. [9:11] And when I came back out, he was asleep in my bed. [9:14] And at that point, I didn't know what my options were. [9:18] Like, obviously I don't want this person in my house. [9:20] And when I, you know, earlier had realized how drunk he was, I knew that he'd driven over that way. [9:26] Like, I'm surprised he made it to my house. [9:28] And if I woke him up and sent him home, like I'm now making the decision to put somebody that drunk on the road. [9:35] And I didn't want to live with the fact that like, if he got into an accident or hurt somebody else. [9:41] And I remember thinking that I could, I could tell him to leave and I could call the police immediately. [9:48] And I could at least get him caught for drunk driving. [9:51] So I was like, I'm going to let him sleep. [9:53] And the second he wakes up, I'm going to tell him to leave. [9:56] And so he slept. [9:58] I lay there in like a state of panic all night. [10:02] And I remember turning on, I have like one of those noise machines that you sleep with. [10:05] And I turn it on ocean waves. [10:07] And I'm like, I'll just try to meditate. [10:09] It didn't work. [10:11] Um, so in the morning he woke up and he went to go put his arm around me. [10:17] And I was like, Whoa. [10:19] And, and realizing this person doesn't know that what happened wasn't okay. [10:25] And so I remember taking his arm and throwing it back at him. [10:28] And I said, are you fucking serious, Graham? [10:30] And he's like, what? [10:32] And I'm like, do you not remember what happened last night? [10:36] He was like, no. [10:38] And I'm like, okay, I need you to get dressed and leave and never talk to me again. [10:45] Like nothing that happened was okay. [10:47] And he did. [10:50] He just got up and got dressed and left and didn't seem concerned. [10:56] He didn't ask me, he didn't ask me a single question. [11:00] And I mean, in the moment I was like, not wanting to talk about it anyway. [11:04] So maybe I felt fine about that in the moment. [11:06] But like, I was still like, how can somebody that you've been in a, you know, [11:14] some type of a relationship with for this long tells you to never speak to you again [11:18] about something that you did and you didn't even ask what you did. [11:21] So he left, he didn't, um, he didn't talk to me. [11:26] And I waited a couple of weeks because I knew that with what had happened, [11:30] I could have gotten pregnant and I wanted to wait and to make sure that wasn't the case. [11:35] And so I waited until that happened. [11:38] And I sent him kind of like a final send off message. [11:42] And I remember, I remember a few pieces of it. [11:47] Um, and I remember saying that like nothing that happened that night was okay or consensual. [11:52] And I waited on Instagram. [11:56] It, you see when it says seen. [11:59] And so I gave it a couple of days. [12:01] It said that it was seen and I still didn't hear back out. [12:05] And at that point I blocked him on everything. [12:07] I deleted his number. [12:11] I blocked and deleted his like text phone number as well. [12:14] Cause text and Instagram, I think the two ways that we had communication. [12:18] Um, and I've, I've never heard from him since. [12:21] He posted a comment on Reddit, uh, about a video, uh, promoting underwear designed to prevent rape. [12:29] And he wrote quote, rape is a real thing. [12:32] If you're so worried about it to buy Kevlar underwear, you'd think you might not get blacked out, fucked up around people you aren't comfortable with. [12:39] Right. [12:41] What did you think when you saw that? [12:43] I thought here's a man who was drunk and who by dictionary definition raped me and he's blaming drunk women. [12:54] So I just felt like that was a very odd take to have on that. [13:00] Um, and I also feel like with all of the comments that he made about women, sexual assault, rape, even, um, you know, the comments that he had made that was in the New York times article about, you know, threatening people with rape. [13:14] Like, why does this person have this issue like scattered throughout their life, throughout their commentary? [13:22] Like it's on their mind. [13:23] Like it's on their mind. [13:24] Why do they have such a strong opinion about women coming forward with allegations? [13:31] Like, I just feel like this isn't the first time. [13:34] I know that you have been very reluctant to tell this story. [13:39] Yeah. [13:40] Very reluctant. [13:41] Why did you ultimately decide to do it? [13:44] Why, why come forward? [13:47] A few reasons. [13:48] Um, one of the biggest ones is that I think that there are a lot of men in this world relying on the silence of women and to be where they are. [13:59] And I don't want to contribute to that. [14:02] I also want to just get my life back. [14:05] There are going to be people, maybe even his campaign, certainly his supporters who say this is politically motivated. [14:11] What would you say to that? [14:14] I couldn't disagree more. [14:16] Um, that was actually one of the reasons that I didn't come out. [14:20] Um, you know. [14:21] Because you agree with his politics. [14:23] I do. [14:24] I really agree with his politics. [14:25] I think we need somebody with those political stances and who are willing to do the work. [14:31] And, um, you know, I see his political videos. [14:34] They get me fired up as well. [14:35] I understand why people want someone like him in office. [14:40] Um, you know, and I felt like me coming forward would essentially, potentially take that away. [14:45] And I felt really uncomfortable with the responsibility of, and the weight of my story and, and what that might do. [14:54] When people hear this from you, are you saying you should not vote for him because of what happened? [15:01] I'm not going to go as far as to say that. [15:06] I'm just here to tell my story, to give a clearer picture of who he is and the type of past that he has. [15:13] And, um, I just think it's, it's fair to the democratic process to let people know who they're voting for. [15:24] This has obviously been very difficult for you to talk about for five years. [15:29] And even when you're telling the story, you don't use the word. [15:36] Yeah. [15:37] So let me just be, and I apologize, let me be as direct as I can. [15:45] Did Graham Plattner rape you? [15:49] By definition, yes. [15:51] Absolutely. [15:52] Because he had non-consensual sex with you. [15:57] Yeah. [15:58] Forced himself on you. [15:59] Mm-hmm. [16:01] After you had told no and fought him. [16:05] He violated multiple layers of consent that night by coming into my home when I asked him not to. [16:12] And by advancing on me when I told him not to. [16:16] And, and furthermore, another incident that I had told him not to do. [16:21] And. [16:22] With protection. [16:23] Yeah. [16:24] Yeah. [16:25] So, yeah. [16:26] By the way that my nervous system reacted to this experience, absolutely. [16:31] There are going to be Democrats who say, I believe you, but I don't care. [16:37] Yeah. [16:38] I'm going to vote for him anyway. [16:39] Mm-hmm. [16:40] Because we need a progressive voice in the United States Senate. [16:43] Mm-hmm. [16:45] Are you going to be okay with that? [16:46] Are you going to be able to handle that? [16:47] I'm not saying it's the right answer or the right response, but. [16:50] No, I, I have friends who feel that way. [16:52] And that's been a hard pill to swallow. [16:55] And I guess I need to not ask potentially. [17:01] Maybe I need to not ask in order to not care what they do. [17:05] I understand. [17:06] I understand that the state of our political environment is so much so that we need a lot of change. [17:14] And he's offering that change. [17:17] And, you know, I'm not mad at anyone who has voted for him all along. [17:24] If he wasn't who he was, I would be voting for him as well. [17:27] And going forward, I don't know what's going to happen. [17:31] There's something you said that I just want to find out more about. [17:36] Mm-hmm. [17:37] You said he was, he was forcing himself on you. [17:41] It was getting violent. [17:42] You were pushing him off. [17:43] You were kicking him off. [17:45] Needles and sewing equipment was falling all over. [17:48] And walk us through the process where you decided that the safest thing you could do was just let him rape you. [18:03] Yeah, I had never been in that situation before. [18:09] And I realized, I remember it being an instant where I had recognized that he wasn't listening to me. [18:18] It wasn't just that he wasn't hearing me or whatnot. [18:21] And then I recognized his level of intoxication. [18:24] And I knew in that moment I wasn't safe. [18:26] And I don't think I was, I don't think I was safe to physically fight back. [18:31] He's big. [18:33] He's strong. [18:34] And I just had to evaluate my safety and come up with the least worst outcome to the situation. [18:43] And so I felt like complying for my safety was the least worst option. [18:50] But that's not consenting. [18:52] No. [18:53] Complying is not consenting. [18:54] Complying is letting him rape you. [18:59] Is getting it over with. [19:01] So that he didn't hurt you even more? [19:04] I don't, I don't know what this person is capable of. [19:07] I don't, you know, I don't think anybody does. [19:09] And even people you know for years and trust, you don't know the depths of what they're capable of. [19:17] And. [19:19] You were afraid for your safety. [19:20] Yeah. [19:21] I was afraid for my safety. [19:22] Beyond. [19:23] Not that rape isn't a horrific thing, but beyond. [19:25] Right. [19:26] Right. [19:27] I didn't want to find out how unsafe I could get that night. [19:31] Or how, how, how harmed I could be that night. [19:34] I know this is probably one of the toughest things you've had to do in your life. [19:37] So I just want to thank you for trusting us and sitting down with us. [19:40] Yeah. [19:41] Thank you. [19:42] I appreciate you guys being, being here to do this and to help share these stories very kindly and delicately.