On CBS’s “Face the Nation” on Sunday, Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) said, “We broke a lot of people,” while discussing the saga of scandal-plagued Maine Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Well, because this woman is Lindsay Fifield, who dated him for about two years, and she’s been posting on social media, speaking on the record about their relationship. She said he left an AR15 around her Capitol Hill apartment when he lived here, telling her that if anyone broke in he would rape them, to show that he was dominant. She did say that he never hit or punched her, but she said he could be rough, and she described grabbing her shoulder. She said he pulled her hand when she refused to get out of the car. Years ago, the mantra was ‘Trust all women.’ Do you believe in him?
Khanna: Yes, and I don’t think our side should attack him, and I applaud his courage for coming forward. I know some people are saying, ‘Oh, he’s a Republican.’ I think it’s irrelevant. I believe in him. I think Graham acted shamefully, and as The New York Times portrayed it as a toxic relationship, so did he. This is shameful. it’s ugly. It happened at a bad time in his life, and the Maine voters I met said they didn’t like it. They knew he had these chapters. They are willing to give him grace and salvation, and they are now focused on what he is running for. But I don’t think we should attack him.
BRENNAN: So it’s their campaign, the Plattner campaign, that has described the accuser as a GOP activist who has dedicated her career to electing Republicans. He is a conservative. Would you advise the campaign to stop attacking him?
Representative. Khanna: Absolutely. They should not attack him. They should not attack the New York Times reporters who wrote the story. I know those journalists, they have written critical things about me. This is what journalists do. Donald Trump is the one who attacks the press. Our party does not attack the press. Our party believes that you treat women with equality and respect in all aspects of their lives. Graham Plattner didn’t do this in the early 2000s. He should just say what he told Maine voters, that it was an embarrassing period of his life. He’s ashamed of his conduct, and that’s what makes him different, is that he’s taken accountability for that period of his life. Others, like Trump, have never taken accountability.
Margaret Brennan: So you mentioned PTSD, and he’s been very open about it. I believe that’s what he went through after coming back from three tours in Iraq and then he served in a private capacity in Afghanistan. But some veterans groups have said that, you know, he’s basically using it as an excuse for bad behavior.
Representative. Khanna: I don’t think–
MARGARET BRENNAN: And to defame them in this way,
Representative. Khanna: That’s not an excuse, it doesn’t justify him being in toxic relationships or saying misogynistic things –
MARGARET BRENNAN: Because it seems like it’s being used as an excuse.
Representative. KHANNA: Well, I don’t think, in fact, I said in my comment that it’s not an excuse, it’s – but it’s the truth, it’s the truth of who he was, but we should point out that we have broken a lot of people in this country by sending people into Iraq. Susan Collins sent people to Iraq, and now on the 100th day of the war in Iran, we’re breaking out more people. Gas is through the roof, food is through the roof, and this Iran war is an illegal war, immoral war, an unstrategic war, and Graham Platner is racing to stop it. That’s the big issue that Maine voters were talking about, the war that’s causing gas prices to rise, the lack of health care, but I believe PTSD should not be an excuse for bad behavior. But we need to understand the toll these wars are taking on people.
MARGARET BRENNAN: And Plattner opposed the war, but that was before he enlisted in the Marines. And then later worked in a private capacity in Afghanistan, another war zone.
Representative. Khanna: He was a patriot. Look, I stood against the war in Iraq in 2003. That’s how I got started. He was against war. We made a mistake by getting involved in the war in Iraq. Now he served the country, but one of the reasons he went into PTSD, if you talk to him, as he said, I realized that the purpose of my service was not to do good. And now you have Susan Collins, who has been a proponent for war in Iran, on this 108, What have we achieved? The Iranian regime is still there, they still have nuclear fuel, gas prices are sky high. And why is Plattner in the running? Because he is saying stop these foreign wars.
