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Two of the most popular news-aggregating services systematically suppressed scores of articles about disgraced former Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner for months during his ill-fated campaign, until the weight of his scandals finally became too much to ignore, a shocking new study has found.
Media Research Center (MRC) revealed that both Apple News and Google News published exactly zero stories between last November and May covering controversies, including Platner’s Nazi tattoo and his offensive Reddit posts.
The study also found that the tech giants failed to promote “at least 112” news stories published by conservative-leaning outlets that investigated Platner’s disturbing history during that November-May period.
MRC President David Bozell went so far as to accuse the tech platforms of running a “protection racket” for Platner by memory-holing unflattering coverage as it slowly became obvious the left had erred in holding him up as a blue-collar “everyman” in his campaign to unseat Sen. Susan Collins.
The MRC study said the coverage blackout began after a poll released in October called Platner the Democrat with the best chance to defeat the incumbent, and didn’t let up until the New York Times’ May 30 report about him sexting women outside his marriage.
“For months, while Platner looked like the one Democrat who could beat Susan Collins, the two most powerful news apps in America buried scandal after scandal,” Bozell said.
“Then the polls turned, Platner became a liability, and suddenly the blackout ended. News judgment had nothing to do with it.”
Platner’s campaign finally imploded, and he dropped out of the race last Friday after two ex-girlfriends came forward accusing him of sexual misconduct, allegations he vehemently denies.
In an interview with Politico, Jennifer Racicot claimed Platner drunkenly entered her home without her permission and sexually assaulted her in 2021.
Then Lyndsey Fifield came forward and told the Washington Post that Platner had removed condoms during intercourse without her permission or awareness, a sleazy practice known as “stealthing” which has been criminalized in several states.
Fifield had previously told The Times that Platner physically abused her, including one incident where he allegedly “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.”
Leading Democrats, including Sens. Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren and Ruben Gallego, as well as California Rep. Ro Khanna, stood by the beleaguered purported oyster farmer as the scandals piled up, shamefully mortgaging their “#metoo” and anti-Nazi credentials until the sexual assault allegations proved a bridge too far.
In a statement posted on X on July 8, Platner announced the suspension of his campaign, taking not a shred of blame for the circumstances that led to his departure and instead calling out “large forces,” “corporate media” and the “political establishment” for trying to force him out of the race.
“We believe that for the movement to continue, it can’t be me. And for that reason we are suspending campaign operations,” he said months later than would have been appropriate considering the crescendo of allegations against him.
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