After Politico reported an allegation in July 2026 that Maine’s Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Graham Platner had raped a woman, author Stephen King said, “Tell you what — if you knew the whole truth about everyone in the Senate and House of Reps, those chambers would be dead empty. Jesus said, ‘Let him without sin cast the first stone.'”
King posted these words on X, after saying, “Graham Platner may drop out. (I hope he doesn’t, but.) Meanwhile, the Abuser in Chief just keeps on keepin’ on,” referring to U.S. President Donald Trump.
After Politico reported an allegation in early July 2026 that Maine’s Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Graham Platner had raped a woman, a rumor spread that author Stephen King responded, “Tell you what — if you knew the whole truth about everyone in the Senate and House of Reps, those chambers would be dead empty. Jesus said, ‘Let him without sin cast the first stone.'”
Screenshots of King’s alleged post circulated on social media, including on Threads, X and Bluesky (archived), where one user shared the screenshot with a series of question marks:
?????
— Elizabeth Picciuto (@epicciuto.bsky.social) 6 July 2026 at 19:09
Meanwhile, Snopes readers emailed to ask if the screenshots showed a real post.
These words were correctly attributed to King, who posted them on X immediately after saying he hoped Platner would not drop out of the Senate race. We reached out to King for comment and will update this story should he respond.
Controversies surrounding Platner
On July 6, Politico published a report detailing an allegation made by Jenny Racicot, who said she dated Platner on and off from 2019 to 2021. She alleged Platner let himself into her house one evening, smelling of alcohol and acting drunk, and raped her.
Politico’s article came just over a month after a New York Times story described Platner as having a troubled history with women. The article quoted several women — including Racicot, who reportedly described his behavior as “reckless” and “unsettling,” without elaborating on the reason she deemed it so.
The Times story also cited a woman named Lindsey Fifield, who also dated Platner. Fifield contradicted Platner’s campaign’s assertion that he did not know a tattoo on his chest was a skull-and-crossbones “totenkopf” — German for “death’s head” — known to be a symbol of the Nazi Reich’s Schutzstaffel. Fifield said he knew what the tattoo meant, the Times reported.
King’s history of support for Platner
On June 9, after The New York Times published its article, King, who lives in Maine, said on Bluesky he had voted for Platner in that day’s primary election (archived):
I voted for Platner.
— Stephen King (@stephenking.bsky.social) 9 June 2026 at 12:15
Following Politico’s report in July, several prominent figures who had previously endorsed Platner said they no longer would support his bid for the U.S. Senate, including U.S. Rep. Ro Khanna, a Democrat from California, and Sen. Ruben Gallego, a Democrat from Arizona. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a Democrat from Massachusetts who campaigned with Platner, reportedly said he should leave the race.
Two and a half hours after Politico published Racicot’s detailed allegation, King reiterated his support of Platner in two X posts. In the first, which was no longer available on July 7, he said he hoped Platner would not drop out of the race (archived):
(X user @StephenKing)
Two minutes later, he added that no one in Congress was innocent and appeared to urge forgiveness for Platner, quoting Jesus (archived):
(X user @StephenKing)
The next day, King wrote (archived) that he wasn’t defending Platner and that “if he committed rape, he should bow out.”
For further reading, Snopes has covered several rumors of male politicians physically or sexually assaulting women, including the claim that U.S. Rep. Max Miller, an Ohio Republican, threw boiling water at his ex-wife.
Anna Rascouët-Paz
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