It’s safe to say that the past couple of weeks have not been the best of the campaign for Maine’s Graham Platner. He’s trying to win the Democratic nomination and beat Susan Collins for the U.S. Senate seat.
Source: Jewish Insider
Graham Platner, a far-left Democratic candidate running for Senate in Maine who has captured the enthusiasm of the party’s grassroots base, sought to preempt rumors circulating in recent weeks that a black skull-and-cross bones tattoo on his chest is a Nazi symbol.
Speaking with Tommy Vietor on the “Pod Save America” political podcast, released on Monday night, Platner, 41, confirmed the existence of the tattoo, seen in video he shared displaying his bare chest, but suggested that his opponents in the race have been spreading claims that the symbol is affiliated with Nazism, which he forcefully denied.
“I am not a secret Nazi. Actually, if you read through my Reddit comments, I think you can pretty much figure out where I stand on Nazism and antisemitism and racism in general,” said Platner, a Marine veteran and oyster farmer in Maine who has faced scrutiny over past online posts. “I would say a lifelong opponent.”
But according to a person who socialized with Platner when he was living in Washington, D.C., more than a decade ago, Platner had specifically acknowledged that the tattoo was a Totenkopf, the “death’s head” symbol adopted by an infamous Nazi SS unit that guarded concentration camps in World War II.
Platner denies knowing about the association with nazis until recently and says this report from the Jewish Insider is false.
“He said, ‘Oh, this is my Totenkopf,’” the former acquaintance told Jewish Insider recently, speaking on the condition of anonymity to address a sensitive issue. “He said it in a cutesy little way.”
The exchange occurred in 2012 at Tune Inn, a popular dive on Capitol Hill where Platner later worked as a bartender and was a frequent patron while he attended The George Washington University on the G.I. bill, according to the former acquaintance. He would often take his shirt off drinking with friends late at night at the bar, and on at least one occasion had stated he knew what the tattoo represented, the former acquaintance recalled.
Platner’s former political director disputes that. via Bangor Daily News
In a Tuesday interview with the Bangor Daily News, former state Rep. Genevieve McDonald, who resigned Friday from serving as Platner’s political director, said the campaign has been aware of the tattoo since she joined the campaign in August. Platner himself told her roughly a month ago he had a tattoo that “could be problematic,” she said.
The campaign denied that, calling it “a lie from a disgruntled former employee.” In a statement, Platner said he didn’t know until last week that his tattoo had a Nazi affiliation in any way.
Appearing on Pod Save America, where the old video was shown.
NEW: Graham Platner reacts to recently resurfaced video of him singing shirtless at a wedding and an opposition research attack alleging he’s a “secret nazi.” Full interview out now on the Pod Save America YouTube. pic.twitter.com/r8GEePCPLP
— Pod Save America (@PodSaveAmerica) October 21, 2025
And the symbol itself.
A recently surfaced video shows Maine Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Graham Platner with a chest tattoo of the SS Totenkopf, the skull-and-crossbones emblem used by Nazi “Death’s Head” units.
Platner has stated he got the tattoo while drunk as a young Marine on shore leave in… pic.twitter.com/euH926eTgA
— Maine State Press (@MaineStatePress) October 21, 2025
UPDATE: A solution has been found, I guess.
Years ago I got a skull and crossbones tattoo with my buddies in the Marine Corps.
I was appalled to learn it closely resembled a Nazi symbol. I altered it yesterday, into something that isn’t deeply offensive to my core beliefs.
I am very sorry to all of you who had to… pic.twitter.com/RQSiRsrTiC
— Graham Platner for Senate (@grahamformaine) October 22, 2025
