Graham Platner, the Democratic Senate hopeful from Maine, expressed regret over a tattoo he got nearly two decades ago that appears similar to a Nazi symbol and resurfaced after he posted it on Reddit. Platner said he plans to remove the tattoo following questions about how he could have been unaware of its connotations, including from a former top campaign staffer.
During an appearance on the liberal podcast Pod Save America on Monday, Platner’s campaign sought to preempt opposition research regarding the tattoo, which resembles a Nazi skull and crossbones. The campaign also shared a video of Platner dancing shirtless. “I was unaware of any Nazi link when I got this tattoo,” Platner said, adding, “I am not a secret Nazi,” and pointing to his Reddit comment history as evidence of his opposition to Nazism, antisemitism, and racism. “I would say a lifelong opponent,” he stated.
The tattoo revelation followed Platner’s apology last week for offensive Reddit posts spanning 2013 to 2021. On Friday, he issued a video apology for posts including calling police officers “bastards,” questioning why Black people tip less, and agreeing with characterisations of rural white voters as “racist” and “stupid.”
“It was not until I started hearing from reporters and DC insiders that I realized this tattoo resembled a Nazi symbol,” Platner told POLITICO on Tuesday. “I absolutely would not have gone through life having this on my chest if I knew that and to insinuate that I did is disgusting. I am already planning to get this removed.”
Platner said he obtained the tattoo while out drinking with fellow Marines in Croatia, choosing the skull and crossbones off a wall at the tattoo parlor. He claimed that the similarity to Nazi iconography never came up, including during physical exams mandated by the US Army, which prohibits tattoos of identified hate symbols. “In the nearly 20 years since, this hasn’t come up,” Platner said.
The tattoo resembles the Totenkopf, or “death’s head,” symbol. According to the Anti-Defamation League, during the Nazi era, one form of the image was adopted by Hitler’s SS, particularly the SS-Totenkopfverbande, the branch responsible for guarding concentration camps.
Graham Platner is a Marine and US Army veteran, oyster farmer, and chair of the Sullivan Planning Board, now running for US Senate in Maine to challenge Susan Collins. After graduating high school in 2003, he secretly took his birth certificate from his father’s office to enlist in the US Marine Corps. Following infantry training, he joined Kilo Company, 3rd Battalion 8th Marines, and deployed to Iraq in January 2005, operating primarily east of Fallujah. He returned for deployments in 2006 and 2007, serving as a machine gun section leader in Ramadi’s Government Center.
Using the GI Bill, Platner enrolled at George Washington University after his deployments but remained in the military, joining the Maryland Army National Guard in 2009 and deploying to Afghanistan in 2010 as a rifle team leader. Returning in 2011, he resumed studies but struggled with undiagnosed PTSD and combat-related injuries, eventually withdrawing and returning to Maine.
In 2018, Platner began working at a small oyster farm in Sullivan, Maine, eventually taking it over and growing it into a thriving business. He also started a diving and mooring service for the bay and serves as Sullivan’s Harbormaster and Planning Board Chair.
In 2023, Platner married Amy Gertner. The couple lives in Sullivan, three doors down from where Platner grew up, with their two dogs, Gryffin and Zevon, and their cat, Neptune.
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