Bangor Daily News - Graham Platner knew his tattoo of a Nazi symbol was a problem weeks ago, former staffer says

[Celerity]

https://www.bangordailynews.com/2025/10/21/politics/elections/graham-platner-tattoo-problematic/

Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Graham Platner knew his tattoo’s Nazi association was a problem at least a month ago, according to a former top campaign staffer. 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. The contrasting statements about the tattoo Platner got decades ago while drunk with fellow Marines in Croatia underline the latest hurdle for his campaign. It comes on the heels of the resurfacing of deleted Reddit posts that have upended the progressive’s campaign to win his party’s nomination to take on U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, in 2026.

He also said claims published by Jewish Insider that he told an acquaintance back in 2012 he knew his tattoo was a Nazi symbol are not true, and he only ever associated it with his time in the military. It was not until it recently came up in opposition research that he found out his tattoo carried more significance, Platner said. The tattoo came to light in a video from his brother’s wedding about a decade ago, where Platner is shown dancing shirtless. He gave it to a liberal podcast in an effort to get ahead of research into his background.

“If I thought that I had a very obvious Nazi tattoo, I would not have taken my shirt off and serenaded my Jewish sister-in-law in front of her extended family at my brother’s [wedding],” In Platner said in a separate BDN interview. Platner still has the tattoo but said he is planning to get it covered up. He said he got the tattoo in 2007 during his third deployment as a Marine. While on short-term leave, he and other Marines went to Croatia, where they got “very inebriated” and decided to get tattoos, picking a “terrifying” design off the wall.

snip

[Timewas]

1. I have not seen it

But there are many ways to alleviate that tattoo, many tattoo artists would work it over and make it look entirely different..

[RubyRose]

10. Or have it lasered off

[oasis]

2. Drop out now to avoid further embarrassment

for yourself and certain high profile supporters.

[Blasphemer]

3. I don't buy what he's selling. He's done.

This is likely the real reason Mills entered the race.

[herding cats]

4. The Democratic Party thought he was the best we could do?

Seriously?! Is there not a decent person out there who isn't fucking undermining their campaign from the start?!

A fucking Nazi tattoo! What the ever loving fuck? Why? Why do we do this to ourselves?

[Bernardo de La Paz]

5. Tattoos are lifetime commitments. Stupidity when getting it indicates disqualifying lack of intelligence or sense. nt

[somsai]

6. I had no idea it was anything to do with Nazis

and I doubt anyone else did either.

What it comes down to is conservative Democrats don't want an economically liberal candidate. At some point Democrats have to decide if they want the votes of the working class, or not.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

7. .

I had no idea it was anything to do with Nazis and I doubt anyone else did either.

There are plenty of us who recognized it as soon as we saw it. It's not an arcane symbol that can be explained away. It's the worst of the worst, an SS Totenkopf

What it comes down to is conservative Democrats don't want an economically liberal candidate.

Oh there are other things at play here too. Some Democrats don't want a candidate who is okay with nazi imagery.

At some point Democrats have to decide if they want the votes of the working class, or not.

Why do you think the working class is okay with nazi tattoos?

[leftstreet]

8. That's really not the point

If only 1 person recognized the significance of the tattoo, the media would make sure all the oxygen in the room was sucked into his defensive posture.

No one would hear him talk about any progressive working class policies he might put forth. No one.

[somsai]

12. The media isn't the problem, it's conserva Dems. Neolibs. They hate the working class

Good lord the guy was in the army, shoots guns! Gets drunk at weddings and dances with his shirt off.

[leftstreet]

13. You think working class people get drunk

dance shirtless at weddings, shoot guns....

Hmm, somehow I don't think the "neolibs" and "conserva Dems" are the issue here

[WhiskeyGrinder]

14. None of those things you list are exclusive to the working class or mean that having a nazi tattoo is okay.

Why do you think the working class is okay with nazi tattoos?

[MarineCombatEngineer]

9. ....

“If I thought that I had a very obvious Nazi tattoo, I would not have taken my shirt off and serenaded my Jewish sister-in-law in front of her extended family at my brother’s [wedding],” In Platner said in a separate BDN interview. Platner still has the tattoo but said he is planning to get it covered up. He said he got the tattoo in 2007 during his third deployment as a Marine. While on short-term leave, he and other Marines went to Croatia, where they got “very inebriated” and decided to get tattoos, picking a “terrifying” design off the wall.

This is exactly how I got my skull and bones tattoo, while on leave in Da Nang, me and a few of my Marine buddies got stinking drunk and, on a dare, we all got tattoos, so I can sympathize with the guy.
We did stupid shit in our younger years, I still regret the tattoo, but I keep it as a reminder of why I quit drinking.

[PatSeg]

11. There seem to be more issues with Platner

than just that tattoo. And people are supposed to believe he has magically transformed in just the past few years?

Mr. Platner also addressed Reddit posts that he made between 2009 and 2021, which were reported by CNN and The Washington Post, saying that he was “utterly horrified by” some of his words from the past.

Among the posts that have drawn criticism was one from 2013 in which he responded to a thread asking users what questions they have for people of other races. Mr. Platner asked why Black people do not tip, something he said he observed while working as a bartender. On the podcast, Mr. Platner said he had been “legitimately asking the question,” because he thought there might be a cultural explanation.

In another 2013 post, he appeared to play down challenges that service members face when trying to report sexual assault allegations. Mr. Platner said in the podcast that, when rereading his own comments, he saw “me not knowing what I’m talking about,” along with an expletive, and added that his views had changed.

He made other posts disparaging police officers and calling white Americans living in rural areas racist and stupid.

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/22/us/politics/graham-platner-nazi-tattoo-maine.html?unlocked_article_code=1.vU8.Ydit.rqVGpPJRrpsU&smid=url-share
(Gift article)

[LetMyPeopleVote]

15. MaddowBlog-Maine's Graham Platner faces difficult questions about his record -- and a tattoo

Once a Senate candidate reaches the point at which he has to deny being a secret Nazi, his campaign isn’t quite where it should be.

Link to tweet

https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/maines-graham-platner-faces-difficult-questions-record-tattoo-rcna239152

Things changed, however, when Platner’s honeymoon period came to a rather sudden end.

The first sign of trouble came to the fore last week, when Politico reported that Platner “once suggested in online posts that violence is a necessary means to achieving social change.” Around the same time, CNN reported on since-deleted comments Platner had made online in which he “once called himself a ‘communist,’ dismissed ‘all’ police as bastards, and said rural White Americans ’actually are’ racist and stupid.”

The candidate disavowed his earlier rhetoric, but other revelations soon followed. Indeed, also last week, The Bangor Daily News reported that Platner also posted messages online in which he asked why Black people “don’t tip” and suggested people concerned about being raped shouldn’t be inebriated around people they don’t feel comfortable with.

After that report reached the public, Platner’s political director resigned.

That was late last week. This week, we learned about the Senate hopeful’s choice in tattoos. Politico reported:

Democratic Maine Senate hopeful Graham Platner expressed regret over getting a tattoo that appears similar to a Nazi symbol nearly two decades ago and plans to have it removed, his latest mea culpa after a week of damning headlines over resurfaced social media posts. ... Platner reiterated that he got the tattoo while out drinking with fellow Marines in Croatia, choosing the skull and crossbones off a wall at the tattoo parlor. He said the similarity to Nazi iconography never came up, including when he underwent physical exams mandated by the U.S. Army, which prohibits tattoos of identified hate symbols.

In other words, Platner’s defense is that he didn’t know he had a tattoo on his chest that resembles a Nazi symbol. What’s more, on Wednesday morning, he and his team said the image has now been covered......

Whether or not that’s true, once a Senate candidate reaches the point at which he has to deny being a secret Nazi, his campaign isn’t quite where it should be.

Democratic officials had already started rallying behind Mills, who has said she’ll only serve one term if elected. In light of the revelations about Platner’s record, it’s likely that party support will intensify. Watch this space.