❓WHAT HAPPENED: Graham Platner, a Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate, apologized for a tattoo resembling a Nazi symbol.
👤WHO WAS INVOLVED: Graham Platner, Senator Susan Collins, and Jonathan Greenblatt of the Anti-Defamation League.
📍WHEN & WHERE: October 22, 2025, in Maine, during a podcast interview.
💬KEY QUOTE: “I am not a secret Nazi,” Platner insisted.
🎯IMPACT: The incident has drawn scrutiny and criticism, impacting Mr. Platner’s campaign.
Graham Platner, a Democrat Senate candidate in Maine, running against incumbent Senator Susan Collins (R), has apologized for a Nazi Totenkopf (death’s head) tattoo on his chest. Platner claims that he was intoxicated when he got the tattoo and was unaware of its extremist implications.
On the Democrat-aligned podcast Pod Save America, Platner discussed the tattoo, which features a skull and crossbones, claiming it was randomly chosen while he was stationed in Croatia with the Marines. He insisted it is a common military symbol and stated, “I am not a secret Nazi.”
The Totenkopf was an official emblem of the Waffen SS in Nazi Germany, and is particularly associated with the SS-Totenkopfverbände, which administered the Nazi concentration camps.
Platner has also faced scrutiny for past Reddit posts that minimized sexual assault in the military and disparaged police and rural white Americans. He claimed he is remorseful for these comments, linking them to a challenging time in his life when he was dealing with post-traumatic stress disorder.
Despite the controversy, far-left Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) continues to support Platner, calling him an “excellent candidate.”
Platner says he intends to have the tattoo removed and noted that he never tried to hide it, even during his military enlistment. He emphasized personal growth, stating that people can evolve and that everyone has made mistakes online.
🚨NEW: Maine liberal Graham Platner’s Nazi tattoo revealed
This comes less than a week after he was caught:
➡️ Advocating for political violence
➡️ Saying Black people don’t tip
➡️ Calling all police “bastards”
➡️ Calling Maine’s lobstermen “pieces of sh*t”What’s next… pic.twitter.com/o7FMvmVpxo
— Senate Republicans (@NRSC) October 21, 2025
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