Democratic Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner is still trying to get away from his Nazi tattoo controversy.
If this appearance on MSNBC is the best he can do, then his prospects for getting elected are about as good as Wile E. Coyote actually catching the roadrunner. Host Jen Psaki brought up the issue, bringing up the fact that Platner had the tattoo for 20 years.
“I did not expect the tattoo issue,” Platner began. “I’ve had it for 20 years, passed multiple security clearances, and been photographed shirtless many times, and it never came up. I’ve spent my life hating Nazis, so that accusation was unexpected.”
The candidate explained that he expected people to pore over his internet history, but was taken by surprise with the tattoo fiasco.
Psaki noted that there has been a “discrepancy” related to when Platner knew his tattoo was tied to the Nazis. “An anonymous source suggested you knew a couple of years ago, and your former political director said this summer,” she said. “When did you recognize it as a problematic symbol, and how did that come to light.”
Platner noted that The New York Times contacted his team weeks ago asking him if he “had a tattoo with Nazi ovetones.”
“I’ve had it for ages and it had never come up, but when we looked at what they sent, it was a stylized skull and crossbones that looked quite similar to what they were concerned about,” the candidate continued. “Stylized skull-and-crossbones imagery is popular with military units, but I don’t want anything on my body that could make people think I share an ideology that is completely antithetical to my politics, so I was happy to get it covered.”
He said he got the tattoo covered up days after the controversy erupted.
Psaki brought up Platner’s former political director who claimed the candidate knew in the summer that his tattoo was Nazi-affiliated. “That is not truee,” the candidate countered. “She also wasn’t involved with the campaign in the summer, so that claim is not accurate.”
Democrat Maine Senate candidate says he "did not expect" his Nazi tattoo to emerge as an issue in the campaign.
— Jeff Charles, Head Nogga In Charge🏴 (@jeffcharlesjr) October 29, 2025
Repeates claims that he did not know the tattoo was Nazi-affiliated.
"I’ve spent my life hating Nazis, so that accusation was unexpected." pic.twitter.com/cBbftInoXZ
Despite his protestations, it appears Maine’s voters aren’t buying what he’s selling. In late October, Platner had a commanding 58 to 24 percent lead over former Gov. Janet Mills, according to a University of New Hampshire survey.
However, a SoCal Strategies poll taken after tattoogate showed Mills leading Platner 41 to 36 percent. The gap widened to 59 to 29 percent when respondents were informed about the tattoo.
Is it possible that Platner didn’t know he had a Nazi tattoo? Sure. I didn’t know that image was affiliated with fascism either. People do all kinds of stupid things when they are young. It is not very likely that he’s a Nazi.
But, leftists have created an environment in which anyone who might make such a mistake should be labeled a Nazi and cast out of decent society — unless they happened to be a Democrat. When Elon Musk made a gesture at a speaking event, they pounced on the opportunity to pretend he was hailing Hitler. There is no longer any room for the benefit of the doubt.
Since folks on the left decided political expediency should trump rationality, they must also lie in the bed they made.
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