Graham Platner, who's running for Senate in Maine, got a pass for his Nazi tattoo back in March from The Bulwark's Tim Miller. That same month, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who was up in arms about Pete Hegseth's Jerusalem Cross tattoo, endorsed Platner, as did Sen. Bernie Sanders. Platner tried to backtrack on his apology for getting the Nazi SS Totenkopf tattoo, insisting it was an "eminently reasonable skull-and-crossbones" tattoo.
Platner has since had the tattoo tatted over to look like something like a pregnant wolf, but he's still defending it, this time to CBS News, saying they have a crude sense of humor in the military and a narrow view of a lot of topics, and he was a victim of that.
In response to controversy surrounding a tattoo resembling a Nazi symbol and comments he made previously on Reddit, Maine Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner says "much of it was because of the culture I had come out of."
— CBS News (@CBSNews) April 10, 2026
"When I left the military, I came out of a… pic.twitter.com/C069CLxuDb
The post continues:
… hyper-masculine, hyper-violent place," he says. "I did four tours in the infantry. We have a crude sense of humor in the infantry. We certainly have a, I would say, narrow view of a lot of topics, and that colored my opinions and my beliefs."
So serving in the U.S. military made him a Nazi sympathizer, is that it?
Elon Musk waves his hand at a crowd, and it’s most definitely a Nazi salute.
— Amy Curtis (@RantyAmyCurtis) April 11, 2026
Democratic candidate for Senate in Maine has an actual Nazi symbol tattooed on his chest, and it merely “resembles” Nazi imagery.
Realize the game here. https://t.co/7p2KBW6M9d
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It didn’t “resemble” a Nazi symbols you assholes, it literally WAS a Nazi symbol. JFC….
— George MF Washington (@GMFWashington) April 11, 2026
He’s gone from claiming he didn’t know it was a Nazi tattoo to now implying that he knowingly had an SS skull tattooed on his chest but it’s ok because his views have changed now.
— Aaron Bergh (@realAaronBergh) April 10, 2026
We don’t claim him. Don’t put this evil on us.
— InfantryDort (@infantrydort) April 11, 2026
“Resembling?” It’s an actual SS unit symbol for those who ran the internment camps.
— TimOnPoint (@TimOnPoint) April 11, 2026
I served in the USMC. We also had a crude sense of humor, but none of it was sympathetic to any of the USA's past enemies.
— Liberty Nerd (@Nerds4Liberty) April 10, 2026
Absolutely psychotic. And it's always someone else's fault.
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) April 11, 2026
"much of it was because of the culture I had come out of"
— Jim Stinson (@jimstinson) April 11, 2026
A Nazi culture? Dude is trying to dodge individual responsibility.
Why doesn't CBS just write out his defense talking points for him before the interview instead of embarrassing themselves live on air.
— Ultra MAGA Deplorable Deb 🇺🇸 (@DebraMMason1) April 11, 2026
"A tattoo resembling a Nazi symbol"?@bariweiss, you still have more people to fire.
— Common Sense Fusionist (@AndIllWhisperNo) April 11, 2026
I wonder if veterans appreciate being typecast as easy Nazi lovers because of the military
— Jacob Davidson (@wantthepfunk) April 11, 2026
This sounds like a Platner problem. He’s throwing the military under the bus to cover for his own bigotry. Disgusting
— Miriam M 🇺🇸 (@Mirmez5) April 11, 2026
He had a Nazi culture when leaving the military? Not one veteran I know has come out of service with a Nazi culture, not one🤦♀️
— democrat no more (@WalkFromDems) April 11, 2026
The fact he's admitting this should completely disqualify him.
So, he went from not knowing it was a Nazi symbol to blaming his military service for encouraging him to get it.
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