Democrat Senate Candidate Graham Platner Denies His Uncovered Tattoo Is Nazi Symbol
Democratic Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner has denied that his chest tattoo is linked to Nazi symbolism.
A resurfaced video shows Platner with a tattoo on his chest that appears to resemble the German SS Totenkopf, the skull-shaped emblem used by Nazi “Skull” units, according to a report from the Portland Press Herald. (RELATED: Maine Mamdani: So-called ‘grassroots’ oyster farmer has deep ties to the far left)
NEW: Graham Platner reacts to a recently resurfaced video showing him singing shirtless at a wedding and an opposition research attack alleging he is a “secret Nazi”. Full interview available now on the Save America YouTube Pod. pic.twitter.com/r8GEePCPLP
– Pod Save America (@PodSaveAmerica) October 21, 2025
Platner responded to the video featuring his tattoo on the “Pod Save America” podcast. He said he and other Marines got skull tattoos while on leave in Croatia in 2007, not knowing it was linked to the Nazis. He added that he was drunk at the time.
“We were very drunk and we did what Marines do on the loose, and we decided to go get a tattoo,” he said.
“We chose a terrifying skull and crossbones on the wall because we were Marines and, you know, skulls and crossbones are pretty standard military items,” he continued.
The interview, which aired Monday, played a decade-old video from his brother’s wedding showing Platner dancing shirtless. He shared the clip with “Pod Save America” in an effort to preempt the opposition’s search, marking the latest controversy for the upstart Democrat seeking his party’s nomination to challenge Republican Sen. Susan Collins in 2026. (RELATED: Lefties Suddenly Change Tune on ‘Locker Room Talk’ After Graham Platner’s Reddit Posts Leaked)
Platner said he only recently realized the tattoo had Nazi associations.
Additional comments from Platner resurfaced on Tuesday, including an archived Reddit post from October 2020 in which he praised a company while mentioning that he wore the label “antifa supersoldier” on his “armor,” Axios reported.
Other deleted messages have also resurfaced. In 2018, he wrote that “an armed working class is a necessary condition for economic justice” and argued that anyone “expects[s] To fight fascism without a good semi-automatic rifle, you’d have to “read a little history,” Politico reported.
He also described himself as a “communist,” called police officers “bastards” and claimed that rural white Americans “are actually” racist, CNN initially reported. (RELATED: Maine Democratic Senate Candidate Graham Platner Cast By His Own Comments As Anti-White Communist)
In an October 17 video posted to
“I see words and statements that I hate. I also see the trajectory of my life.”
In Monday’s interview, Platner said he did not expect other “worse” or “different” online comments to emerge.
“There’s nothing I can think of that’s worse, or really different, than what came out,” he said.
“I mean, if that’s their concern, then they can go and get more stuff,” he added.
A recently surfaced video shows Graham Platner, Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate in Maine, with a tattoo on his chest of the SS Totenkopf, the skull-shaped emblem used by Nazi “death’s head” units.
Platner said he got the tattoo while drunk as a young Marine on shore leave at… pic.twitter.com/euH926eTgA
– Maine State Press (@MaineStatePress) October 21, 2025
Following the re-emergence of Platner’s old online posts, the political director of his Senate campaign resigned Friday, according to a report in the Bangor Daily News.
