Democratic Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner denied that his chest tattoo is connected to Nazi symbolism.
A resurfaced video shows Platner with a chest tattoo that seems to resemble the German SS Totenkopf, the skull-and-crossbones emblem used by Nazi “Death’s Head” units, according to a Portland Press Herald report. (RELATED: Maine Mamdani: So-Called ‘Grassroots’ Oyster Farmer Has Deep Connections To Far-Left)
NEW: Graham Platner reacts to recently resurfaced video of him singing shirtless at a wedding and an opposition research attack alleging he’s a “secret nazi.” Full interview out now on the Pod Save America YouTube. 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 explained that he and some other Marines got a skull tattoo on leave in Croatia in 2007, unaware it was linked to the Nazis. He added that he was drunk at the time.
“We got very inebriated, and we did what Marines on liberty do, and we decided to go get a tattoo,” he said.
“We chose a terrifying looking skull and crossbones off the wall because we were Marines and, you know, skulls and crossbones are pretty standard military thing,” 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,” aiming to get ahead of opposition research, 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 Their Graham Platner’s Reddit Posts Leaked)
Platner said he only recently realized the tattoo had Nazi associations.
Additional comments from Platner resurfaced Tuesday, including an archived October 2020 Reddit post in which he praised a business while mentioning that he carried the “antifa supersoldier” label on his “armor,” Axios reported.
Other deleted posts have also resurfaced. In 2018, he wrote that “an armed working class is a requirement for economic justice” and argued that anyone who “expect[s] to fight fascism without a good semi-automatic rifle” should “do some reading of history,” Politico reported.
He has also described himself as a “communist,” labeled police officers “bastards” and claimed rural white Americans “actually are” racist, CNN originally reported. (RELATED: Democrat Maine Senate Candidate Graham Platner Outed By Own Comments As Anti-White Communist)
In an Oct. 17 video posted to X, Platner addressed his past online comments, saying he reviewed them and “saw statements” he finds deeply troubling.
“I see words and statements that I abhor. I also see the trajectory of my life.”
In the Monday interview, Platner said he does not expect any additional past online comments that are “worse” or “different” to emerge.
“There is nothing that I can remotely think of that is out there that is any worse, or really any different, than what has come out,” he said.
“I mean, if that is their concern, then they can go find more stuff,” he added.
A recently surfaced video shows Maine Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Graham Platner with a chest tattoo of the SS Totenkopf, the skull-and-crossbones emblem used by Nazi “Death’s Head” units.
Platner has stated he got the tattoo while drunk as a young Marine on shore leave in… pic.twitter.com/euH926eTgA
— Maine State Press (@MaineStatePress) October 21, 2025
Following the resurfacing of Platner’s old online posts, the political director for his Senate campaign resigned Friday, according to a Bangor Daily News report.
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