PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — His U.S. Senate campaign under fire, Maine Democrat Graham Platner said Wednesday that a tattoo on his chest has been covered to no longer reflect an image widely recognized as a Nazi symbol.
The first-time political candidate said he got the skull and crossbones tattoo in 2007, when he was in his 20s and in the Marine Corps. It happened during a night of drinking while he was on leave in Croatia, he said, adding he was unaware until recently that the image has been associated with Nazi police.
I have a lot more respect for someone that does something wrong and then admits and fixes it than someone who does something wrong and then does nothing but deny and deflect.
His platform isn’t good…
Nazi war criminal who loved murdering brown people so much he did it privately after three military tours weren’t enough for his bloodlust is now running as a woke liberal on a platform of paying soldiers more for murdering brown people.
Pressing issues for liberals right there.
Division bot
I am so tired of the smear attempts and the bots and the purity test police trying to fuck up the best thing that’s happened in my state in a decade. If you don’t live here, and won’t be voting in our elections, please fuck off. I understand that he is being elected to a national office, but reflect on how you would feel if a bunch of people from away deliberately tried to prevent a progressive from being elected in your home district. I doubt anyone anonymously detracting from Graham has had a chance to meet him, hear him speak, or shake his hand and look him in the eye. I have, and I think my bullshit filters are pretty up to date. Platner is a genuine guy actually pushing for change and the establishment is being pretty transparent in their attempts to stymie him.
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Here is the deleted comment, for posterity.
Shut the fuck up
I’m a Mainer and I worry that this guy is going to be the new Sinema. Say all the right things and then swing hard right after the election. I grew up in Piscataquis county and knew plenty of guys like him who seem ok until you start digging and find out they believe in some awful stuff.
Someone having Nazi tattoos isn’t someone I want as a senator even if those tattoos were accidentally acquired.
Also people from away can have an opinion because the senate is country wide. Having a disingenuous person in the senate affects everyone (cough Fetterman cough).
Well, you can now read his full reddit comment history if you wanna know what he’s about.
What if it DOES matter if they did it deliberately or accidentally, and it DOES matter how they respond when confronted about it? What if they’re humans who make mistakes, and are able to own them like an adult?
Don’t let perfection be the enemy of the good, that’s the left wing cat herding part that earned us this fascist takeover in the first place. If you have someone better to vote for, by all means. But you can always convince yourself that the progressive candidate is secretly a right wing extremist. Always. That’s right there with QAnon rational.
I grew up in Piscataquis county and knew plenty of guys like him
You know lots of people from Piscataquis county who call themselves communists and are really vocal about medicare for all?
I know lots of people who seem nice and genuine and wanting to help people until you start asking them questions about their beliefs. And I’m not talking specifically Piscataquis. People in the county are like that too. And downeast too. That’s why I’m extremely wary of someone who has had nazi tattoos on their body.
Are you saying there are people who might misrepresent their political beliefs and background, and be disingenuous for some kind of ulterior political motive? And we need to be wary of them and ask probing questions and think critically about what they’re saying and what reasons they might have?
Personally, as a veteran of this comments thread, I actually think you might be onto something.
Backpedal harder
It’s called motte and bailey. And yes, they do it constantly.
I’m not sure how my comment can be taken as a backpedal but whatever.
What I find funny is how much you downvote. I mean wow. Maybe if you dislike everything you should take a break from the internet for a bit.
Another profile creep. That’s weird
It’s an open format software. There are no secrets and the downvote trolls like you are annoying. Like flies buzzing around every thread stirring up shit.
So you would rather risk Janet Mills doing exactly nothing positive than risk Graham turning right? Have you listened to what he has to say vs what Sinnema had? It’s definitely different. It’s sad to me that people are so desperate to paint him with his past. How many of us haven’t made pretty awful choices? If we want an Everyman progressive we’re going to have to accept some skeletons imo. If Mills wins the primary LePage is going to sweep the general.
When your past involves Nazi symbolism it isn’t a little mistake. When the skeletons in your closet are a totenkopf i think we can safely discard that person as a serious candidate.
Fake progressives aren’t any better than corporate progressives. In fact they’re worse because you don’t actually know what they believe. At least with corporate shills you know that they’ll work to fill theirs and their benefactors pockets.
Does anything other than the style of the skull and crossbones of his ex-tattoo suggest that he is in any way a Nazi or fascist?
You mean other than the fact he was a guy interested in military symbology and kept a known nazi symbol on his body for 17 years?
Personally i learned about the totenkopf when i was in basic training (in 2001, he enlisted in ‘03 so same time frame) when they showed us tattoos that you can’t have in the military. He doesn’t really have any excuse.
Interesting, so how did the military not reprimand him for it? Do you think his ignorance is unlikely then, and that he actually made an effort to conceal it?
Personally i learned about the totenkopf when i was in basic training (in 2001, he enlisted in ‘03 so same time frame) when they showed us tattoos that you can’t have in the military.
Fascinating. So presumably, he wasn’t permitted to have this tattoo that you can’t have in the military because it’s a Nazi symbol? He got it in 2007, and then wasn’t permitted to have it in the military when he reenlisted in 2010?
Tell me more about your personal experience with this particular topic, which enables you to speak with authority on it. What were some of the other symbols they showed you? It’s lucky that we have some military people and some people from Maine showing up here to speak from a place of authority about why Graham Platner is officially bad and we can’t vote for him.
The hill you’ve chosen to die on today is the fact that you don’t think it’s possible for US military personnel to get away with having Nazi or Ultra right wing nationalists tattoos? That’s the hill you’ve chosen? That thing that we’ve seen dozens and dozens of times before? Your pal the Secretary of Defense has them from when he was in the military. But that’s the thing you can’t buy into? Okay.
When did I say I was an authority or that you couldn’t vote for him?
Yes people with nazi adjacent tattos exist in the army. The people who do the examinations can be nazi adjacent too and then those type of people fall through the cracks. Also you aren’t really inspected on tattoos after your initial examination (at least when I was in the service). I mean, Hegseth has an iron cross and he’s been in the military for a while too.
If you’re trying to imply I’m not from Maine or didn’t spend time in the military then you’re mistaken. Not everyone online is a bot or shill.
Do you think Janet Mills stands a chance in the general against LePage?
That’s not the issue and I’m not sure why you think it is. She was elected state wide twice (2022 by quite a large margin in fact) so she has just as much of a chance as LePage.
You know if you were trying to convince us of how benign the symbol is maybe you shouldn’t be trying to whitewash the name of it? Why don’t you just say Totenkopf? That’s what it’s called. That’s what he’s called it.
Maybe because most people have never even heard of a Totenkopf until now and wouldn’t know what one looks like. The dailykos story about it called it the 2nd or 3rd most recognizable symbol of Nazis, but I’ve never seen the symbol before and had never heard that term before today. Is it really that well known?
It is not. It does appear on the list of a lot of symbols illegal in Germany today because of their association with Naziism or extremism, but it’s obviously not the third most recognizable on that list (as well as having an obvious overlap with a general “yeah that’s badass I want skull and crossbones” meaning, which seems obviously more plausible as the reason why this person who very very obviously is not a Nazi wanted to get this particular tattoo).
The fact that people are pretending so hard that this is a big deal and trying to force the connection between the tattoo and this person being a Nazi when there is literally no other reason known in the world for thinking he is a Nazi and quite a few to think he is not, tells you much more about them than it does about Graham Platner.
at least now you got a year to figure out of hes going to do the opposite he says. but the alternative it Chuck shcumers endorsed candidate.
Sinema told all of AZ she was a progressive too. Right until she got into office. Im sure her handshakes were also nice. Don’t see how that’s relevant.
Yeah you’ve got the right idea there. I too never vote for the candidate that markets themselves as progressive ever since Sinema. I’m playing the 4D chess route, always voting for the fascist just in case they’re secretly a closet progressive.
I don’t know if this is news to you or not, but you are allowed to be both skeptical and critical of a candidate without voting for the exact opposition party, especially when the primary is so far away you can’t even register as a candidate for it yet. Hope this helps.
You should always be skeptical and critical of all candidates. So for you to whip it out like a novel argument for why you don’t think anyone should vote for the most progressive option is absurd.
If there is a better candidate to vote for, absolutely do it. If this convinces YOU to run against him, that’s great! But every candidate is going to have flaws, and as we hold out for the perfect person, fascism will continue to roll us over. It’s a strategy that clearly doesn’t help.
Example of purity testing/non-analogous argument.
Are they the same person? Did you meet Sinnema? Have you met Graham? Do you live in Maine? I don’t live in Arizona and never had anything to say about her. So are you a Mainer, and if not, why are you involving yourself in our choice of representation?
I like how you talk about the strength of my arguement when the strength of yours is entirely based on your ‘bullshit detector’ as you call it. Really funny actually. Got anything to say why someone who researches military conflict for fun can’t recognize official SS symbols? Or how about him knowing and using the official name the SS gave it?
I’m actually exhausted from all these stupid arguments and going to detach from them now. I think you call it touching grass .
Honestly that’s more than fair, I know we don’t agree on some stuff but have a solid one.
Whoa whoa whoa, wait a second. Both of you get back in here and have an internet fight. Don’t even think of rationally resolving this trite debate without nine or ten back and forth fallacy exchanges.
I’m just so tired of arguing with people about the past. Nothing can change it, they don’t have to trust him, but I wish they would just listen to what he has to say now, and allow themselves the understanding that people do actually change.
I’m going to his town hall Monday, I’m not going to engage with the Internet about it again until after that. I really hope some of the folks here make the effort to come ask him these hard questions to his face, in person. And I am happy to forward any {politely worded} questions to him then, if I get a chance beyond my own questions.
Formatting edit or two, dunno how to escape the italics and use a *
Nope, funny brackets it is.
Thanks man, you too.
I didn’t find out about this guy until yesterday, man.
It’s a damn shame if he really is the genuine guy you think he is. A damn shame.
Because there’s really no recovering from that big of a blunder and that’s just reality. I would be devastated if I were you, and try to think of next steps because the ship has sailed on this guy. I’m sorry for that.
Agreed, but folks up here are seriously rallying around him right now. It doesn’t seem as hopeless as it really should. Anybody that has met the man, and he is making a GIANT effort to meet anyone that cares, knows that his checkered past has no bearing on his desire for a better future. He is a shining example of human growth and what we should be defining Manliness by, ability to adapt, change and grow from a place of ignorance.
He sounds like a real one. All I know is Susan Collins fucked up bad and I look forward to her replacement.
Disappointing that the linked article doesn’t include a photo of the tattoo. When a report lacks important relevant information, the reader has a choice to take it for its word or seek out supporting facts. So, when I searched for Planter Nazi Tattoo, there are plenty of articles taking the opposing tone - in that he knew what the tattoo was.
https://www.dailykos.com/story/2025/10/21/2349761/-Not-one-diary-or-mention-about-Graham-Platner-s-Nazi-tattoo-Really This sounds more like he has been aware of what the tattoo represented and he hasn’t really cared about it until now. Which I personally find much more believable. Good on him for getting it covered up but, ehhh. Maybe don’t believe every word a politician exhales.
I don’t know this person or anything about Maine. I don’t really care either. But journalism needs to be held accountable. I expect more from PBS / AP.
I’m tired, boss
Some people are very very angry that Graham Platner is a communist because they found deleted Reddit posts from years and years ago and that’s why they can’t support him and you shouldn’t either
Some people are very very angry that Graham Platner
is a secret Nazihas a death’s head tattoo even though he’s very very clearly not a secret Nazi. This whole endeavor is honestly a textbook example of Control the Conversation. We’re not talking about whether Graham is a Nazi (the “frame”), because he’s clearly not. We’re talking about the “next argument” – whether he covered it up and why, whether it might indicate that he’s another Simena, all that kind of stuff.Honestly, to me, the fact that Chuck Schumer, lemmy.ml, and the mainstream media are all falling over themselves to manufacture little scandals about this guy is the strongest indication so far that he is probably the real deal. Personally, I don’t give a shit whether Jewish Insider found it in their heart for some random reason to start reporting something from some anonymous source who swears he’s
actually a Naziactually we can’t make that argument, but we are going to say he knew this was a Totenkamf he got accidentally and we can kind of imply that other thing. Even though detailed analysis of his not-intended-for-public-viewing Reddit communications seems to show the exact opposite. And of course we can do other equally honest things like grabbing one Facebook photo from right before Graham told the 88 guy to fuck off and pretend it means something. And of course we’re performatively freaking out, to a different audience, about how he’s a secret communist instead, and that’s why we can’t vote for him.I’m so so tired boss. I hate that our social media is this way. I actually took some screenshots of the comments here before the army of “Graham is a problem” people showed up, and it was all normal. No one was saying something that was a little off the main point of what they were implying, no one was vigorously responding over and over to anyone who disagreed with them, none of that. It was just people, most of whom actually seemed like they took the take “well he’s clearly not a Nazi and he is talking about medicare for all and other things we really badly need so what they fuck even is this.”
I’m tired
Edit: Also no one was claiming firsthand experience in the military that proved that Graham was lying, while also not knowing shit about how the military works, and other equally honest comments, read on if you want to see some bullshit
Not sure you’re responding to the right person. Maybe get some sleep, boss.
Definitely I am responding to the right person.
It’s not really for you. It’s for the people who read your comment and then had the same reaction I did. Apparently there are quite a few of them.
My statement was in regard to PBS not including a photo of the thing the story is about.
Was it, though? Was it?
This sounds more like he has been aware of what the tattoo represented and he hasn’t really cared about it until now. Which I personally find much more believable. Good on him for getting it covered up but, ehhh. Maybe don’t believe every word a politician exhales.
Yes. It was. But you go ahead and cherry-pick the content that fits your narrative. I’m just trying to tell you you’re wasting your time responding to me.
Thank you for your feedback lol
Whether he is or isn’t is irrelevant, it’s the image of him portrayed by media that counts. The medium is the message. You should really look into Vladislav Surkov, the architect of Russia’s post-truth society, which the Trump admin imported to the states and is now common practice. The guy is clearly an idiot, maybe he means well but again that is irrelevant. This has Republican hit job written all over it from the get-go, I wouldn’t be surprised if Collins team found out about the tattoo (before he even decided to run) and directed “political technicians” to infiltrate his social circle and subtly nudge this guy to run, consequently becoming an unwitting accomplice to sabotage a genuine left-wing movement.
I may be reading too much into it, but consider “His former political director said he “knows damn well” what the tattoo signifies.”.
I understand you’ve invested a lot of emotional energy into this guy. It’s best to disconnect those feelings from things you can’t change, if he wins he wins, if not that’s ok, learn and grow from the experience.
The guy is clearly an idiot, maybe he means well but again that is irrelevant.
This part, I halfway agree with. I don’t think he’s an idiot, but I do think that him coming as an outsider and maybe not being super-skilled at politics and policy might hurt his ability to be effective. It’s pretty much the only downside that I see to him. But then, counterbalance that against the upside that there is something about him that makes the establishment start making up all kinds of malicious innuendos about him, and the fact that no one he’s running against even seems to mean well, and it winds up that for now at least I am fine supporting him.
I understand you’ve invested a lot of emotional energy into this guy.
No idea what you’re talking about. I am emotional about the truth, and defending our systems of media against malicious interference. I don’t even know if this guy is a good idea or not, I just know that these particular smears against him are very clearly a bunch of shit, and that’s the part that’s got me heated up about it.
Ahh gotcha, well I recommend reading some Baudrillard, you’re angry over something that doesn’t exist anymore (if it ever did). Truth is all just relative now, shifting like sand in the desert.
Truth is all just relative now, shifting like sand in the desert.
Even in the realm of science, there is no such thing as absolute truth, at least not in any capacity humans can ever understand. We have theories based on empirical evidence which we accept as “truth” because that is as good as we can get, some things have more truth than others, which closes the gap on things we have to take as self-evident and better align with understanding and reality.
Refer to Agrippa’s trilemma: it is theoretically impossible to prove any truth.
“Your lies have already poisoned the world!”
“Then I shall write another book,” said Didactylos calmly. “Think how it will look-proud Didactylos swayed by the arguments of the Omnians. A full retraction. Hmm? In fact, with your permission, lord-I know you have much to do, looting and burning and so on-I will retire to my barrel right away and start work on it. A universe of spheres. Balls spinning through space. Hmm. Yes. With your permission, lord, I will write you more balls than you can imagine…”
The old philosopher turned and, very slowly, walked towards the exit.
Vorbis watched him go.
Brutha saw him half-raise his hand to signal the guards, and then lower it again.
Vorbis turned to the Tyrant.
“So much for your-” he began.
“Coo-ee!” The lantern sailed through the doorway and shattered against Vorbis’s skull. “Nevertheless… the Turtle Moves!”
Vorbis leapt to his feet.
“I-” he screamed, and then got a grip on himself. He waved irritably at a couple of the guards. “I want him caught. Now. And… Brutha?”
Brutha could hardly hear him for the rush of blood in his ears. Didactylos had been a better thinker than he’d thought.
A skull and crossbones sounds like a symbol that was co-opted by nazis but not an explicit nazi symbol. I didn’t know that connection either. Without seeing it, that sounds more like a pirate symbol, or poison.
I agree, the description is vague and the symbol was most assuredly was co-opted by Nazis (past and present) just like the swastika, blackletter typeface, Nordic symbols, and a whole bunch of other stuff of historical significance.
But, accidental or not, this seems a pretty cut and dry comparison, art-wise.
And a quick search of the historical context
I think for a normal person leaving that kind of tattoo there is sort of understandable.
For somebody running for political office as a yoked bro he had to realize this would come up at some point
and pretending to not know for 17years, only to cover up with another norse symbols, makes it harder to believe.
That’s what I thought. Of all the fucking tattoos to choose we went with, what, a Celtic knot/dog tattoo? Might as well be a Thor hammer.
Hell if you want to go for something ancient there some pretty awesome bronze age symbols, how about something Etruscan, or perhaps something kinda forgotten like the Neo-Hittites. I’m saying this as a fucking Neo-Pagan who fused ancestor worship with Odin worship, those symbols are just too fucking volatile most of the time unless you use them as a base to work off of and be transformed into something not immediately recognizable.
I hate this. I’m of Scandinavian heritage and so basically I just don’t get to celebrate, explore or display any history or culture. Because some terminally online person will accuse me of being a secret nazi.
Well, unless you’re doing it to cover up a Nazi tattoo I think you’ll be okay. I’m just saying if I were Platner I would have gone with Mickey Mouse or something.
ah yes, a character created by the famous anti-communist, anti-Semite Walt Disney. Good choice.
Oh I feel ya on that one, mixed Germanic-Celtic for me kinda a mess if I’m being honest, but it’s kinda frustrating. Though let’s give credit where credit is due folks looking for dog whistle symbols isn’t new nor is it necessarily called for, Nazis will happily use a tri-knot as much as a black sun if they feel the black sun is too common. Mind you that is partly because Nazis are at their core delusional trolls but still it isn’t an unfounded thing. While I haven’t done it personally I’ve seen some folks combine such ancient symbols with more modern progressive symbols, for example I doubt the dude a sticker that says Iz Wodanaz Weraz next to a Woody Guthrie next to it on the back of their car is gonna be a fascist unless they are very very confused.
Oh, well, crisis averted then. It’s all good, now. Carry on, everyone.
This tattoo was the Totenkopf? Jesus Christ what is with this article? They described as skull and crossbones. As if making you think it’s a pirate symbol. Fuck no. The Totenkopf has always been associated with the Nazis. That’s a straight-up Nazi symbol that they wore while genociding people. I don’t believe for a fucking second this thing was an accident.
I can’t say I’m shocked that a PBS article is whitewashing this kind of shit. Cuz they’ve been whitewashing fascist shit for a while now. But God damn.
He was a 20-some year old marine; I absolutely believe he didn’t know what the tattoo actually was, and just thought it was cool.
I sure as hell didn’t know what it was when I was 20. I think I only learned about all this shit when I was teaching a student who had a confederate flag phone wallpaper (not in the US, btw), and I did a “crash course” in other to look for that are subtle symbols, like 1488 and lesser-known Nazi/white supremacy logos.
Some of them are super generic, too, like the one that looks like two parallel square-ish lighting bolts, or the square-looking ankh thing. (Someone linked a list above, of symbols banned in Germany).
Seems more likely that the establishment is trying to smear a progressive candidate than that a progressive candidate is secretly a neo Nazi.
The Totenkopf has always been associated with the Nazis.
To be pedantic, it actually predates Nazis by quite a bit, it was in use during the Empire - but by modern-day standards it’s absolutely associated with nazis.
Considering all the BS with our current government I’m going to assume any and all baseless smear campaigns means it’s in my best interest to vote for that person. This guy is probably a radical progressive who believes we should tax the rich.
⊞
Edit: fucking nazi
Back of the line, Nazi boy.
Like, covered by a shirt or actually covered by another tattoo?
Either way, this is pretty shitty judgement and I think another Dem candidate would probably be a better bet.
See how easy it is to criticize someone on your own “team”? We should bring that back in America.
He still had it made. A leopard does not loose its spots.
Good thing people aren’t leopards…
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Believe people when they tell you who they are the first time.
There is no way a tattoo that size is not intentional. He knew exactly what he was putting on his body.
