WASHINGTON — Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner is standing firm and no longer issuing apologies for the controversial tattoo linked to Nazi imagery that surfaced last year. He asserts that Jewish leaders are accepting his explanation.
Platner, who is seeking the Democratic nomination for the Senate, had previously apologized for the tattoo on his chest. He now argues that media coverage has left voters with the misconception that the tattoo had a more overt Nazi association.
“I recently met with several Jewish leaders in New York,” Platner shared with Zeteo. “During our conversation, someone remarked, ‘Wait a moment. We thought it was a swastika.'”
He continued, “Once I explained the true story, most people responded with, ‘That seems like a perfectly reasonable explanation.'”
The candidate, who is both an oyster farmer and Marine veteran, maintains that he acquired the tattoo, which resembled a Totenkopf or “death’s head” symbol used by the Nazi SS, during a drunken night in Croatia in 2007.
A self-described progressive Democrat, Platner has repeatedly emphasized that he is “not a secret Nazi.” Last fall, he covered the contentious tattoo with a new design described as a “Celtic knot with some imagery around dogs.”
Initially, Platner had been deeply apologetic about the tattoo. But during his interview with the progressive outlet that was published last week, he struck a more defiant tone.
“I’ll just be upfront: The more they talk about it, the more I get to talk about the fact that I got that because I was a combat Marine. That’s why I had that,” he said.
“It was the fighting I took part in, in Iraq, that resulted in me and other machine gunners getting a skull-and-crossbones tattoo. If we want to continue talking about my military service, I’m more than happy to.”
At one point during the interview, Platner praised the movie “Come and See,” a 1985 Soviet film about resistance to Nazi forces during World War II. That flick features the Totenkopf symbol prominently on some of the uniforms.
“There is no such thing as an anti-war movie, except maybe ‘Come and See.’ Everybody should watch ‘Come and See,’” he told the outlet.
Platner’s excuse for having the Nazi tattoo has long been his contention that he didn’t know what it was.
“It was not until I started hearing from reporters and DC insiders that I realized this tattoo resembled a Nazi symbol,” Platner told Politico back in October. “I absolutely would not have gone through life having this on my chest if I knew that — and to insinuate that I did is disgusting.”
A former confidant of Platner previously told The Jewish Insider that Platner bragged about it at a DC bar in 2012, saying, “Oh, this is my Totenkopf.”
“He said it in a cutesy little way.”
Platner was also found to have discussed the Totenkopf in Reddit posts seven years ago, and his former political director later claimed that the oyster farmer is “a military history buff,” and “he knows d— well what it means,” per Politico.
Last year, unearthed Reddit and other social media posts showed Platner vented that “Cops are bas—s. All of them, in fact,” and responding to a post that said, “White people aren’t as racist or stupid as Trump thinks,” writing “Living in white rural America, I’m afraid to tell you they actually are.”
Platner also pondered why black people “don’t tip.” He has since apologized for those past posts.
He is competing against Maine Gov. Janet Mills (D) for the Democratic nod to compete against incumbent Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) in November.
The Post contacted Platner’s campaign for comment.
