Democratic Senate hopeful Graham Platner has been forced into damage control after video and photos surfaced showing a chest tattoo that critics say resembles the Nazi Totenkopf, a symbol tied to the SS. Platner admits he got the skull-and-crossbones design while a young Marine on leave in Croatia and says he was unaware of its Nazi associations until recently, but his explanations ring hollow to many given the seriousness of the imagery.
Platner says the ink was the product of a drunken night in 2007 and that he has since covered or removed the image, but records and former staffers paint a messier picture. Reporting shows the tattoo was visible in old videos and that a top campaign aide resigned amid the controversy, suggesting the campaign knew about the problem earlier than Platner claims. Voters deserve straight answers about when he knew and why this wasn’t addressed before he launched a statewide campaign.
This scandal isn’t occurring in a vacuum — it comes on the heels of resurfaced Reddit posts in which Platner made dismissive comments about sexual assault, Black patrons, and law enforcement, remarks he blames on PTSD and youth. Whether those explanations are sincere or politically convenient, the accumulation of troubling behavior raises real questions about character and judgment that Democrats should be forced to answer. The voters shouldn’t be expected to take platitudes at face value when so much of his past is now public.
Mainstream outlets report Platner preemptively revealed the tattoo to a friendly podcast in a bid to control the narrative, but that move played right into the cynics’ hands and exposed poor vetting by Democratic operatives. Party leaders who slapped him on the primary ballot without catching these red flags are revealing either negligence or willful blindness — neither inspiring to Americans who want secure, competent leadership. The left’s constant cries of moral superiority look thin when their own candidates require constant crisis management.
Beyond politics, the symbol itself carries a heavy weight: the Totenkopf has clear historical links to Nazi units and is recognized by watchdogs as a hate-affiliated motif, which makes the explanation that Platner “didn’t know” increasingly hard to accept. If a candidate cannot fully reckon with why such imagery is offensive and dangerous, that’s not a minor gaffe — it’s a significant lapse in judgment that merits scrutiny from every corner, including veteran communities that understand military iconography.
Conservative voters and Republican opponents should press this issue relentlessly: demand full transparency, documentary proof of the timeline, and an honest accounting from Platner about what he knew and when. America does not need leaders who offer half-explanations and hope the media’s memory is short; we need accountability, clarity, and candidates of unimpeachable character who will stand for law, order, and the dignity of every American.
