Graham Platner’s Latest Excuse for His Nazi Tattoo Just Made Things so Much Worse

Democrats have spent decades hurling the Nazi label at Republicans over tax cuts, border security, and pretty much anything else they disagree with. So it's more than a little rich that Maine Democrats are now on the verge of nominating (and possibly electing) a man with an actual Nazi tattoo.

Graham Platner, an oyster farmer and combat veteran running in Maine's Democratic Senate primary, has bizarrely become the race's unlikely frontrunner.

Based on the polls that RealClearPolitics has tracked, Nazi Tattoo Guy leads incumbent Gov. Janet Mills (D) by an average of 22 points heading into the June primary. But here’s where it gets scary. General election polls show a tight race between Sen. Susan Collins (R) and Mills but show Platner beating Collins by an average of 7.6 points. Apparently, Democrats are hungry for a Nazi answer to a moderate Republican. And boy, does that enthusiasm survive quite a bit of baggage.

In addition to his Nazi tattoo, Platner trained with what amounts to an Antifa-style militia, a collection of deleted Reddit posts, and was caught lying about D.C. consultants running his campaign.

Yet Mills can’t seem to make a dent against him.

Mills has lagged behind her upstart liberal rival, Graham Platner, 41, in the polls since Schumer urged her to enter the race last fall. As Platner surged, Mills launched a raft of negative ads against him last month that were widely seen as her best shot at regaining a foothold in the race.
But the ads — which resurfaced Platner’s deleted Reddit comments that were dismissive of sexual assault — have not appeared to help her in recent polls, which still show her lagging far behind Platner. That leaves Schumer and Democratic groups facing a key decision: Will they aid Mills as she tries to tear down Platner ahead of the June primary, or leave her to make her case on her own, given that his lead may be insurmountable?
So far, no outside Democratic groups have come to her aid in the state on the airwaves, leaving her to run her relatively modest ad campaign against Platner on her own

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer reportedly thinks Platner is unelectable against Collins in November. He's been making that case to anyone in Maine's Democratic circles who will listen. But the voters don't seem to care. The polling gap isn't closing. The energy is with the Nazi tattoo guy.

Now Platner has offered his latest explanation for the tattoo, and somehow, he's made the whole situation worse. His approach to the controversy has been a masterclass in contradiction. First, he apologized. Then he had the tattoo covered up. Then he walked back the apology. And now, speaking to CBS News, he's landed on a brand-new story.

"When I left the military, I came out of a hyper-masculine, hyper-violent place," Platner told CBS News. "I did four tours in the infantry. We have a crude sense of humor in the infantry. We certainly have a, I would say, narrow view of a lot of topics, and that colored my opinions and my beliefs."

In response to controversy surrounding a tattoo resembling a Nazi symbol and comments he made previously on Reddit, Maine Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner says "much of it was because of the culture I had come out of."

"When I left the military, I came out of a… pic.twitter.com/C069CLxuDb
— CBS News (@CBSNews) April 10, 2026

So he went from denying he's a Nazi to suggesting that the military made him one. That’s the play he’s making.

Someone should ask him whether he thinks trashing the armed forces is a winning play in a general election against a sitting senator. Attributing a Nazi tattoo to military culture insults every veteran who came home from combat without acquiring neo-Nazi body art. That’s all but one, by the way.

He's also blamed deleted Reddit posts on untreated PTSD, which raises an obvious question: at what point do Maine Democrats ask whether this is the right guy to represent them in the Senate?

And that's the real story here. Antisemitism has grown increasingly fashionable inside the Democratic Party since the Obama years. There was a time when a Nazi tattoo would have ended a political career before it started. Today, it's where all the energy is. The candidate with the most disturbing résumé in the race is leading by a wide margin, and the party establishment can't stop him.

Democrats love calling Republicans Nazis. They've made it a hobby. But when a candidate with an actual Nazi tattoo runs as a Democrat, the base doesn't recoil — it rallies. That tells you everything you need to know about where their values have drifted.

Want to support fearless journalism that exposes the left and tells the stories the media won’t? PJ Media delivers the truth and holds the powerful accountable. Become a VIP member today—your support fuels our mission and unlocks exclusive content, podcasts, an ad-free experience, and more.

Use code FIGHT for 60% off. It's a great time to join our movement. Join now and stand for America-first journalism!