Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Graham Platner speaks at a campaign event in Blue Hill, Maine, on June 9, 2026. (CJ Gunther / Getty Images)
By Samuel Short June 12, 2026 at 6:41am
Maine Democratic Senate candidate Graham Planter is once again in the news cycle for the wrong reasons.
Platner has tried to explain away his Totenkopf chest tattoo in a variety of ways. The symbol – synonymous with the perpetrators of the Holocaust, the Nazi Schutzstaffel – was only covered by the aspiring congressman in October 2025.
The Associated Press reported at the time Planter had just recently discovered the symbol’s meaning, but an exclusive from the New York Post says otherwise. An ex-girlfriend of Planter’s that he was seeing while married says he claimed to have gotten the tattoo to remind himself “the US was the evil bad guy overseas.”
Their relationship was in 2021; Platner got the tattoo in 2007 on leave in Croatia while serving the military.
So no, he did not “recently” discover its meaning as late as 2025 if this woman is to be believed.
That’s an outrageous claim. The United States liberated Europe from the tyranny of Nazi totalitarianism that saw the slaughter on millions of innocent people.
No one would proclaim the allied powers to be spotless – the Soviet Union and Joseph Stalin being the embodiment of evil – but where is Platner’s moral compass if he’s saying this about his own country?
Do you think Platner hates America?
This is the same man who threatened to “rape them to show that I’m dominant” when referring to would-be intruders in his home.
Where are the redeeming qualities in this candidate? So far, he’s only been newsworthy for moronic comments like this and poor decision making.
That won’t the left from supporting him.
Independent Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders has made his support of Platner public, posting videos of the two together on social media platform X.
In New York, 100,000 volunteers came together to elect Zohran as Mayor in our nation’s largest city.
In Maine, one of our most rural states, we can do the same thing and elect Troy Jackson as Governor and Graham Platner as Senator. pic.twitter.com/dfLYNHMyIc
— Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) May 30, 2026
Perhaps this shouldn’t be too shocking to anyone who knows their history.
Shortly before the start of World War 2, Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union signed a Non-Aggression Pact, vowing to not impede in the other’s plans in eastern Europe.
History repeats itself as the communists and Nazis are in league once again.
Planter’s hatred of the United States qualifies him in the eyes of Democrats.
A disdain for freedom, meritocracy, and the Christian faith are the impetus of their hatred.
Conforming to the collective’s needs, equality of outcome, and a secular worldview replace those underpinnings of the prosperity and happinesses hundreds of millions of Americans have enjoyed over the centuries.
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Sam Short is an Assistant Professor of History with Motlow State Community College in Smyrna, Tennessee. He holds a BA in History from Middle Tennessee State University and an MA in History from University College London. The views expressed in his articles are his own and do not reflect the views or opinions of Motlow State Community College.
