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In reply to the discussion: Meet Graham Platner. Here is one white guy who can help save the Democratic Party from itself, imho. [View all]LetMyPeopleVote
(175,724 posts)83. MaddowBlog-Maine's Graham Platner faces difficult questions about his record -- and a tattoo
Once a Senate candidate reaches the point at which he has to deny being a secret Nazi, his campaign isnt quite where it should be.
âMaineâs Graham Platner faces difficult questions about his record â and a tattoo: Once a Senate candidate reaches the point at which he has to deny being a secret Nazi, his campaign isnât quite where it should be.â www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddo...
— (@halfmarshall.bsky.social) 2025-10-23T01:57:13.441Z
https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/maines-graham-platner-faces-difficult-questions-record-tattoo-rcna239152
Things changed, however, when Platners honeymoon period came to a rather sudden end.
The first sign of trouble came to the fore last week, when Politico reported that Platner once suggested in online posts that violence is a necessary means to achieving social change. Around the same time, CNN reported on since-deleted comments Platner had made online in which he once called himself a communist, dismissed all police as bastards, and said rural White Americans actually are racist and stupid.
The candidate disavowed his earlier rhetoric, but other revelations soon followed. Indeed, also last week, The Bangor Daily News reported that Platner also posted messages online in which he asked why Black people dont tip and suggested people concerned about being raped shouldnt be inebriated around people they dont feel comfortable with.
After that report reached the public, Platners political director resigned.
That was late last week. This week, we learned about the Senate hopefuls choice in tattoos. Politico reported:
In other words, Platners defense is that he didnt know he had a tattoo on his chest that resembles a Nazi symbol. Whats more, on Wednesday morning, he and his team said the image has now been covered......
Whether or not thats true, once a Senate candidate reaches the point at which he has to deny being a secret Nazi, his campaign isnt quite where it should be.
Democratic officials had already started rallying behind Mills, who has said shell only serve one term if elected. In light of the revelations about Platners record, its likely that party support will intensify. Watch this space.
The first sign of trouble came to the fore last week, when Politico reported that Platner once suggested in online posts that violence is a necessary means to achieving social change. Around the same time, CNN reported on since-deleted comments Platner had made online in which he once called himself a communist, dismissed all police as bastards, and said rural White Americans actually are racist and stupid.
The candidate disavowed his earlier rhetoric, but other revelations soon followed. Indeed, also last week, The Bangor Daily News reported that Platner also posted messages online in which he asked why Black people dont tip and suggested people concerned about being raped shouldnt be inebriated around people they dont feel comfortable with.
After that report reached the public, Platners political director resigned.
That was late last week. This week, we learned about the Senate hopefuls choice in tattoos. Politico reported:
Democratic Maine Senate hopeful Graham Platner expressed regret over getting a tattoo that appears similar to a Nazi symbol nearly two decades ago and plans to have it removed, his latest mea culpa after a week of damning headlines over resurfaced social media posts. ... Platner reiterated that he got the tattoo while out drinking with fellow Marines in Croatia, choosing the skull and crossbones off a wall at the tattoo parlor. He said the similarity to Nazi iconography never came up, including when he underwent physical exams mandated by the U.S. Army, which prohibits tattoos of identified hate symbols.
In other words, Platners defense is that he didnt know he had a tattoo on his chest that resembles a Nazi symbol. Whats more, on Wednesday morning, he and his team said the image has now been covered......
Whether or not thats true, once a Senate candidate reaches the point at which he has to deny being a secret Nazi, his campaign isnt quite where it should be.
Democratic officials had already started rallying behind Mills, who has said shell only serve one term if elected. In light of the revelations about Platners record, its likely that party support will intensify. Watch this space.
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Meet Graham Platner. Here is one white guy who can help save the Democratic Party from itself, imho. [View all]
ariadne0614
Tuesday
OP
I do hold him accountable, and his responses to tough questions impressed me.
ariadne0614
Tuesday
#17
I have often said that only Black women can save us, and consider Jasmine Crockett a national treasure.
ariadne0614
10 hrs ago
#150
His Reddit posts were discussed, but please explain how to look them up with one's guts. n/t
ariadne0614
Tuesday
#21
I've never in my life heard any self-described "radical feminist" say that an average white guy had "potent magic" but
WhiskeyGrinder
Tuesday
#52
I don't trust anyone's judgement who advocates for public hangings or private hangings
Buckeyeblue
Yesterday
#123
I agree with your concerns but we should note he did get the Nazi tattoo covered up/removed
LymphocyteLover
52 min ago
#158
I listened to him and I am fine with his explaations. I like him. Young and has gotten his
Autumn
Tuesday
#11
Getting a Nazi death head tattoo is bad, leaving it on for over decade is worse IMO
EX500rider
Tuesday
#55
Again getting a Nazi SS tattoo while drunk on leave is one thing, leaving it there for over a decade is another IMO YMMV
EX500rider
Tuesday
#62
When he found out it was a nazi tattoo he had it covered. So AFAIC that's the end of that.
Autumn
Tuesday
#85
So, you know people who got Nazi tats and still have them over a decade later?
obamanut2012
Tuesday
#79
Bernie has been wrong before. I don't trust anyone with a Nazi tattoo and posts online that reinforce that.
mucholderthandirt
Yesterday
#124
I'm sorry if I left the impression that I expect anyone, including myself, to ignore his past.
ariadne0614
19 hrs ago
#136
If I thought for one minute he was a Nazi, I wouldn't have posted the interview.
ariadne0614
Tuesday
#12
Good for you. I'm sure questionable people like this crazy dude need the money
awesomerwb1
Tuesday
#30
It's seriously difficult to imagine watching this interview and concluding he's crazy.
ariadne0614
Tuesday
#31
Because Trump has made owning up all the fashion on the Nazi side of the equation.
ariadne0614
Tuesday
#63
My gut told me from the beginning that there was something off about Fetterman.
ariadne0614
Tuesday
#13
So you didn't agree with the judgement of Sanders regarding Fetterman but say we should trust his judgement here?
W_HAMILTON
Tuesday
#44
No, I'm just an American who would love to see Democrats take back the Senate. n/t
ariadne0614
Tuesday
#27
Mills is the AIPAC candidate and so whoever the republican nominee will be aipac supported
questionseverything
Tuesday
#34
I think its more like, he is the key to ensuring Susan Collins gets another term
FascismIsDeath
Tuesday
#35
I don't understand "one white guy who can save the Democratic Party from itself."
betsuni
Tuesday
#39
You get that it was a very specific skull and crossbones that was a hallmark of the SS, right? Not the Jolly Roger?
WhiskeyGrinder
Tuesday
#45
I'm familiar with the totenkopf, and the video and screenshots that went around a lot last October make it clear that's
WhiskeyGrinder
Tuesday
#57
If I recall the same views were expressed how Fetterman was the "great liberal hope" over the "establishment"
lostincalifornia
Tuesday
#53
lol no, I want someone without Nazi tats, who doesn't hit women and who didn't work as a mercenary
obamanut2012
Tuesday
#77
MaddowBlog-Maine's Graham Platner faces difficult questions about his record -- and a tattoo
LetMyPeopleVote
Tuesday
#83
I don't believe in saviors, I believe in passing legislation that helps my family
thebigidea
Tuesday
#87
If Democrats win back the Senate, the pressure will come from fed up We the People. n/t
ariadne0614
Tuesday
#94
Call me delusional, but if our side regains the Senate and House, then anything is possible if
ariadne0614
Tuesday
#103
Sorry. This is the kind of unicorn thinking that turned me off of the Sanders movement.
Blasphemer
Tuesday
#121
Could be the right messenger at the right time + the cumulative decades of effort.
ariadne0614
16 hrs ago
#145
The DSCC and Janet Mills have formed a joint fundraising committee together.
LetMyPeopleVote
Tuesday
#96
I don't understand the "one white guy" headline. Was that in an article or something?
marmar
Tuesday
#98
I'll be voting for Janet Mill's in the primary. If your candidate wins, I will vote for him.
OAITW r.2.0
Tuesday
#102
Gov. MAGA Paul got elected in Maine when 60+% voted for two other candidates.....
OAITW r.2.0
Tuesday
#116
Running against the Democratic Party: Establishment beholden to corporate interests ignore working class, both sides.
betsuni
Yesterday
#122
Dude had a nazi tattoo on his chest for years. Got called out last year and covered it up.
Iggo
21 hrs ago
#128
Only got called out because there was a video of him running around shirtless during a wedding reception that surfaced
MichMan
20 hrs ago
#130
Indeed! I'm so fucking done with that BS-- even if it sadly gets votes.
LymphocyteLover
50 min ago
#159
It would surprise me if you thought he was intellectually deficient if you listened to the interview.
ariadne0614
17 hrs ago
#142