Maine Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner covered up a tattoo on his chest that resembled a Nazi symbol, a spokesperson for Platner’s campaign confirmed to NBC News.
The move comes just days after Platner appeared on an episode of “Pod Save America” and acknowledged the tattoo in response to a video of himself shirtless, where his tattoo is visible at his brother’s wedding 10 years ago.
Platner said that his campaign was informed that images of his tattoo were being pitched as “opposition research” with those sharing the video alleging that he had a Nazi symbol tattooed on his chest.
“I am not a Nazi,” Platner told the podcast, adding that he’s been a “lifelong opponent” of Nazism.
Platner, earlier this week, promised to remove the tattoo.
The oysterman told The Associated Press on Wednesday that “going to a tattoo removal place is going to take a while” and that he wanted “this thing off my body,” which led to him opting to cover up the tattoo.
In a video posted on Instagram later Wednesday, Platner revealed the new tattoo and explained for a second time that he got the original tattoo while in the Marines, during a period of leave in Split, Croatia.
“We got very inebriated and we did what Marines on liberty do and we decided to go get a tattoo,” Platner told "Pod Save America," adding, “We chose a terrifying-looking skull and crossbones off the wall, because we were Marines and, you know, skulls and crossbones are a pretty standard military thing.”
“We got those tattoos and then we all moved on with our lives,” the military veteran and oyster farmer added.
He went on to say that he’s never hid the fact that he has a tattoo and has often taken his shirt off at the gym, beach and other occasions.
“At no point in this entire experience of my life did anybody ever once say, ‘Hey you’re a Nazi.’ It never came up,” Platner added.
In the Instagram video, Platner showed his new tattoo, a Celtic knot with dogs, telling viewers: "My wife, Amy, and I have two wonderful dogs that we love a lot. This far more represents who I am now than even the skull and crossbones did."
He also blamed "the establishment" for dumping opposition research about his tattoo.
"This has come up because the establishment is trying to throw everything it can at me. It is terrified of what we are trying to build here. Every second we spend talking about a tattoo I got in the Marine Corps is a second we don't talk about Medicare for all," Platner said. "It's a second that we don't talk about raising taxes on the wealthy. It's a second we're not talking about the material struggles of Mainers as they try to scrape through a system that, at its core, is trying to rob them."
He also thanked his supporters for sticking with him and addressed his plans to get back on the campaign trail Wednesday evening.
The revelation about the tattoo came just days after CNN and The Washington Post unearthed old Reddit posts from Platner where he called himself a “communist,” said police officers are “bastards,” agreed that rural white Americans are “racist” and “stupid” and downplayed challenges faced by military members in reporting sexual assault.
Platner apologized for those posts last week, saying that many of them were written after he returned home from his military service and was “disillusioned” with the world.
“For those of you who have read these things and been offended, have read these things and seen someone that you don’t recognize, I am deeply sorry,” he said in a direct-to-camera video posted on X on Friday.
“When I got back from Afghanistan in 2011, I stayed in the Army for another year. I got out in 2012. Some of the worst comments I made, the things that I think are least defensible, that I wouldn’t even try to defend, come from that time,” Platner said in that video, adding later: “I’m sorry for this. Just know that it’s not reflective at all of who I am. I don’t want you to judge me on the dumbest thing I ever wrote on the internet. I would prefer if people could judge me on the person I am today.”
Over the weekend, Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin told CNN that while he condemned the Reddit posts as “hurtful” and “offensive,” he added that they were not “disqualifying.”
Platner has also said that many of the Reddit posts were made during a time when he was living with “undiagnosed PTSD“ from his military service, a condition that he says he has since gotten treatment for.
“I believe in second chances. I believe a lot of people say things at their most vulnerable times, they say things when they’re young that, again, are offensive,” Martin said on Sunday about the Reddit posts, adding later, “I’ve listened to Graham Platner, I absolutely believe in his contrition here. I believe that he acknowledges that the words he used were harmful and offensive to so many people throughout this country.”
In the “Pod Save America” episode earlier this week, Platner blamed both controversies on his political opponents digging up “opposition research” and joked, “The fact that I’ve managed to go from communist to Nazi in the space of four days, according to the people who are trying to ... do this to me, I find to be quite a spectacular turn of events.”
Platner announced his candidacy for Senate in August, quickly gaining momentum and racking up a notable endorsement from Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt.
Earlier this month, Gov. Janet Mills, D-Maine, also jumped into the race, creating a competitive primary in the race to take on GOP Sen. Susan Collins in the general election next year.
Mills, 77, quickly faced questions about her age but told NBC News after she launched her campaign that she would commit to only serving one term.
She received the endorsement of Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., on Tuesday, who told reporters in Washington: “We think that Janet Mills is the best candidate to retire, Susan Collins. She’s a tested two-term governor, and the people of Maine have an enormous amount of affection and respect for her.”
