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Democratic Maine senate candidate Graham Platner was confronted about his controversial tattoo during an interview on MS NOW on Saturday.
MS NOW’s Elise Jordan pressed Platner on a CNN KFile investigation that alleged he previously acknowledged the meaning of his tattoo — identified as the “3rd Panzer,” a Nazi military unit linked to concentration camps — despite publicly claiming he was unaware of its significance. Jordan cited Reddit posts that appeared to show Platner discussing and justifying the symbol, saying they conflicted with his account.
“Could you respond to the KFiles, CNN, the big investigation they did that said you did know the meaning of your tattoo — the ‘3rd Panzer,’ the unit that ran the concentration camps?” Jordan asked. “Pretty notorious. You know, like if you’re going to have a Nazi tattoo, it’s like, basically, the worst one you could have. But you said you didn’t know what it was. But then they have all of this documentation of you on Reddit talking about what it is and somehow justifying it.”
Platner denied the allegation, calling it “fundamentally not true.” He said the tattoo was intended to be a skull-and-crossbones symbol representing his Marine Corps service, which he got while deployed in Croatia with fellow Marines.
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“I went ashore in Croatia with a bunch of other Marines. We were machine gunners. We’d served two deployments together, and we wanted to get a skull and crossbones together to represent our time in the Marine Corps. That’s what we got,” Platner said.
Platner said he was later cleared by the State Department to protect the ambassador for Afghanistan and was screened for “hate and gang-related tattoos.”
“I’ve been taking my shirt off for 17 years, in front of my family, in front of friends at the gym, all the -, it’s never once came up,” Platner said. “Not until this.
Platner’s campaign shared a video with the “Pod Save America” podcast in October that showed Platner lip-syncing to Miley Cyrus’ “Wrecking Ball” at his brother’s wedding about a decade ago. In the video, Platner is shirtless and appears to have a skull tattoo on his chest that resembles the “Totenkopf, a symbol used by Adolf Hitler’s SS.
Jordan pressed Platner about a Reddit thread in which he commented on the Totenkopf emblem.
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Platner said his comments were not about his tattoo, but about Marine Corps scout snipers, noting the imagery was once common within that community.
“The Marine Corps cracked down on it, rightfully so, because it’s not a good look. And scout snipers don’t get that today. But when I was in the Marine Corps, it was popular among scout snipers,” he said.
CNN’s KFile reported in October that the Democratic senate candidate’s comments on Reddit, in addition to an interview with an acquaintance of Platner, contradicted his original claim that he only recently learned about the tattoo’s ties to Nazism.
During an interview with the “Pod Save America” podcast in October, Platner said that he was not a secret Nazi.
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“I am not a secret Nazi,” Platner said. “Actually, if you read through my Reddit comments, I think you can pretty much figure out where I stand on Nazism and racism in general. I’d say a lifelong opponent.”
Platner also identified himself as a “communist” in years-old Reddit posts. The Democratic senate candidate said it was merely “internet s—posting.”
Members of the Democratic Party regularly compare President Donald Trump’s administration, specifically their deportation efforts, to Nazi Germany.
Many have compared ICE agents to Nazis. Late-night host Stephen Colbert suggested during his show last week that ICE agents might be worse than Nazis because Nazis were willing to show their faces.
Fox News’ Lindsay Kornick contributed to this report.
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