Graham Platner confronted on controversial tattoo in MS NOW back-and-forth

Maine Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner was confronted about his controversial tattoo throughout an interview on MS NOW on Saturday.

Elise Jordan of MS NOW continued Platner a CNN KFile investigation who claimed he had beforehand acknowledged the which means of his tattoo – recognized because the ‘third Panzer’, a Nazi navy unit linked to focus camps – regardless of publicly claiming he was unaware of its which means. Jordan cited Reddit posts that appeared to indicate Platner discussing and justifying the image, saying they contradicted his story.

“Are you able to reply to KFiles, CNN, to the large investigation they did that confirmed you knew the which means of your tattoo – the ‘third Panzer’, the unit that ran the focus camps?” Jordan requested. “Fairly notorious. You realize, in the event you get a Nazi tattoo, it is really the worst you’ll be able to have. However you stated you did not know what it was. However then they’ve all this documentation of you on Reddit, speaking about what it’s and justifying it by some means.”

Platner denied the accusation, calling it “essentially unfaithful.” He stated the tattoo was meant as a skull-and-crossbones image representing his service within the Marine Corps, which he acquired whereas deployed with fellow Marines in Croatia.

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U.S. Senate candidate Graham Platner speaks at a city corridor in Ogunquit, Maine on October 22, 2025. (Sophie Park/Getty Photographs)

“I went ashore in Croatia with a bunch of different Marines. We had been machine gunners. We had served two deployments collectively and we needed to get a cranium and crossbones collectively to signify our time within the Marine Corps. That is what we acquired,” Platner stated.

Platner stated he was later cleared by the State Division to guard the ambassador to Afghanistan and was screened for “hate and gang-related tattoos.”

“I have been taking my shirt off for 17 years, in entrance of my household, in entrance of buddies on the health club, it is by no means come up,” Platner stated. “Not till this.”

Platner’s marketing campaign shared a video with the “Pod Save Americapodcast in October through which Platner lip-synced to Miley Cyrus’ “Wrecking Ball” at his brother’s marriage ceremony a few decade in the past. Within the video, Platner is shirtless and seems to have a cranium tattoo on his chest that resembles the Totenkopf, a logo utilized by Adolf Hitler’s SS.

Jordan pressed Platner over a Reddit thread commenting on the Totenkopf emblem.

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Graham Platner, a Democratic candidate for Senate in Maine, was confronted about his controversial tattoo on MS NOW on January 31, 2026. (MS NOW/TheWeekendPrimetime)

Platner stated his feedback weren’t about his tattoo however about Marine Corps snipers, noting that the imagery was as soon as widespread inside that group.

‘The Marine Corps has rightly taken robust motion in opposition to it, as a result of it does not look good. And scout snipers as of late do not get that. However after I was within the Marine Corps, it was standard amongst scout snipers,” he stated.

CNN’s KFile reported in October that the Democratic Senate candidate’s feedback on Reddit, alongside an interview with an acquaintance of Platner’s, contradicted his unique declare that he solely not too long ago realized concerning the tattoo’s ties to Nazism.

Throughout an interview with the “Pod Save America” ​​podcast in October, Platner stated he was not a secret Nazi.

Graham Platner factors out a lined tattoo that was beforehand a picture acknowledged as a Nazi image throughout an interview on Wednesday in Portland, Maine. (WGME through AP)

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“I am not a secret Nazi,” Platner stated. “In the event you learn my feedback on Reddit, I feel you’ll be able to type of perceive the place I stand in the case of Nazism and racism on the whole. I might say: a lifelong opponent.”

Platner additionally recognized himself as a “communist” in years of posts on Reddit. The Democratic Senate candidate stated they had been simply “web posts.”

Members of the Democratic Social gathering usually examine President Donald Trump’s administration, and particularly their deportation efforts, to Nazi Germany.

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Many have in contrast ICE brokers to Nazis. Late-night host Stephen Colbert urged on his present final week that ICE brokers is likely to be worse than Nazis as a result of Nazis had been keen to indicate their faces.

Fox Information’ Lindsay Kornick contributed to this report.