Graham Platner: The Democratic candidate who generated scandal for his tattoo with Nazi symbology and violent publications

Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner tried again to settle the controversy over his tattoo resembling a Nazi symbol, asserting Wednesday that he had covered it up with another image.

His campaign first said it would remove the image, which appears to be a symbol of the Schutzstaffel (SS), a Nazi paramilitary group in charge of internal persecutions and concentration camps. However, Platner argued that in his rural area in Maine, which he aspires to represent, removing the tattoo was going to "take a while."

So he opted for the quicker route of covering it up: "I wanted this thing off my body," he argued in conversation with AP. The tattoo became known in recent days with the dissemination of a video of the political novice without a shirt during the wedding of his brother, by his own admission.

Platner gave several interviews to try to dispel doubts and reject accusations. "I am not a secret Nazi," he assured in conversation with the podcast of former employees of Barack Obama Pod Save America, which first released the images.

The Democrat maintained that he got the tattoo when, in his 20s, he was in Croatia with the Marine Corps. He was drunk with some buddies at a tattoo parlor and they chose "a terrifying looking skull and crossbones… because we were Marines, and skull and crossbones are pretty standard military thing."

By his own admission, in the 20 years he had had the tattoo on his chest he had never received any questioning. Even when he enlisted in the Army or had to pass security clearances.

He further assured that he ignored its resemblance to a Nazi symbol until the controversy began to circulate.

'Oh, this is my Totenkopf'

"Graham has an anti-Semitic tattoo on his chest. He's not an idiot, he's a military history buff," argued his former political director, Genevieve McDonald. The adviser had resigned days earlier because of Platner's previous controversies.

McDonald admitted that while Platner may not have known the meaning of the tattoo when he decided to get it, "he got it years ago and he should have had it covered up because he knows damn well what it means."

The publication of the former adviser was picked up by Jewish Insider, media that also claims to have obtained the testimony of a witness to whom, ten years ago, Platner allegedly acknowledged that he knew the origin of the image.

The episode occurred according to the same in a bar in Washington, D.C. where the now candidate worked. Sometimes he would take off his shirt, according to the witness, revealing the tattoo. In one, he allegedly said, "Oh, this is my Totenkopf," alluding to the dead head, a symbol adopted by the SS of the concentration camps.

"He said it in a cutesy little way," the anonymous source added.

Past controversies

The compromising video was released while the candidate was submerged in another controversy over posts on Reddit. All were removed with the launch of his campaign in August.

"I'm a vegetable growing, psychedelics taking socialist these days. After the war, I've pretty much stopped believing in any of the patriotic nonsense that got me there in the first place, and am a firm believer that the best thing a person can do is help their neighbors and live a loving life. Still got the guns though, I don't trust the fascists to act politely," he wrote in a post retrieved by CNN.

In another, he replied to a user who had written that the cops were "bastards:" "All of them, in fact." "F*** these cops," he stated in another post, and in another about his time in service:

"My time in America’s imperial wars definitely radicalized me further, and I’m significantly more left today than I was back then. It is difficult to see all that horror, as well as all the grift and corruption, and not find the entire thing utterly bankrupt... I did used to love America, or at least the idea of it. These days I’m pretty disgusted by it all."

In posts compiled by Politico, Platner had written, "[People who] expect to fight fascism without a good semi-automatic rifle, they ought to do some reading of history." And also, "An armed working class is a requirement for economic justice."

"Get Armed, Get Organized. The Other Side Sure As Hell Is," he posted in yet another.

Democratic officeholders support the candidate

Figures such as Senator Bernie Sanders and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer avoided condemning the candidate's words. Sanders portrayed him as the strongest candidate in the primary to beat Republican Susan Collins, who has held the seat for 30 years.

A rival within the party, Jordan Wood, argued Wednesday that Platner should step aside because with his record he could not "condemn Trump’s actions with moral clarity."

The Democratic Party faces another similar controversy, arising at the same time from Democratic candidate for Virginia attorney general Jay Jones' remarks against Republican charges: