thanks for speaking up!

a progressive and a unconventional candidate who helped upend the establishment choice, (and the centrist candidate) Mills, to the point where she ended her campaign. For that Platner earned a lot of ire from certain quarters.

I think Mills and Platner were and are both flawed (Mills more than Platner IMHO, she took multiple poor actions as governor, made multiple choices that are unpopular within our Party), but, barring some freakish outcome, Platner will be our standard bearer against the ratfucker Collins. I hope he comes down on that lying, snide POS Concern Collins like a tonne of bricks and wins the seat.

many years ago that apparently relates to a symbol used by Nazis makes you a Nazi if you've never espoused any Nazi principles. I don't live in Maine so the decision isn't mine to make, but I don't want a Nazi in the Senate and I wanted to know if he is one. I would expect a true Nazi to say Nazi things but AFAIK Platner hasn't said any Nazi things.

Heading of NYT opinion piece by Michelle Goldberg. Good read on this question.

https://archive.is/gMNpr

I have seen a great deal on this. This is just one example that Collins would use against Platner in a general election campaign.

Link to tweet

running for public office.
As far as I am concerned, it shows bad judgement.

Nothing says he's been doing it recently.

He has been doing it during the marriage. So what are you talking about? What's recent to you?

I can't fault someone for sexting in general, but obviously doing it outside of your partner while married is gross and I wonder why their relationship survived.

But compared to his other problems like the tattoo and his misogynistic posts, still using retarded as a slur, and associating with antisemitic YouTube people, the sexting is minor. Guy doesn't seem like he makes great decisions.

And now he is running for sainthood, so it appears.

doesn't count.
Good to know.

Unlike any other candidate that ever had marriage problems or showed poor judgement in his PERSONAL life. And if that were the case, we'd have trouble finding enough saints to run for office.


But it's Platner, who is a " direct threat to the US- Israel relationship" (AIPAC's words, not mine), so all of a sudden some democrats are rediscovering their moral outrage at personal peccadillos that they usually, for anyone else, recognize as none of their business.

he has an unusual amount of Teflon! I can't think of many Democrats who would have been given a pass on those.

JFC

Thanks for posting.

WTF is going on up there, do they do ANY vetting at all?

who called Mary (mother of Jesus) a "skank", voted for Collins three times, did not vote for Biden in 2020 and did not vote for Harris in 2024, posted that he enlisted in the Marines to have an adventure and "kill people", falsely claimed that he bought his house with a VA mortgage when his rich father gave him the money, and *accidentally* had a Nazi tattoo on his chest for more than a decade, a fact that we know because he likes to buffoon around in public with his shirt off.

------------------------------------------------

Now for the question at hand: Did the high powered consultants and influencers who astroturfed his campaign vet him? It's possible that the answer is "yes" and equally possible that they didn't care.

Did everybody on his team know about his history at the outset of the campaign? Probably not. Three high level campaign staffers resigned in October 2025 when the stories started breaking. Platner required NDA agreements going forward.

There will be three Democratic candidates on the ranked choice ME ballot on June 9. Platner is only one of them.

but only because of the current state of media affairs"?

sounds like a high risk to go full Fetterman/Sinema if they were to get in office.

Link to tweet

I myself have gone to a tattoo shop, looked at all the skull designs, and picked one, without researching the history of each skull design. I wasn't born until 1962, I don't know all of the nazi symbolism, I sure never heard of a totenkopf before this story broke. His story makes sense to me, especially when his social media history has many mentions of how he hates nazis.

NT

But I did watch his wife's video, she says it's a non-issue. She feels betrayed by the former friend/campaign worker who blabbed.

She didn't think his sexting was going to come out? He is running for senate, last time I checked.
If you don't want your behavior scrutinized, it's not a good idea to run for prominent public office.

I've always said, if you want your life private, don't run for public office.

Why didn't he cover it up years ago?

If you got a Nazi tattoo without realizing it, would you not want it gone?

he knew what he was doing with the tattoo.

My concern (yes it’s a concern but more a curiosity since I usually only notice him here) — where is his criticism of Bush/Cheney?? He fought and reenlisted in their phony wars, saw his comrades and peers die for nothing, yet his most vocal and consistent messaging is against Democrats. Things don’t add up.

Edit: maybe there is something from him that criticizes specifically Bush/Cheney. I would be curious to see it.

Link to tweet

own dialogue that would indicate his awareness that Bush/Cheney were responsible for the war and lied to make it happen. It would seem he would be conversant in their deceptive policies. He seems very wordy with his criticism of Democrats.

I don't know why you assume he hasn't, when a quick search would prove your assumption wrong.

Oh well, perhaps its just the latest talking point about Platner. I'm sure he'll have the kitchen sink thrown at him too eventually.

When Cheney died, Platner posted a video. Partial transcript:

Link to tweet

someone criticizes Democrats more than Republicans who started an evil and phony war.

And his main criticism is about Susan Collins.

Fail.

Do you expect to see his opinions as a private citizen written up in the NYT?

What? Main criticism is about Susan Collins? Did you miss this part he said about CHENEY?

"...the only legacy that we have to remember is that he wasted thousands of young American lives, hundreds of thousands of Iraqi lives, and trillions of dollars for absolutely nothing.”

Maybe that's why he had no criticism of them? and he enlisted and reenlisted in the wars. He was vocal about some things in his past that he's been opinionated about, but not about Bush/Cheney, apparently. I guess that's the way of former Republicans?? All his past Reddit comments are surfacing. There is more to the world than the New York Times, lol. Some people compare words with actions. Welcome to politics.

Edit: and he pivoted right to Collin’s as a campaign ad.

You didn't want him to use the opportunity of Cheney's death to attack Collins by linking the two? Is he not supposed to attack Collins?

He just can't do anything right in your view - even when he's doing EXACTLY what a democratic candidate is supposed to do. Why is that?

Platner had no formal Republicam affiliation. Did he say he was a Republican on Reddit, is that where this latest talking point on him is coming from?

Could you please point me to a citation? Reddit post? Any reference or evidence that he was a Republican at all? Many thanks in advance.

this site, but you sure can ruminate all about AIPAC in relation to him in another post. It's not believable that you don't even know about his Reddit posts and you can't recall ever seeing anything at all about the content of those.

I think we're done here. Your so-called questions are just disingenuous, sorry.

Not even one source to verify your claim he was a Republican?

Yup, we're done.

If you are not conversant with his past, then that’s on you. You sure seem to know plenty about him in your other posts, including an AIPAC obsession. Bye now .

In a wide-ranging interview, Platner addressed the scandals that have engulfed his campaign and said he’s “very proud of who I am today” after the “arcs and valleys” of his life. He inveighed against “establishment politics,” dished on his tense relationship with national Democratic leaders, made the case that he’s more “electable” than Democratic Gov. Janet Mills and explained why he went from voting for Republican Sen. Susan Collins years ago to viewing her as an empty vessel today.


snip

Platner said he has “voted for Susan Collins at least once, possibly twice” but “it was a long time ago” — as the 72-year-old incumbent closes in on 30 years in the Senate.



“I also believed back then that she was a moderate. As time has gone by, I don’t believe that. I think that’s a charade, and it’s worn thin,” he said. “I see Collins as, frankly, just another self-interested, establishment politician who uses this kind of myth of their moderation to stay in power, but doesn’t really do anything with their power. She’s the chair of the Appropriations Committee. I was told for years that when she got the gavel, there was going to be a boon of riches for the state of Maine. That is not materializing.”

snip

In one of his posts, Platner wrote, “I got older and became a communist.” He said he has never considered himself to be a communist and that the comment was merely “internet s---posting — and also … if you read it’s very clear that I’m joking.”




https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2026-election/graham-platner-controversies-maine-senate-campaign-rcna240367

......................................

I originally posted this here:

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100221177331



................................................

He voted for her once.....maybe twice and that makes it most of his adult life since a Senator runs every 6 years.

Voting for a candidate does not legally make you a member of that party.

In Maine, it's not unheard of for Democrats to have voted for Susan Collins, the snake that she is presenting herself as a "moderate" - while voting for a Democrat for President.

Thanks for this but I'll still wait for someone to convince me with facts that he was a Republican. Like a public record of his voter registration.

Until then, I'll believe that it's a baseless accusation, one of many against him.

I didn't read these posts until way later. I just wanted to say thanks because I've run into the same thing on here where people will make a claim and swear on the holy Bible that it's true but will not under any circumstances provide you with a clip or article or post or whatever else is supposed to back up their claim. Just seems like they're full of shit

Read post 107

Then when out joined Blackwater to get back into it?
wierd

Or maybe pandering.

I really don't like this at all... i'm still kind of baffled at Mills and Platner are really all the Democratic Party could offer up for this race?

but regardless, i got one guy with a Nazi tattoo he says he didn't know about its meaning, and i got one women that has supported actual Nazi policies. so to me the choice here is pretty obvious, and I hope it is to Mainers as well.

My deeper fear is that we are walking right into another Manchin/Sinema/Fetterman trap and this guy is going to derail our agenda before if ever even starts if we actually manage to win the Senate. But nothing can be done about that because we already KNOW Collins is horrible.

Why isn't anyone talking about him?

https://www.costelloforsenate.com/

is getting so much attention because he is a controversial candidate. That's rather depressing.

or altered, any decent tatoo parlor could have done that. Indeed, many tattoo artists willingly donate to prisons top wipe out nazi tattoos

https://astanzalaser.com/three-reasons-tattoo-artists-love-laser-tattoo-removal/

Only question that matters, really.

Otherwise we get someone who does not do that.

Question answered.

I don't vote in that state, anyhow. Do you?

being a Floridian but to me the most discerning thing about his candidacy is him dishonoring a fellow veteran and not apologizing for it.

That shows immaturity and an underling rage.

Since their respective GOP and Dem candidates are Collins and Platner, the decision is binary (which includes not voting at all). Their Senator will be one or the other. We know what Collins is like. We know Platner has (or had) a tattoo of a symbol associated with Nazis. Seems to me that the more important issue is whether Platner himself is a Nazi, and whether he has ever said anything suggesting he sympathizes or agrees with Nazi principles. I'll have to leave that up to the voters in Maine to look into.

NT

Is highly problematic but his sexist texts and things he has posted really matter to those of us who were born without a penis.

How many red flags are enough red flags?

I have posted about this elsewhere after watching the video. Something is off about it and that is all I will say on this board.

I wish Maine had nominated someone better. (on both tickets - it would be so nice to be able to choose between two excellent candidates for a change)

But I damned sure know which one is better for Maine and America. And it ain't the concerned doormat for the Rapist Felon Party.

Those names keep popping into my head right now for some odd reason.

I want to keep up with the new value system.

It should be "Sexual pervert bad. Nazi good." ⁉️⁉️⁉️

Yes both are bad.

People with a moral core know that.

Seriously, a barbed wire band on her bicep?

The woman is a sitting Senator and she has a Bugs Bunny tattooed on her lower back.

The indiginity.

murder, kidnapping, larceny and corruption and saying nothing. Not even that she was concerned.

Maine voters will have to pick their poison or stay home. There are no sparkling candidates in this race.

Sexting with multiple women while newly married? Check.
Nazi tattoo? Check.
That's perfection right there.

I'd argue that losing to Trump was dispositive. I voted for Harris and Walz, but we lost every swing state.

Some folks think we weren't left enough. I won't go into a discussion about what is truly left and what is just performative. But some folks want to try what they think of as left and take it further. It looks like that's what we're going to try.

The good thing is, we'll have the result of that experiment after the midterms. I don't want to lose 2028. If we don't do very well in the midterms, that means the people who think of their definition of left as being the left and who got less than stellar results need to take a back seat and hand the mic to others as a matter of duty to the Democratic Party.

If we do exceedingly well in the midterms and win both Houses of Congress, then the people have spoken, and I'll accept that. Let the experiment be run.

AIPAC just mad he isn't beholden to Israel and Epstein's billionaire backers.

So as we see everywhere on media, all hands on deck, guns drawn and knives out.

If Platner survives, AIPAC and the Epstein class will have a well-deserved fit. Can't wait.

That Platner put on his body when he was an
a naivé / ignorant young man.

How come no one is criticizing the drunkard / accused rapist, dishonorable, and the so-called Department of War's Secretary Pete Hegseth?

Pete Hegseth proudly shows his Nazi tattoos and then he identifies them and insists that they are only his “Christian” tattoos.

So Democrats don’t you fall into the Republicans' trap when we all well know that in reality these MAGA NAZIS.
Are the obnoxious members of the Pedo in Chief’s Nazi KKKult who attacked the Capitol Building and now they are asking for
“Reparation Money.”

Their KKK leader TyrantTraitorPedoTrump
is asserting currently the following:
👇🏻
“My followers all suffered systemic
Injustice, Political Prosecution, and
Government “Lawfare.”

for sec of Defense.

I was referring to the tattoos on Graham Platner’s body that he got, as a young and
naive man.
Which to my knowledge, nowadays he has covered -up with a new design of a Celtic
A dog and a cross.

On the contrary, the drunkard and alleged rapist
Pete Hegseth is still proudly showing his Nazi tattoos. Because he claims that his tattoos are “Christian” tattoos.

PS
It is my conviction that a self-identified Christian Nationalist like Pete Hegseth is an extremely dangerous individual in our society.

"How come no one is criticizing the drunkard / accused rapist, dishonorable, and the so-called Department of War's Secretary Pete Hegseth?"

As I responded many did criticize pete as no Democrat voted for him.

My warm greetings to you from Miami.

The dead are dead and will never be un-dead, I can do nothing about that. Preventing future atrocities is my goal, and that lies with getting Repugs out of office, every single one, no matter how undesirable or flawed the Democrat replacing them is.

And as I have neither a time machine nor an ability to dictate how Mainers vote, he's the fucking nominee now. Work with it, or quietly get the fuck out of the way.

NT

Those people can show an example where that has ever happened if they want anyone else to believe that. Meanwhile the rest can continue to deal with the world as it is, not how they might wish it to be.

"Those people" lol.

The primary cake is baked.

I'm not saying I like it. I'm not saying anyone has to like it. But let's cut the pie-in-the-sky crap and deal with reality: he's winning the primary, and the choice now is to have that seat for Dems or have that seat for Repugs.

That's all I have to say about this.

if he's nominated.

I guess that's really the point.

you will be very happy that Susan Collins loses.

He’s had plenty of opportunity to remove it or change it into something else.

Facts contradict the distaste people have for past behaviors. None of that now!

Utilized by neo-Nazis and white supremacist groups.

It is never a good sign when your political director resigns

Link to tweet

Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner has stated that his former chest tattoo, which resembled a Nazi Totenkopf or SS skull emblem, was an innocent mistake. He explained he chose the design as a 20-something Marine in Croatia in 2007 during a night of drinking, assuming it was just a typical skull and crossbones

He might have done it many years ago, but he didn't cover it for many years either. And by the way, 30 years ago he was 11.
He didn't do it 30 years ago.

He's 41.

There are dangerous Nazis out there: Netanyahu, Ben-Gvir, Smotrich, Daniella Weiss, etc. Maybe we should go after them instead of funding them.

But yea, likely it was more.

I think it was a marine tough guy tattoo.

I never saw that particular skull design in any tattoo they wore.

It does match the skull insignia that was on every SS member's cap and was on the collar tab of concentration camp guards.

You, of course, are entitled to your own opinion.

Since he is the likely nominee for the Senate I'll take his explanation at face value and there's nothing else really to do. As far as his campaigning he is campaigning as an anti-racist. The Republicans have Nazi values without the tattoos though some have them like Hegseth but with Hegseth it is his current actions that show he is not a good person with or without the tattoos.

Platner whether you like him or not has done the hard work it takes to win a statewide election by declaring early and doing town halls all over the state the entire election cycle and it shows why he still has a lead over Susan Collins and is the likely winner of the Democratic primary despite the scandals.