Minnesota Governor Tim Walz is heading to Maine to campaign for Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner, who wore a Nazi SS skull tattoo on his chest for nearly two decades—just months after Walz declared Elon Musk a Nazi sympathizer over a disputed gesture at a rally.
The Double Standard on Nazi Imagery
Walz told MSNBC that Musk “of course” gave a Nazi salute at a January rally, dismissing any debate as exhausting spin. Now he’s booking flights to support Platner, a Marine veteran and oyster farmer who had the Totenkopf—the SS skull and crossbones the Anti-Defamation League links directly to Nazi iconography—tattooed on his chest. Platner only covered it up after reporters started asking questions about the symbol he’d worn since 2007.
A former staffer told Jewish Insider that Platner didn’t just wear the tattoo—he referred to it by its German name. Platner claims he got it drunk in Croatia and had no idea what it meant. When reporters discovered it, he rushed to a local tattoo shop for a cover-up because laser removal wasn’t available nearby. He went on local TV, took his shirt off, showed the new design, and moved on.
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Democratic Establishment Falls in Line
Senator Bernie Sanders endorsed Platner despite the controversy, calling him stronger than Governor Janet Mills and saying he “went through a dark period.” Mills entered the race with Chuck Schumer’s backing as the electable alternative but suspended her campaign yesterday due to lack of funds without endorsing Platner. The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee immediately pledged to work with “the presumptive Democratic nominee Graham Platner” to defeat incumbent Susan Collins.
Old Reddit posts surfaced showing Platner dismissing military sexual assault, questioning Black patrons’ tipping habits, and using homophobic slurs. His former political director quit publicly, saying Platner “knows damn well” what the tattoo means. None of it knocked him out of the race.
Republicans Ready to Weaponize the Issue
Collins is already using the tattoo against Platner. Responding to Schumer-aligned attack ads, she said Chuck’s approach is “like trying to cover up an outrageous tattoo. You can paint over it, but we all know what’s underneath.” Maine’s independents make up 36 percent of the electorate, more than either party. All the damaging material on Platner so far has come from Democrats. Republicans say they haven’t started yet. Walz spent months making Nazi imagery a defining moral issue and drew a hard line he dared anyone to disagree with. Then he chose Platner’s stage.
