“Graham Platner is going to flip Maine and then actually deliver change for working people in the Senate.”
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Elizabeth Warren has endorsed the Democratic Senate candidate in Maine who is facing backlash over a past tattoo resembling a Nazi-linked symbol.
Graham Planeter received the Massachusetts senator’s endorsement this week. In a statement announcing her support, Warren said, “Graham Platner is going to flip Maine and then actually deliver change for working people in the Senate. He’s a combat veteran, an oyster farmer, and has inspired people with his populist agenda for a government on the side of working families––not the billionaires and giant corporations. Graham will fight every single day to make life better for the people of Maine in the United States Senate. I’m proud to endorse him.”
Platner welcomed the endorsement, saying, “Senator Warren has spent her career fighting those who use power and wealth to take advantage of working families. She’s been an inspiration and I look forward to working by her side in the Senate to take on Wall Street, monopolies, and the corruption in Washington.”
The democratic candidate has drawn scrutiny after it was revealed he previously had a tattoo resembling the Totenkopf, a skull emblem used by Nazi SS troops during World War II. He said he got the tattoo in 2007 while in Croatia with fellow members of the Marines and claimed he did not intend to get a Nazi symbol. The tattoo has since been covered.
The controversy, however, has persisted, as allegations have been raised that Platner was aware of the symbol’s meaning. He apologized for the tattoo last year, though in recent days he has walked back the apology by saying he did nothing wrong.
Warren’s endorsement comes despite her past criticism of Pete Hegseth over his Christian tattoos. Prior to his confirmation process last year, Warren cited concerns about Hegseth’s “Deus Vult” tattoo in a letter, writing, “You were also removed from President Biden’s inauguration because of concerns that you were an insider threat after reports that your ‘Deus Vult”’ tattoo ‘was a Christian expression associated with right-wing extremism.’ We cannot have a Defense Secretary whose fellow servicemembers feel concerned enough about to report as a potential insider threat.”
These concerns were in reference to a 2024 report that a National Guard master sergeant had raised questions about Hegseth’s tattoos. Hegseth, who also has a Jerusalem cross tattoo, defended the imagery during his confirmation hearing, noting that it is a “Christian religious symbol.”
“In fact, interestingly, recently I attended briefly the memorial ceremony of former President Jimmy Carter, on the floor of our national cathedral, on the front page of his program was the very same Jerusalem Cross,” Hegseth pointed out at the time.
Despite her condemnation of Hegseth’s Christian tattoos and claims that they are actually symbols of extremism, Warren appears to have no issues endorsing a candidate who once had a Nazi symbol on his chest. She told the Huffington Post, “Look, he has apologized for that, and he’s out there talking to the people of Maine every single day.”
