Maine Democrat Senate Candidate Claims He Got Nazi Tattoo While Drunk
Absolutely no respectable tattoo artist anywhere in the world would give a “very inebriated” person a tattoo.
I was not going to wade into this conversation until I saw that the candidate claimed he got the tattoo while “very inebriated.”
Graham Platner, a Democrat, wants to unseat Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME).
The Marine veteran has support from many Democrats, including Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT).
Well…a commotion started a few days ago when someone (I cannot remember who did it) revealed that Platner has a tattoo of the “Totenkopf,” an image adopted by Hitler’s SS.
A recently surfaced video shows Maine Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Graham Platner with a chest tattoo of the SS Totenkopf, the skull-and-crossbones emblem used by Nazi “Death’s Head” units.
Platner has stated he got the tattoo while drunk as a young Marine on shore leave in… pic.twitter.com/euH926eTgA
— Maine State Press (@MaineStatePress) October 21, 2025
Platner told the “Pod Save America” show that he got it 20 years ago while on leave in Croatia, when he was “very inebriated.”
I call absolute BS, and if it is true, then you’d better get tested for diseases because no legitimate tattoo artist in the world would ever tattoo a “very inebriated” person.
I have seven tattoos. I plan on getting two more before the year is over. Going clockwise: Smashing Pumpkins, Chicago Cubs, Slipknot, Alice in Chains & Jerry Cantrell’s autograph, Avenged Sevenfold, and Tool.
In America, you cannot have alcohol in your system.
The rest of the world? SAME. Yes, even in Croatia.
Platner is 41, which is three years younger than me, so I know this wasn’t “back in the day.”
Any respected tattoo artist will not give you a tattoo while drunk, let alone “very inebriated.”
First of all, when you are drunk, you cannot legally consent to any kind of body modification.
But more importantly, alcohol thins the blood. That could cause numerous complications, including excess bleeding during and after the process. My Tool tattoo bled quite a bit, and I don’t even drink!
Also…let’s talk about how people act when they’re drunk. You do not know how a person will act while intoxicated, which could lead to ssoooooo many problems.
It’s not only about your health. It’s about a liability.
Another thing…who has ever thought while drunk or not, “Hey, let’s go get a Nazi tattoo!”
One thing I’ve noticed about people when they’re drunk…that is when they’re the most honest.
Reactions
OMG, do you guys remember how the left freaked out over Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s Jerusalem Cross tattoo? White nationalist! Islamophobia!
Pete Hegseth and his Jerusalem Cross tattoo — “he’s a white nationalist!!”
Graham Platner and his Totenkopf tattoo — “This requires context and nuance”
— Sean Agnew (@seanagnew) October 22, 2025
Bernie Sanders, who is Jewish, has no problem with the tattoo or with any other comments Platner has made about rape and black people not tipping.
What a fraud Bernie Sanders has proven himself to be. https://t.co/Ykllgnyeug
— Charles C. W. Cooke (@charlescwcooke) October 21, 2025
Ah so we’re worried about “fascism” when it comes to everything except people with literal Nazi tattoos
Weird https://t.co/VDiIeTN3a2
— Sunny (@sunnyright) October 21, 2025
Also this is a fucking insane take https://t.co/VDiIeTN3a2 pic.twitter.com/sNIgJUOxld
— Sunny (@sunnyright) October 21, 2025
Just so we’re clear on the standard Bernie Sanders is setting for senators now: Nazi tattoos and blaming rape victims is now OK https://t.co/iVUH6kMR9H
— Peter J. Hasson (@peterjhasson) October 21, 2025
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Comments
“I did it while I was drunk” is no way to go through life, son.
Probably and I’m sure he is the only Marine in history to get drunk on liberty and get a tattoo he later regrets when he sobers up. Croatia isn’t Miami Beach. Pay the money you get the tat if they have to pour you into the chair. I don’t fault him for the tattoo I have many questions about his later statements and social media posts.
I am a bit confused why there’s any surprise at the lack of condemnation from d/prog and legacy media re actual, real life Neo Nazis. Does the Azov brigade ring any bells? Heck their neo Nazi leader, Denys Prokopenko, was just promoted to become a Corps Commander by Zelensky.
Even if true, it shows a complete lack of judgement. And I don’t care if it’s 20 years ago. There is laser tattoo removal, yet he keeps it.
He got so so drunk that after 20 years he still too hungover to remove the tattoo.
Yeah. Anyone can believe that one, if they are a democrat.
If he wins – and this isn’t necessarily a campaign killer – note well that he wouldn’t be elected in spite of his moral shortcoming, he’d be elected full in the knowledge of those shortcomings.
he has a ton of local support where I am, even older hippies supporting him.
I’d say feed him to the oysters but they deserve better.
The democratic party and their media propagandists are beyond trash. Is there no bottom for them. Is there at least 1 democrat that will stand up and condemn this insanity. (This is a modern day analog to the story of Lot)
Ask the Left if they’ve yet excused Mel Gibson for a far less egregious situation.
…no legitimate tattoo artist in the world would ever tattoo a “very inebriated” person.
Oh Mary, you poor sweet summer child. Just because you have ethics, and adhere to principles you cannot assume that a Tattoo Artist -even one working for cash outside a military base in Croatia – must share them.
I know nothing about this guy, and I was Air Force and not a Marine, but I have to say from my experience, this is a very believable young drunk Marine story. A very believable young drunk Airman story? No comment there.
This is not an endorsement of the guy but I think there are probably better places to attack… say his ideas and not his appearance
That tattoo wasn’t tiny. It would have taken 10+ hours to ink it in. And the USMC would have taken him to the woodshed for it. His story is a lie.
By the looks of it I don’t think the “artist” was Rembrandt.
“no legitimate tattoo artist in the world would ever tattoo a “very inebriated” person.”
Yeah, it’s way harder to find one who would do that, than to find one that would happily give anybody who walks in a Nazi tattoo.
You don’t know much about Croatia, do you?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Holocaust_in_the_Independent_State_of_Croatia
Not a whole hell of a lot — but if I were interested in learning, it would have to be from a source OTHER than one I already know is willing to lie to me on political issues with every available turd of woke s*t on the list of Democrat talking points, because I’d be unable to sort truth from fiction.
Jesus you’re lazy. Instead of dismissing my source as automatically untrue, you could have dome 39 seconds worth of research of your own.
The Croatians loved (and still love) the Nazis. Getting a Nazi tattoo in Croatia is probably easier than getting Mom and a heart.
“WORLD WAR II IN YUGOSLAVIA
In April 1941, Yugoslavia was attacked and dismembered by the German, Italian, Bulgarian, and Hungarian armies, each of which occupied or annexed different parts of the state. The Axis partners also sanctioned a new fascist ally, the Independent State of Croatia, whose territory included most of what is today Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina. The Croatian state was run by the Ustashas, radical right Croat nationalists who introduced a racial and genocidal campaign similar to the one in Nazi Germany, targeting groups they deemed racial ”others”—Jews, Roma, and Serbs—as well as political enemies.
Perhaps you’ll accept the National World War II Museum as a source? If not, I can’t help you, not that I care much about doing that.
https://www.nationalww2museum.org/war/articles/conflict-post-war-yugoslavia
I’m former Airborne and I can confirm there are more than a few soldiers that got tattoos while drunk egged on by their buddies they later regret. There is a reason every military base has parlours right outside the gates
Man, just own up to it and quit using an excuse so lame that even Joe Biden would not use.
Tattoo removal is relatively cheap compared to a public relations specialist
“no legitimate tattoo artist in the world would ever tattoo a “very inebriated” person”
So you’re saying the world is full of illegitimate tattoo artists? Huh! Who knew?
That’s not clockwise, Mary.
Well, there is more than a little overlap between the Schutzstaffel and modern Democrats; anti-Semitism, the Fuhrerprinzip, etc. I can see why Platner did not think of maybe having it removed before announcing his run, and why the Democrat party also did not bring that up to him.
Subotai Bahadur
Most of the tattoo parlors around Camp LeJeune were right next to bars. It was not unusual for someone in my unit to wake up on Monday with a bandage over a new tat. If the it got infected in the field then it all depended on if you were liked and respected by your command on what would happen to you.
Huh! You reminded me of a family story I had forgotten!
A perennially amoral cousin I grew up with joined the Navy around 1970 to escape family friction. It wasn’t long before he woke up one morning with a tattoo he had gotten while drunk. He hated it. Swore he’d never do something so stupid again. Within a month, he had done it again. This one DID get infected. Arm blew up like a balloon animal. His commander had already pegged him for a f*up, so he got a general medical discharge and was back home before his porridge cooled.
But it wasn’t a Nazi tattoo. At least, I don’t remember it being.
You are dead wrong about getting tattoos. I used to do a midday 5-mile run at lunch with a former professional football player. I was very surprised to see ridiculous tattoos on his buttocks the first time we showered afterward in the gym. I kept mum about it, but one night, after a few drinks, he told me the whole team got incredibly drunk one night and they all ended up in tattoo parlor daring each other to get stupid tattoos. Young men do stuff like this, and tattoo artists are seldom mistaken for Presbyterian ministers.
So after he woke up and was no longer inebriated, why didn’t he get it removed?
Ok Millhouse com and defend him
Because up till now it wasn’t a priority as it was on his chest not on his forehead. Dude is a POS communist but cut a marine some slack
A democrat nazi vs a democrat posing as a republican. Great choices, Maine.
I can see from the comments few have served overseas and none as Marines.
Are you implying this guy didn’t eat enough crayons or consumed too many and that’s the cause for getting (and keeping) this particular tattoo?
No. I’m flat out saying active duty of any branch do stupid things both here and abroad after a night of drinking with their buddies. The claptrap about “no legitimate tattoo artist in the world” shows such breathtaking naivety that I almost spewed my coffee laughing. I absolutely not only believe his story about just thinking it looked like a cool skull and crossbones but also he and none of his buddies knew what it was. I dare you to show that to people at random and will bet my house 90% plus will have no idea what it is. As for why he didn’t get it taken off, hell IDK. Maybe because people didn’t clutch their pearls in instant outrage until a few years ago about everything under the sun? No one knew what it was so ignored it? I showed it to my wife who is college educated and has actually visited Dachau and she thought it was a MC thing.
Agreed that young service members do a great many dumbass things; they marry strippers, buy vehicles with payments+IN they can’t afford and yes get tattoos while drunk as Cooter.
The ‘Deaths Head’ or Totenkopf as a symbol of the Nazi SS isn’t at all obscure. Did many MC adopt it post WWII? Yep, but that doesn’t alter the Nazi SS affiliation nor excuse it. It certainly doesn’t excuse keeping it for two decades.. I find it hard to believe this guy didn’t at any point wonder what various meanings of his tattoo existed and if it might be objectionable. I’m through giving the benefit of the doubt for tattoos of symbols that have appeared in commercial films, on TV, in popular books, documentaries and are well within common public knowledge.
Is there such a thing as a respectable tattoo artist? Oh I realise not all are Yakuza or other underworld employees, but there’s still a huge difference between deplorable – to use Hillary’s term in a more appropriate context, and respectable.
Also, tool as a tattoo? Just why?
tool (tuːl)
n
7. (Anatomy) slang another word for penis
8. informal a stupid, irritating, or contemptible man
[Old English tōl; related to Old Norse tōl weapon, Old English tawian to prepare; see taw2]
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014
Presumably the intent behind the tool tattoo is something different to the dictionary definition above, but it strikes me as a bizarre choice!!!
It’s a band, dude.
I’m assuming that tattoo is referring to the band of the same name.
Scratch a liberal, reveal an anti-semite
At least he’s open about embracing what the D’s ideology has been all about all along.
Meh, probably not.
Probably just a stupid kid thinking, ‘Wow, that’ll make me look like somebody not to mess around with,”
Ig’nant fella probably didn’t even recognize where it was from when he chose it.
Hey, this past year, a German politician got indicted and fined for promising his constituents he would do “everything for Germany!” Turns out that was some sort of major Nazi slogan. He had no idea.
The phrase ‘those who cannot remember the past are doomed to repeat it’ comes to mind.