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Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner says nobody ever told him the large SS-Totenkopf tattoo he's had on his chest for the last 18 years is a Nazi symbol (www.notus.org)
submitted 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) by cypherpunks@lemmy.ml to c/nottheonion@lemmy.world
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[–] KnitWit@lemmy.world 38 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (2 children)

But according to a person who socialized with Platner when he was living in Washington, D.C., more than a decade ago, Platner had specifically acknowledged that the tattoo was a Totenkopf, the "death's head" symbol adopted by an infamous Nazi SS unit that guarded concentration camps in World War II.

"He said, 'Oh, this is my Totenkopf," the former acquaintance told Jewish Insider recently, speaking on the condition of anonymity to address a sensitive issue. "He said it in a cutesy little way."

The exchange occurred in 2012 at Tune Inn, a popular dive on Capitol Hill where Platner later worked as a bartender and was a frequent patron while he attended The George Washington University on the G.I. bill, according to the former acquaintance. He would often take his shirt off drinking with friends late at night at the bar, and on at least one occasion had stated he knew what the tattoo represented, the former acquaintance recalled.

Platner gave varying accounts of the image during this time, saying at one point he was aware it was a Totenkopf when he had first gotten the tattoo several years prior and at another time claiming he had not known, according to the former acquaintance.

The mixed accounts indicate that Platner has at least long been aware of the symbols's connection to Nazism, even as he said in the podcast interview he was not familiar with any such association when he chose to get the tattoo.

The source for this is Jewish Insider, which I’m sure people will say whatever they are going to say about that, but at some point this guys multiple red flags need to be taken as a pattern.

Dude has a very clear pattern of making questionable choices in the most favorable reading of circumstances. His former campaign manager said this when resigning over Grahams past comments:

“The words we choose to use online reflect who we are and what we stand for. While I am empathetic to Graham’s experiences and respect his personal journey and growth, I cannot overlook the volume and nature of his past comments, many of which were made as an adult, not as a young man.” McDonald said in her resignation letter.

Y’all need to stop apologizing for this guy and start looking for a better candidate to get behind so it isn’t Janet Mills in the general.

[–] FatCrab@slrpnk.net 5 points 3 days ago

Man, this is all a deep bummer. I've only been very tangentially paying attention to this race and was excited to see a candidate gaining a lot of momentum and with a lot of messaging i could generally get behind who could replace Susan shitfuck Collins. But, whoof, I dunno if I've ever experienced such a sudden and complete collapse of any interest in or support at all for a candidate in my life.

[–] sobchak@programming.dev 2 points 3 days ago (2 children)

Hmm, looks like he was prejudice 10 years ago, and perhaps a white supremacist before that. But, he called rural-whites racist more recently (and they definitely are more racist in aggregate), so looks like his POV changed. IDK, that seems fine to me.

[–] KnitWit@lemmy.world 41 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (1 children)

He has a nazi tattoo on his chest. Not, he got a nazi tattoo when he was young and drunk and didn’t know and as soon as he found out he got that shit covered up. He, to this day, has a Totenkopf tattoo. For the people in the back:

ANY CANDIDATE WITH A NAZI TATTOO IS A NON-STARTER.

Edit: Robert Evans sums it up well on Bluesky

i liked how Platner was campaigning and I am prepared to believe a young marine could make literally any stupid mistake. but I don't believe a guy could spend twenty years maturing politically the way he has and not know what a death's head means

if his attitude from the jump has been "I did this as a kid and have been ashamed of it since, it was a terrible mistake" I don't think I'd mind. but he's just not being honest here and that's suspicious as hell.

[–] Rekorse@sh.itjust.works 1 points 3 days ago

So if he attacks people you think are sub-human, hes a good candidate?