A Democratic candidate for the US Senate in Maine has apologised and eliminated a tattoo on his chest resembling a Nazi image that sparked backlash.
Graham Platner, a 41-year-old Marine Corps fight veteran and oyster farmer, mentioned he solely realised the skull-and-crossbones tattoo resembled Nazi imagery after listening to from “reporters and DC insiders”.
The tattoo was seen in a video posted on social media displaying Platner dancing in his underwear at his brother’s wedding ceremony.
“I completely wouldn’t have gone by means of life having this on my chest if I knew that – and to insinuate that I did is disgusting,” Platner mentioned in an announcement to the BBC. “I already had the tattoo coated with a brand new design.”
The tattoo seems to resemble the Totenkopf – German for “dying’s head”. The skull-and-crossbones image was utilized by Nazi forces throughout World Battle Two, based on the Anti-Defamation League.
Platner’s former political director, Genevieve McDonald, who resigned from his marketing campaign final week, known as the tattoo antisemitic.
“Possibly he did not comprehend it when he received it, however he received it years in the past and he ought to have had it coated up as a result of he is aware of rattling properly what it means,” she mentioned, based on US media experiences.
Platner, who’s operating in a crowded Democratic main to be his celebration’s nominee for the Senate seat held by Republican Susan Collins, mentioned he received the tattoo in Croatia along with his fellow Marines in 2007.
He mentioned they picked the picture off the parlour wall whereas consuming.
“We selected a terrifying wanting cranium and crossbones off the wall as a result of we had been marines and skulls and crossbones are fairly commonplace navy factor,” he mentioned.
Platner’s marketing campaign workforce mentioned that navy medical doctors had examined his tattoos and there have been by no means any points, as the Army does not allow people with tattoos with hate symbols to serve.
The controversy comes amid renewed scrutiny of his social media historical past.
A number of of Platner’s posts on Reddit he made years in the past resurfaced final week, together with remarks he made downplaying sexual assault within the navy and describing himself as a communist.
Platner, who has emphasised his background as a veteran and small enterprise proprietor, apologised in a video, saying he made the feedback after getting back from battle and affected by melancholy.
“It left me feeling very disillusioned, very alienated, and really remoted,” he mentioned. “And I feel, like lots of people, I went on the web to put up silly issues and get in fights and discover some type of neighborhood.”
Senator Bernie Sanders, one in every of Platner’s most distinguished supporters, defended him on Tuesday, saying the tattoo was chosen whereas he was inebriated.
“He isn’t the one one in America who has gone by means of a darkish interval,” Sanders mentioned. “Folks undergo that, he has apologized for the silly remarks, the hurtful remarks that he made, and I am assured that he’ll run an important marketing campaign and that he’ll win.”
