Democrats And Their Wanna Be Senator With Nazi Symbols?

 Nadene Goldfoot                                         

Graham Platner, the Democratic nominee running for U.S. Senate in Maine.                  

                            Also called Death's Head, "Totenkopf" is German for "death's head" or skull and typically refers to a skull-and-crossbones image.

                                                  

Graham Cunningham Platner (born September 1, 1984)

He faced national backlash and intense scrutiny on CNN regarding a skull-and-crossbones chest tattoo that critics and reporters pointed out closely resembled a Nazi SS Totenkopf symbol.    Graham Platner, a military veteran, oyster farmer, and the Democratic nominee running for U.S. Senate in Maine. He made national headlines when a tattoo on his chest, which resembled a Nazi "Totenkopf" (death's head) symbol, surfaced on social media,   seeking to challenge incumbent Republican senator Susan Collins. From 2011 to 2016 he alternated between living in DC and military deployments, before withdrawing from GWU and returning to Maine in 2016 for treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder and other military-related injuries.In 2018, Platner returned to Kabul, Afghanistan, for about six months as a State Department security contractor with Constellis, where he provided diplomatic security to the US Ambassador to Afghanistan. He returned to Maine the same year, saying he had quickly grown more disillusioned with the military and what he called fraudulent funneling of taxpayer money to private defense companies Wikipedia                            

    Our man looks at his chest each morning and what does he see?  This tattoo?  And it revs him up?  

Key details regarding the controversy:

• The Tattoo: Platner, a Marine Corps veteran, stated he got the tattoo in 2007 while deployed and was unaware of the historical Nazi association until it was recently brought to his attention by the media. CNN and Jewish Insider reported that an anonymous former acquaintance of Platner's claimed that Platner was aware of the tattoo's meaning and had previously called it "my Totenkopf. Maine governor Janet Mills, one of Platner's opponents in the Democratic primary, called the tattoo "abhorrent". She said, "I obviously vehemently disagree with the things he's been quoted as saying and doing" but that it was "up to the people" to decide whether he should remain in the Senate race.  
• The Response: Following the media cycle, Platner apologized and confirmed he has completely covered up the tattoo.                                
  
  Jacob Daniel Auchincloss  born January 29, 1988) is an American politician, businessman, and Marine Corps officer serving as the U.S. representative for Massachusetts's 4th congressional district since 2021. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served as a member of the Newton City Council from 2015 to 2021.
• CNN Coverage: Representative Jake Auchincloss (D-Mass.) appeared on CNN to heavily criticize Platner, calling his tattoo and initial comments about it "personally disqualifying" for a Democratic nominee.
•  Born to a wealthy family in New England, Auchincloss graduated with a bachelor's degree from Harvard University in 2010. Commissioned into the U.S. Marine Corps that same year, he was deployed to Afghanistan in 2012 and to Panama in 2014. He currently serves in the Marine Corps Reserve with the rank of major.
• He is Jewish by matrilineality and was raised Jewish. His father is of Scottish ancestry. Both of his parents are physician-scientists specializing in immunology.