Maine Democrat Platner, on defense over tattoo, takes page from Trump playbook to keep up Senate bid
Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner has revealed in a podcast that he was tattooed years ago with an image widely recognized as Nazi symbol. He dismissed the connotation and chalked the choice up to a drunken Marine’s attempt at fearsomeness. Platner is the latest in a line of Democratic candidates who are shrugging off dark revelations about their past. They reflect a new era, typified by President Donald Trump, when what would have been campaign-ending discoveries just a decade ago are not sufficient to nudge candidates out. Platner was also asked recently about incautious online statements, following the revelation of Virginia attorney general candidate Jay Jones’ 2022 text messages suggesting a prominent Republican get “two bullets to the head.”