# Are there any reasons to reject Graham Platner in Maine (campaign suspended July 8, 2026) **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [March 4, 2026, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-reasons-to-reject-graham-platner-in-maine-campaign-suspended-july-8-2026/1028179 "2026-03-04T03:50:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 39
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2026, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-reasons-to-reject-graham-platner-in-maine-campaign-suspended-july-8-2026/1028179/763 "2026-06-05T18:52:30Z")
> [@Babale](#): > > Yes, I would be voting Mills in the primary if I lived in Maine. Her campaign would be weaker than if she’d not have suspended her primary, but as you say, at least we wouldn’t be the party that ran The Boy with the Nazi Tattoo. But instead, there is a choice between The Boy with the Nazi Tattoo vs the Politician who is a known supporter of a very real and very dangerous known quasi Fascist regime. No real choice is there? ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2026, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-reasons-to-reject-graham-platner-in-maine-campaign-suspended-july-8-2026/1028179/764 "2026-06-05T19:55:40Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > It is amazing how one anonymous person who claimed that is what Platner said has changed into “he told people”. We don’t need to take anyone’s word for it: We still have the mirrors of the now-deleted Reddit posts. He knew what it was, and kept it for years anyway. > [@DrDeth](#): > > Afaik, there is one instance of him showing itand it is blurry. I mean, how many photos are there of you floating around out there shirtless? ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2026, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-reasons-to-reject-graham-platner-in-maine-campaign-suspended-july-8-2026/1028179/765 "2026-06-05T20:06:39Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > > [@DrDeth](#): > > > > Afaik, there is one instance of him showing itand it is blurry. > > I mean, how many photos are there of you floating around out there shirtless? He hasn’t denied the tattoo was a totemkopf before he had it modified. And the better photos sure look like one to me. This is a silly party of the story to push back on, it’s fake news from the other direction. ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2026, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-reasons-to-reject-graham-platner-in-maine-campaign-suspended-july-8-2026/1028179/766 "2026-06-05T20:10:50Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > But instead, there is a choice between The Boy with the Nazi Tattoo vs the Politician who is a known supporter of a very real and very dangerous known quasi Fascist regime. Mills is a _Politician who is a known supporter of a very real and very dangerous known quasi Fascist regime_? That’s need to me. How has a longtime Democrat become a supporter of a quasi fascist regime? ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2026, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-reasons-to-reject-graham-platner-in-maine-campaign-suspended-july-8-2026/1028179/767 "2026-06-05T20:13:17Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > I mean, how many photos are there of you floating around out there shirtless? And in any of them are you wrapped in a towel hiding your Nazi tattoo so that when you trawl Kik’s suspiciously young user base for girls to send dick picks to they can’t see your Nazi tattoo since that might make them reject your dick pics? ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2026, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-reasons-to-reject-graham-platner-in-maine-campaign-suspended-july-8-2026/1028179/768 "2026-06-05T20:14:23Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Drunk soldiers make some bad choices, but he did three combat tours in Iraq, so we need to cut him some slack. Why does having been in the armed services mean a person should get some slack for being a Nazi sympathizer? ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2026, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-reasons-to-reject-graham-platner-in-maine-campaign-suspended-july-8-2026/1028179/769 "2026-06-05T20:16:02Z")
No, now can we get back to Graham Platner? ---
**Author:** ![ZosterSandstorm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e0b2c6/32.png) [@ZosterSandstorm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZosterSandstorm)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2026, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-reasons-to-reject-graham-platner-in-maine-campaign-suspended-july-8-2026/1028179/770 "2026-06-05T20:23:38Z")
The cope about “no one threw him out of the wedding” is some real damned-if-you-do bullshit. The choice is: Make a scene at a family wedding, demand to inspect the tattoo, possibly start a physical confrontation or involve law enforcement to get him to leave, undoubtedly get excoriated by the leading lights of progressivism on here for “seeking victimhood” and censoring “legitimate criticism of Zionism.” Or, do none of those things, give the drunk shirtless wedding guest the benefit of the doubt if for no other reason than he is just a random idiot at that time who no one could have predicted would become a candidate for the Senate, and learn years later that this means you have given up all right to ever complain about a Nazi tattoo or anything else Graham Platner has done on behalf of all Jews everywhere. As they say, the point of the smirking anti-Semite accusing Jews of stealing isn’t any actual expectation of finding missing property, it’s the sadistic joy at making the Jew turn out his pockets. Here we are with the impossible demands for the right way to host a Nazi enthusiast at your wedding, where all the moral consequences somehow fall on the Jewish wedding guests and not the guy who branded himself a Nazi. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2026, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-reasons-to-reject-graham-platner-in-maine-campaign-suspended-july-8-2026/1028179/771 "2026-06-05T20:31:03Z")
And you’re calling him a “Nazi sympathizer” on the basis of…? ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2026, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-reasons-to-reject-graham-platner-in-maine-campaign-suspended-july-8-2026/1028179/772 "2026-06-05T20:36:15Z")
Other than the tattoo. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2026, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-reasons-to-reject-graham-platner-in-maine-campaign-suspended-july-8-2026/1028179/773 "2026-06-05T21:09:33Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > I mean, how many photos are there of you floating around out there shirtless? Not a pretty picture, but i think there might have been one when I was in my late 20s near a pool. > [@Babale](#): > > Mills is a _Politician who is a known supporter of a very real and very dangerous known quasi Fascist regime_? Mills is no longer the choice, it is Platner or Collins now, and you have to know that. Sure, some outraged Dem voters might vote Mills as a protest, but Mills has dropped out and is no longer a real candidate. > [@RickJay](#): > > Why does having been in the armed services mean a person should get some slack for being a Nazi sympathizer? No evidence of that. ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2026, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-reasons-to-reject-graham-platner-in-maine-campaign-suspended-july-8-2026/1028179/774 "2026-06-05T21:11:30Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > > [@Babale](#): > > > > Mills is a _Politician who is a known supporter of a very real and very dangerous known quasi Fascist regime_? > > Mills is no longer the choice, it is Platner or Collins now, and you have to know that. The primary has not happened yet, and Collins is not in fact an option on the Democratic primary ballot. _You_ have to know _that_. > [@DrDeth](#): > > Sure, some outraged Dem voters might vote Mills as a protest, but Mills has dropped out and is no longer a real candidate. She is still an option on the Primary, just like Swalwell was an option on my California ballot despite having ended his campaign. > [@DrDeth](#): > > No evidence of that. You can say that the weight of the evidence is such that overall you don’t think he’s a Nazi, but it’s silly to say that there is no evidence of him being a Nazi whatsoever when he had a Nazi tattoo for decades. Whether or not you think other evidence outweighs that, it IS in fact evidence of Nazi sympathy. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2026, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-reasons-to-reject-graham-platner-in-maine-campaign-suspended-july-8-2026/1028179/775 "2026-06-05T21:15:31Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > I mean, I’m Jewish, but until this guy hit the news, I’d never heard of or seen a totemkopf. Tote **n** kopf – can’t blame native Americans on this one. 🙂 I’m _not_ Jewish and I recognized even the ‘smudge’ tattoo right off the bat. 🤷 Whether it’s important enough to worry about I leave as an exercise. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2026, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-reasons-to-reject-graham-platner-in-maine-campaign-suspended-july-8-2026/1028179/776 "2026-06-05T21:25:16Z")
> [@Babale](#): > > The primary has not happened yet, and Collins is not in fact an option on the Democratic primary ballot. _You_ have to know _that_. So? She is gonna be the option in November, and it is going to be Platner or Collins. > [@Babale](#): > > You can say that the weight of the evidence is such that overall you don’t think he’s a Nazi, but it’s silly to say that there is no evidence of him being a Nazi whatsoever when he had a Nazi tattoo for decades. Whether or not you think other evidence outweighs that, it IS in fact evidence of Nazi sympathy. No it’s not. I used to know some guys that did WW2 reenactments. One had a full Nazi uniform. He was a died in the wool progressive liberal. Platner claimed that when he got the tat that he- and several marine buddies- picked it due to the Skull and crossbones the Marines were painting on things and because it looked cool. Do you think they were all Nazis? that the tattoo parlor was a secret Nazi base or something? That they were indoctrinated, swore allegiance to the Reich on a copy of _Mein Kampf_, and etc? or that they were just some drunk marines wanting to get a cool tat together? ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2026, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-reasons-to-reject-graham-platner-in-maine-campaign-suspended-july-8-2026/1028179/777 "2026-06-05T21:30:12Z")
People have clearly been going over Platner’s social media history with a fine-toothed comb. If there were any evidence of hom actually having Nazi beliefs or expressing racist idealogy, they’d be talking about that instead of him sending flirtatious texts or having problematic attitudes about #MeToo. Getting a matching tattoo with your buddies when you’re young and drunk because it looks badass is hardly proof of any idealogical commitment to what that symbol meant nearly a hundred years ago any more than having a Jolly Roger tattoo would make him a pirate. ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2026, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-reasons-to-reject-graham-platner-in-maine-campaign-suspended-july-8-2026/1028179/778 "2026-06-05T21:32:02Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > > [@Babale](#): > > > > The primary has not happened yet, and Collins is not in fact an option on the Democratic primary ballot. _You_ have to know _that_. > > So? She is gonna be the option in November, and it is going to be Platner or Collins. The post you responded to said: > [@Babale](#): > > Yes, I would be voting Mills in the primary if I lived in Maine. Your response to me saying that I would vote for Mills in the Democratic primary if I lived in Maine is to insist that I would have to choose between Collins and Platner. Do you see why that doesn’t make any sense as a response to my post? ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2026, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-reasons-to-reject-graham-platner-in-maine-campaign-suspended-july-8-2026/1028179/779 "2026-06-05T22:58:58Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > And you’re calling him a “Nazi sympathizer” on the basis of…? Mm, how about his being a “big fan” of Nate Cornacchia and promoting a post by neo-Nazi Stew Peters? > **[Platner sat for lengthy interview with antisemitic conspiracy theorist, said...](https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/platner-sat-lengthy-interview-antisemitic-075439570.html)** > > Weeks before Graham Platner promoted an antisemitic conspiracy theorist in a now-deleted social media post on Thursday, the controversial Maine Senate candidate appeared on a popular YouTube show whos... Meantime, fellow Dems are starting to get fed up with the Platner saga. > [@](#): > > Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., was asked about the Times’ report during an interview Thursday on MS NOW. She said she hadn’t yet read it but would “look forward to the day where I am not answering every single week a question about bad behavior by another dude.” > > “First of all, I think about the women who are coming forward,” Slotkin told MS NOW, noting that her staff informed her of the Times’ reporting. “Second of all, I think if there are allegations of violence, I got a real problem with that, and it doesn’t matter if you’re a Democrat or Republican. If there’s violence, that’s not OK.” > **[Democrats warily eye new allegations against Maine Senate candidate Graham...](https://www.ms.now/news/graham-platner-former-girlfriends-accusations-maine-democrat)** > > Sen. Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., said the accusations “deserve scrutiny,” but she said the voters of Maine will ultimately decide who can “best represent them.” But hey, it’s OK for Democrats who still think he can beat Collins, though even Platner’s internal polling is showing him barely leading (and that was before the latest embarrassing stuff). What story is going to be next to drop? ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2026, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-reasons-to-reject-graham-platner-in-maine-campaign-suspended-july-8-2026/1028179/780 "2026-06-05T23:23:03Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > Mm, how about his being a “big fan” of Nate Cornacchia We went over that upthread. It was a standard platitude as a podcast guest to someoje whose opinions he didn’t know about at the time. > [@Jackmannii](#): > > and promoting a post by neo-Nazi Stew Peters? We went over that upthread too. He deleted the retweet when he became aware of who it was. > [@Jackmannii](#): > > What story is going to be next to drop? When are any of these stories going to be _substansive_? ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2026, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-reasons-to-reject-graham-platner-in-maine-campaign-suspended-july-8-2026/1028179/781 "2026-06-05T23:43:07Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > > [@Jackmannii](#): > > > > What story is going to be next to drop? > > When are any of these stories going to be _substansive_? When it turns out that, like most Kik users, the girls Platner was sexting were underage. My guess is we will hear about that in October, because that’s when it would fuck us hardest. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2026, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-reasons-to-reject-graham-platner-in-maine-campaign-suspended-july-8-2026/1028179/782 "2026-06-05T23:44:35Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Mills is no longer the choice, it is Platner or Collins now, and you have to know that. Sure, some outraged Dem voters might vote Mills as a protest, but Mills has dropped out and is no longer a real candidate. “Oh, no, woe is me, I’m forced to vote for a Nazi, because the non-Nazi can’t win!”. > [@Smapti](#): > > We went over that upthread. It was a standard platitude as a podcast guest to someoje whose opinions he didn’t know about at the time. He was a guest on the podcast. How do you agree to show up as a guest on a show without even knowing what the show is about? Right now, we have a guy who wore a Nazi tattoo for a couple of decades, at least one decade of which was after he knew what it meant, who has appeared with multiple Nazis on social media (including as guests on shows and in photo-ops containing other Nazi materials), whose rhetoric closely resembles Nazi rhetoric. What more evidence could there even be? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-reasons-to-reject-graham-platner-in-maine-campaign-suspended-july-8-2026/1028179.md?page=38) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-reasons-to-reject-graham-platner-in-maine-campaign-suspended-july-8-2026/1028179.md?page=40)