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Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., sidestepped Democratic Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner’s Nazi-linked tattoo in her glowing endorsement Thursday, despite previously expressing alarm over Department of War Secretary Pete Hegseth’s Christian tattoos.
Warren, one of the Senate’s most liberal members who is seeking to recruit progressive candidates, endorsed Platner’s campaign in a video posted to social media Wednesday, calling him “the real deal.”
“Graham Platner has the grit to go against the grain and to fight for what is right,” Warren said. “And the people in Maine are fired up and excited for change.”
The 41-year-old oyster farmer has been widely criticized for having a chest tattoo of a skull and crossbones resembling a Nazi-linked symbol associated with the SS. Platner has since had the tattoo removed and pleaded ignorance, saying he was unaware of the symbol’s meaning.
Graham Platner, a Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate in Maine, points to a covered tattoo that had previously been an image recognized as a Nazi symbol, during an interview on Wednesday in Portland, Me. (WGME via AP)
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When asked about Platner’s host of controversies, Warren largely brushed it off.
“Look, he has apologized for that, and he’s out there talking to the people of Maine every single day,” Warren told Huffpost on Thursday.
Warren’s remarks sharply contrasted with her scrutiny of Hegseth for his Christian tattoos. In the lead-up to Hegseth’s confirmation hearing in early 2025, Warren implied that Hegseth could be a traitor for having certain Christian symbols on his body.
The Massachusetts Democrat specifically referenced a Reuters report detailing Hegseth being removed from National Guard duty during former President Joe Biden’s inauguration by a supervisor, who appears to have made a dubious assumption that he could be an “insider threat” over his Christian tattoos.
Hegseth had volunteered for inauguration security as a member of the D.C. National Guard and had been employed by at the time. A senior National Guard member expressed concern over his tattoos of the Jerusalem Cross and the Latin phrase “Deus Vult,” which translates to “God wills it.”
Four years later, Warren used the incident to question Hegseth’s loyalty to the United States, despite his completing multiple overseas deployments and earning two Bronze Stars.
“We cannot have a Defense Secretary whose fellow servicemembers feel concerned enough about to report as a potential insider threat,” Warren wrote in a 33-page letter to Hegseth.
Digital reached out to Warren’s office for comment.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., heavily scrutinized Pentagon Secretary Pete Hegseth for his Christian tattoos in early 2025. (Aaron Schwartz/Getty Images; Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images)
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Hegseth defended his tattoos in an exchange with Sen. Kristen Gillibrand during his confirmation hearing. Gillibrand, who chairs Senate Democrats’ campaign arm, is notably backing Gov. Janet Mills, Platner’s opponent in the Senate primary.
Both Mills and Platner are vying for the Democratic nomination to unseat longtime Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine.
The tattoo is spotlighted in a blistering new attack ad against Platner launched by Mills’ campaign.
The ad, which the Mills campaign says it’s spending six figures to run statewide, closes with video of Platner shirtless as the narrator in the spot says, “The closer you look, the worse it gets.”
Controversial comments Platner made over a decade ago on Reddit about rape are also included in the ad.
The Mills campaign’s spot highlights Platner’s comments while an actor — in a voice that resembles the candidate — reads the comment aloud. Among the comments is one from 2013, which Platner later deleted, saying people concerned about rape should not “get so f—ed up they wind up having sex with someone they don’t mean to.”
Four women in the Mills ad responded to the comments, calling them, “a horrible thing to say,” “disgusting” and “disqualifying.”
Platner apologized for his controversial Reddit posts after they made headlines last fall soon after he launched his Senate campaign.
“For those of you who have read these things and been offended, have read these things and seen someone that you don’t recognize, I am deeply sorry,” he said in a video that went viral.
Senate candidate Graham Platner of Maine, left, and two-term Gov. Jane Mills are facing off in the state’s Democratic Senate primary. (Sophie Park/Getty Images; Scott Eisen/Getty Images)
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The Mills ad was launched as Platner appeared to be gaining momentum while drawing large crowds at campaign events across the state. According to recent polls, Platner holds a large lead over Mills with less than three months until Maine’s primary.
Democrats view Collins as vulnerable as she seeks a sixth Senate term in the left-leaning New England state. The race is considered a must-win contest for Democrats as they try to claw back the chamber’s majority from the GOP in this year’s midterms.
