Democratic Congressman Sparks Fierce Backlash for Calling Platner’s Nazi Tattoo ‘Disqualifying’

A lawmaker from Massachusetts, Congressman Jake Auchincloss, is facing intense backlash from some of his fellow Democrats after he said that Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner’s Nazi symbol tattoo is “disqualifying.” Mr. Auchincloss says he hopes Mainers agree with him, leading some critics to conclude that he is essentially endorsing the Republican incumbent, Senator Susan Collins, for re-election. Mr. Auchincloss was first elected to serve in the House in 2020, when he won a crowded Democratic primary in a district that stretches from the wealthy suburbs west of Boston to the more blue collar areas of the South Coast along the Rhode Island border. As a young moderate lawmaker, Harvard graduate, and Marine, Mr. Auchincloss, who is Jewish, has received a great deal of attention from people who believe he should be a future leader in the party. Earlier this month, he was praised by a conservative New York Times columnist, Bret Stephens, as someone Democrats should heed. His decision to argue against Mr. Platner, however, is likely to stick in the minds of Democrats who are desperate to retake control of Congress this year, regardless of the backgrounds of the candidates they champion. During an interview with CNN on Monday, Mr. Auchincloss spoke out against Mr. Platner and seemed to urge Mainers to not cast a vote for him in November. Democrats see Maine as a must-win state this year, given Ms. Collins is a Republican running for re-election in a state won by Vice President Kamala Harris in 2024. “I’ve been clear about Graham Platner. I find that tattoo and his commentary about it to be personally disqualifying. I hope Maine voters agree with me,” Mr. Auchincloss told CNN, referring to Mr. Platner’s Totenkopf tattoo, which he has since had covered. “I think it would be a mistake for the Democratic Party to think that Graham Platner’s brand of the Democratic Party is what wins us durable majorities throughout this country,” the congressman said. Mr. Platner says he got the tattoo in eastern Europe in 2007 while on leave with some of his fellow Marines. He has consistently said that he did not know the meaning of the symbol until journalists and political operatives began asking about it in 2025, at which point he had it covered with a new tattoo. However, CNN and Jewish Insider reported last year that Mr. Platner had acknowledged the meaning of the Totenkopf symbol to an associate long before announcing his Senate run, undercutting claims that he was unaware of its meaning. The most recent polling shows Mr. Platner with a seven-point lead over Mrs. Collins in a hypothetical matchup. Mr. Platner still has a perfunctory primary in June after his chief rival, Governor Janet Mills, suspended her campaign last month. But Republicans are hoping the tattoo is not the only problematic issue for voters in November. Over the course of years, Mr. Platner has made a host of controversial comments on Reddit, including one where he placed some blame on rape victims for their own assaults, saying they needed to take “responsibility” and avoid getting too intoxicated. In other posts, he described himself as a communist and called white rural Mainers racist and stupid. In the hours that followed Mr. Auchincloss’s criticism of Mr. Platner, several commentators, activists, and candidates came after him online. “Jake Auchincloss is essentially endorsing Susan Collins in Maine. Absolutely no excuse for a Democrat in the House to back a Republican for Senate in a crucial swing seat,” a candidate to succeed Speaker Nancy Pelosi and a former chief of staff for Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Saikat Chakrabarti, wrote on X. “Auchincloss should be primaried.”“If a Democrat endorses from the left against another Democrat in a primary, all hell comes down on them,” the progressive founder of Drop Site News, Ryan Grim, wrote on X. “Here’s @RepAuchincloss coming out against the presumptive Dem nominee in a crucial swing state.”“Probably actually helps Platner to have Dems like Auchincloss against him, but I still wonder if he’ll hear from Dem leadership or if they’re quietly ok with Collins,” he added. Ms. Harris’s deputy campaign manager for the 2024 race, Rob Flaherty, also criticized Mr. Auchincloss, who currently serves as the chairman of the political action committee, Majority Democrats, which supports more moderate Democratic candidates across the country. “Does feel kind of odd to be the Chairman of an org called ‘Majority Democrats’ and then endorse against both Democrats and a Majority,” Mr. Flaherty remarked on X. In an X post Tuesday morning attempting to clarify his comments, Mr. Auchincloss said the tattoo was “personally disqualifying” and that he would not vote for Mr. Platner in the Democratic primary. Mr. Auchincloss did not mention what he would do if he were a general election voter in Maine and simply said Democrats “need” to take back the Senate in November.Republicans were quick to boost Mr. Auchincloss’s comments after the firestorm began online. RNC Research, a rapid response arm of the Republican Party, shared a video of Mr. Auchincloss calling Mr. Platner’s tattoo “disqualifying” in a post online. A former chief communications strategist for Senate Republicans, Matt Whitlock, predicted that Mr. Auchincloss “won’t be the last” Democrat to come out against Mr. Platner. Mr. Auchincloss has taken a number of moderate policy positions on everything from prescription drug pricing to free trade to Israel, leading many progressives to lament that such a lawmaker could serve in a deep-blue district. In a previous era, Mr. Auchincloss may have represented the prototypical candidate to represent Massachusetts Democrats. He comes from a long line of prominent leaders in the Boston area, including some who are married into what are known as the “Boston Brahmin” families, which are elite, largely protestant wealthy clans that have dominated northeastern politics for generations, including the Adams, Cabot, Choate, Winthrop, and Forbes families. His great-grandfather’s cousin, Hugh D. Auchincloss, was the stepfather of first lady Jackie Kennedy.

Democratic Congressman Sparks Fierce Backlash for Calling Platner’s Nazi Tattoo ‘Disqualifying’

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