Why An Israeli Flag Tattoo Is a Dealbreaker for Platner Supporters, but a Nazi Tattoo Is Not

PORTLAND, Maine — If a Nazi tattoo isn’t disqualifying, what is?For at least one Graham Platner supporter at a Portland town hall on Sunday night — and many others online —the answer is support for Israel. Speaking at the event Maine voter Laurie Hudson told The New York Sun that she didn’t think Mr. Platner’s tattoo looked like a Totenkopf, a Nazi SS symbol worn on the caps of concentration camp guards. The Democratic candidate acknowledged inking his skin with the emblem nearly 20 years ago. An ex-girlfriend of 10 years ago told The New York Times he knew what the tattoo meant and referred to it as “my Totenkopf.”Referring to the tattoo as opposition research — “trolling for dirt” — Ms. Hudson pondered for a moment the question of whether Mr. Platner having an Israeli flag tattoo would be a “dealbreaker?”At a Graham Platner rally in Portland. “Would an Israeli flag tattoo be a deal breaker?”“Honestly yeah, because I don’t support genocide.” https://t.co/93SQVwHOXH pic.twitter.com/CKrpQwkmxO— Caroline McCaughey (@TheCarolineMc) June 8, 2026“Honestly, yeah,” Ms. Hudson said after a pause, “because I don’t support genocide and he doesn’t either.”Putting aside the cognitive dissonance — that the Nazis committed genocide against Jews, Roma, and other groups — video of the exchange went viral because Ms. Hudson uttered a truth: Being anti-Israel is a litmus test on the progressive left. A Nazi tattoo, accusations of abuse against women, and Reddit posts about why black people don’t tip or American soldiers deserved to be shot are no longer campaign-killing. Support for Israel is.Over the past month, more than 40 Mainers who spoke to the Sun about Mr. Platner dismissed the Nazi tattoo as a past mistake of a young, ignorant man on leave from a war zone, then suffering from PTSD, and now on a journey of “redemption.” Most supporters either buy his claim he didn’t know what the symbol meant, don’t care, or say beating incumbent senator Susan Collins is more important. The ambivalence illustrates the diminishing importance to voters in the Trump era of personal failings and past controversial statements. Ten years ago, Republicans demonstrated the “Flight 93 election” mindset, to use Michael Anton’s words — “charge the cockpit or you die” — to justify overlooking Mr. Trump’s infidelities, “locker room talk,” and offensive remarks. An example not far afield from Mr. Platner’s Reddit post: then-candidate Trump said of Senator John McCain, a former prisoner of war, “I only like people who weren’t captured.” Despite pundit prognostications, this didn’t kill his campaign.The stakes were too high for Republicans to abandon Mr. Trump in 2016. The same can be said about Maine’s Progressive Democrats in 2026.At stake is control of the United States Senate. Mr. Platner is running to unseat Ms. Collins, the only Republican senator running for reelection this year in a state that Kamala Harris won in 2024. Flipping the Maine seat that the moderate Ms. Collins has held for 29 years is the jewel in the 2026 Democratic crown.That means putting to rest the Democratic Party’s decade-long invocation of Michelle Obama’s maxim, “When they go low, we go high.” Democrats used the higher standard to expel without adjudication lawmakers accused of misconduct. Remember Al Franken? Many Democrats came to regret the decision to push him out of the Senate after allegations of forced kissing and unwanted touching of eight women, a move spearheaded by Senator Kirsten Gillibrand. Now, despite serious allegations surrounding Mr. Platner, Ms. Gillibrand is sticking by him.Sunday’s Portland town hall was the first opportunity Maine voters had to ask Mr. Platner about an ex-girlfriend’s abuse allegations, which The New York Times reported on Friday. No one did. Nor did they ask about the Nazi tattoo or Reddit posts, or the Wall Street Journal report that Mr. Platner sexted with women other than his wife in these first years of their marriage.Several attendees at the rally told the Sun that they view Mr. Platner’s scandals as a media and consultant class ploy — “dirty politics” — to take down the oyster farmer and veteran who is challenging the status quo. “It’s not scandals, it’s a strategy being used by those who oppose him,” a self-described Portland “lawyer for the poor,” Seth Berner, told the Sun.“I don’t like it, but the others have done much worse,” a retiree from Hollis, Alyson Rafferty, told the Sun, referring to Mr. Trump. She said this was the first political town hall she’s ever attended.“The tattoo is baloney. It’s just a warrior tattoo,” a retired librarian from Bath, Charlotte Brown, averred. As for the accusations of abuse by one of Mr. Platner’s ex-girlfriends, Lyndsey Fifield, Ms. Brown dismissed her as a “Republican operative.”“The only thing bothersome for me is the texting on his wife,” Ms. Brown said, “but that’s their business, not mine.” The Sun found just one person at Sunday’s town hall who said he was questioning his support for Mr. Platner, not because of the tattoo but because of “the way he treats women.” The 42-year-old small business owner and Democrat from Portland who did not give his name said he’d come to the rally to hear directly from the candidate.“There’s four other people on the ballot,” he said. “What I care about is putting the best person out there to make sure Susan Collins is not going to be reelected.”The Democratic primary is Tuesday. Mr. Platner is expected to win, though Governor Janet Mills reminded voters a week ago that her name will still be on the ballot despite suspending her campaign in April.Mr. Platner gave a 35-minute version of his stump speech. He said Democrats need to wield power the way Republicans do. Mr. Platner said if Democrats gain control of the Senate, they should adopt the “McConnell rule” and not confirm judges in the last two years of Mr. Trump’s presidency. He also offered support for a slew of standard progressive promises, such as universal healthcare, free childcare, and “high quality education” through college, paid for by taxing the rich.“For far too long we have been told that politics is something that’s inaccessible to us as working people,” Mr. Platner said. “We need to return to the politics of dreaming big because the challenges we face today — we can no longer afford to play around at the margins.”“Politics is about power,” he said. “Fascism is what we’re up against.”After the town hall, Mr. Platner campaign advisor, Morris Katz, who also advises New York’s mayor Zohran Mamdani, said he thinks voters are tired of the “gatekeeping” who can run for office. America has entered a post-character era of politics, when policy trumps indiscretion.As most establishment Democrats stand by Mr. Platner or equivocate, it’s clear the party is adopting some form of Mr. Anton’s calculation: the policy stakes outweigh the personal baggage. Mr. Mamdani weathered backlash for his controversial social media and won. Mr. Platner is offering a therapy-induced “redemption” narrative. Whether he wins in November is the real test.“He’s a flawed candidate but he’s who we want,” Ms. Hudson said, praising Mr. Platner’s “redemption thing.”

Why An Israeli Flag Tattoo Is a Dealbreaker for Platner Supporters, but a Nazi Tattoo Is Not

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