A woman with whom Platner cheated on his fiancée with in 2021 said she immediately recognized the Totenkopf skull-and-crossbones tattoo.
As Democrats continue to rally behind Maine Senate nominee Graham Platner, a claimed former lover has said that the candidate cheated on his fiancée with her and privately justified keeping his Nazi-linked SS tattoo as a reminder that America was "the evil, bad guy overseas," a claim that directly contradicts his insistence to the public and media outlets that he didn't know the symbol was associated with the Third Reich.
According to The New York Post, a woman with whom Platner cheated on his fiancée with in 2021 said she immediately recognized the Totenkopf skull-and-crossbones tattoo on his chest and questioned him about it. She claims Platner acknowledged its origins and offered a very different explanation than the one he has since presented publicly.
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"As a person who is a leftist, I immediately looked at him and asked him, 'Is that a Totenkopf?' and he told me a whole, 'he will hold this weight forever' bravado sob story about how it was, but he decided to keep it as a reminder that the United States was the evil, bad guy overseas," she said.
The woman, who said she met Platner through Tinder while living in Maine, claimed the conversation took place years before the tattoo became a public campaign issue. She later released screenshots of messages sent in September 2025 referencing what she described as Platner's "Nazi tattoo," months before the controversy erupted during his Senate campaign.
Her account echoes allegations previously made by Lyndsey Fifield, another former girlfriend, who told The New York Times that Platner referred to the image as "my Totenkopf" and joked about its Nazi origins. Fifield said she would not have known what the symbol was without Platner identifying it himself.
The controversy centers on a skull-and-crossbones tattoo, the Totenkopf, or "Death's Head," insignia used by Adolf Hitler's SS, which Platner received while serving overseas. Platner has repeatedly maintained that he selected the design while drunk in Croatia in 2007 and did not learn of its Nazi associations until last year. He has since covered the tattoo with a Celtic knot design.
The latest allegations arrive as prominent Democrats continue backing the nominee despite growing questions surrounding his past conduct. Earlier this week, former Biden chief of staff Ron Klain dismissed criticism of Platner as "just a partisan attack" and defended the candidate's explanation for the tattoo.
"The tattoo was a skull and crossbones to remember his fallen comrades from his service in Afghanistan," Klain wrote on social media. Klain told the Jewish News Syndicate, "I find it believable. He has denied Ms. Fifield’s claim that he knew the tattoo to be a Totenkopf, and I believe Mr. Platner’s account."
The Republican Jewish Coalition (RJC) has called on Senate Democrats to withdraw their support for Platner, arguing that the controversy should be politically disqualifying. Speaking on The Ari Hoffman Show on Talk Radio 570 KVI, RJC National Political Director and Communications Director Sam Markstein said Platner would be one of the organization's top targets heading into November.
"He is going to be one of our top targets, the Maine Senate race and defending Susan Collins," Markstein said. "Graham Plattner is SS tattooed, Schumer endorsed and Squad approved."
Markstein said the RJC condemns Platner's candidacy "in the strongest possible terms."
"This is a man who walked around with a Nazi SS tattoo emblazoned on his chest for 18 years and now expects Maine voters to send him to the US Senate," Markstein said. "And let's be clear, you know, a Nazi tattoo is totally disqualifying." He added that continued Democratic support for Platner was "an absolute Shonda, an absolute shame and a disgrace."
"Chuck Schumer, the highest-ranking Jewish elected official in America and the other Senate Democrats propping up Plattner's campaign, continue to support this guy," Markstein said. "And we have called on them to rescind their support immediately."
Markstein argued that Platner's candidacy reflects a broader problem for Democrats as the party grapples with controversies involving antisemitism and anti-Israel activism. "The Democrats… have allowed this to fester and metastasize and turn into a serious full-blown problem for them," he said.
The new accusations add to a growing list of controversies surrounding Platner's campaign, including reports involving explicit messages sent to women outside his marriage and allegations of infidelity raised by multiple former partners.
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