(DCNF)—An adviser to socialist Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders dismissed a Nazi-inspired tattoo Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner received as a “skull and crossbones” during a panel discussion Sunday.
Platner, the presumptive Democratic nominee to challenge Republican Maine Sen. Susan Collins, has come under fire over a tattoo he received inspired by the “Totenkopf” insignia, also known as the “Death’s Head,” used by the Schutzstaffel, or SS. Former North Carolina Republican Rep. Pat McHenry noted on “This Week” that Platner and Democratic Texas State Rep. James Talarico had not been “vetted.”
“You have a two-term governor in North Carolina, Roy Cooper,” McHenry said, “The Democrats did a nice job of recruiting somebody who had a more moderate image than what you saw in Maine and these other states like Texas. But the issue in Maine, just like in Texas, is they have an unvetted candidate. And it turns out the guy with the Nazi tattoo turns out to be a pretty bad guy in Maine, which is the benefit of— ”
“A tattoo that was skull and crossbones, not a Nazi tattoo,” panelist Faiz Shakir, Sanders’s 2020 campaign manager, interrupted.
“OK, we can quibble about whether or not how Nazi the Nazi tattoo,” McHenry responded, “but this is emblematic of his problems. And Maine voters will have a say about it.”
The “Totenkopf” insignia was notoriously used by the SS Totenkopfverbände, which ran the concentration camps under the Nazi regime, according to documents filed from the Nuremburg Trials. The insignia was also used by the 3rd Panzer Division of the Waffen-SS.
Platner, who became the likely nominee after Democratic Maine Gov. Janet Mills suspended her senatorial campaign, has also come under fire for mocking a wounded American serviceman as well as making explicit social media posts. Platner has the backing of Sanders and many other left-wing figures despite the questionable tattoo.
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