Independent Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders defended a New England Senate hopeful mired in controversy over old Reddit posts and a tattoo that looks suspiciously like a Nazi symbol.
Sanders lauded Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner and said he looked “forward to him becoming the next senator in the state of Maine.”
“There’s a young man who served his country in Afghanistan and Iraq, and he went through some really difficult experiences seeing friends of his killed or whatever, and in spite of all of that he had the courage to run,” Sanders shared in a statement. ““I personally think he is an excellent candidate. I’m going to support him.”
Sanders’ support comes during a roller-coaster week for the upstart Democrat. CNN made hay out of years-old Reddit posts from Platner that criticized police and rural, white Americans. The Bangor Daily News unearthed questionable comments from Platner about Black people and sexual assault.
“That was very much me f**king around the internet,” Platner told CNN. “I don’t want people to see me for who I was in my worst Internet comment – or even frankly who I was in my best Internet comment … I don’t think any of that is indicative of who I am today, really.”
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Following the Reddit reports, Platner shared a video of himself lip-syncing shirtless at a wedding as part of an interview with “Pod Save America.” He’s clearly sporting a tattoo of a skull-and-crossbones on his chest. The piece bears a strong resemblance to the totenkopf, a symbol of the Nazi SS. Platner revealed that he got the ink while serving in the military and was unaware of its connections to Nazi imagery.
“We chose a terrifying looking skull and crossbones off the wall because we were marines and skulls and crossbones are pretty standard military thing,” he said. “[I’m] not a secret Nazi.”
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