Maine’s Senate hopeful Graham Platner’s candidacy has been embroiled in multiple controversies.
One recurring attack that his opponent, Republican incumbent Susan Collins, and her allies have seized on is that Platner got a tattoo in 2007 that resembles a Totenkopf, a “skull and bones” symbol adopted by Nazi troops during World War II. Platner maintains that he was not aware of the inflammatory meaning of the tattoo at the time he got it and later had it covered up.
Still, debate raged over whether the tattoo was politically disqualifying, with Democratic Representative Jake Auchincloss of Massachusetts refusing to endorse Platner’s candidacy.
“I’ve been clear about Graham Platner. I find that tattoo and his commentary about it to be personally disqualifying,” Auchincloss, who is Jewish, told CNN on May 25. “I hope Maine voters agree with me. 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.”
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Meanwhile, Platner has faced more negative headlines for past reddit posts about military service and alleged sexting that his wife, Amy Gertner, privately disclosed to his campaign.
Keep scrolling for more about Platner’s campaign controversies and his background.
Graham Platner Was Involved in a Sexting Scandal
The Wall Street Journal reported in May 2026 that Platner had an account on the messaging app Kik that he allegedly used to exchange sexually explicit text messages with women. Per the outlet, his wife, Gertner, discovered the alleged messages in late Spring 2025 and subsequently reported them to his campaign staffers in August over fears that they could impact his Senate bid.
Purported pictures from the account, which were obtained by the New York Post, showed Platner bare-chested and only wearing a towel to cover the lower-half of his body.
His wife, Gertner, told Us Weekly in a statement, “I confided deeply personal details about my marriage to someone I considered a friend. In the months since, I have had to watch as she spread malicious gossip to anyone who would take her call. I trusted this person with the most private chapter of our lives – the early days of our marriage before any campaign was on our mind – and I am deeply hurt by her betrayal and the invasion of our privacy.”
“It is no secret that Graham and I have struggled on our fertility journey. We did the hard work that marriage requires. We went to counseling,” she went on. “We were honest with each other in ways that weren’t easy. And we came through it, not in spite of how much we’ve been through, but because of how much we love each other and the life we’ve built. Our marriage today is stronger than ever before.”
“I know who Graham is. I know the man I married and the husband he has been to me on the best and the worst days of my life. That hasn’t changed, and it won’t.”
Graham Platner Addressed Having an Offensive Tattoo
The oyster farmer is a lifelong resident of Maine, having grown up in the coastal town of Sullivan. He enlisted in the Marine Corps in 2003 and served three combat tours of Iraq throughout his military career.
He told “The Takeout” podcast” in April 2026 that he came out of the military in a “hyper-masculine, hyper-violent place.” Platner confirmed that he and other Marines got a skull-and-bones tattoo — known as a Totenkopf — while on leave in Croatia, not knowing it had Nazi symbolism. (He has since had the offensive tattoo covered over.)
“Once I left and came out [I] interacted in the civilian world with lots of different people with very different experiences than my own,” he explained. “Many of those beliefs and thoughts and even just language changed significantly over time.”
Graham Platner Faced Scrutiny Over His Old Reddit Posts
Many of Platner’s past Reddit posts have generated backlash but none more so than a comment under footage of a U.S. soldier taking fire in Afghanistan in 2012.
“This video never gets old,” he allegedly wrote. “Dumb motherf***** didn’t deserve to live. At least his stupidity and fat ass wheezing are available for all future infantrymen to witness and hold in contempt. Poor marksmanship on the Taliban’s part is the only reason this mouthbreather made it home, he managed to make every possible s*** decision possible when it comes to small unit combat.”
Collins seized on the controversy in a statement, insisting she was “offended” as “the daughter of a World War II veteran who earned two Purple Hearts in the Battle of the Bulge.”
Platner responded to the Reddit controversy by telling Fox News, “I did four tours in the infantry, any attempt to say that I disrespect veterans is slanderous and offensive.”
Graham Platner Has Called for an Investigation into President Donald Trump
Speaking to NBC News in April 2025, Platner vowed to block the Trump administration’s conservative policies should he win Maine’s Senate seat.
“I want to shut the White House down,” Platner said. “I want us to, for the next two years, be dragging every single person in the White House, every single person in all these agencies that have been conducting themselves in illegal and unconstitutional ways. They need to be dragged by subpoena in front of Senate committees over and over and over again.”
He accused the administration of “murder” for “dropp[ing] a bunch of bombs on boats in the Caribbean all last fall” as part of “Operation Southern Spear” against drug traffickers in late 2025.
Campaign signs for 2026 Maine Senate race. Sophie Park/Getty Images
“We drag people who are involved in putting ICE agents in our streets, murdering American citizens, terrorizing communities,” Platner insisted.
He also accused the Trump administration of “rank corruption” and said the president has “absolutely” committed impeachable offenses.
As for whether he’d support impeachment, Platner told NBC News, “I will say this, though, on that front: If we don’t have the votes in the Senate to convict, I don’t think we should waste our time with it.”
A Republican National Committee spokesperson responded by telling Us Weekly, “It’s no surprise the first thing on his agenda would be to attack our government, obstruct the progress this Administration has made, and weaken our justice system. He is a dangerous, power-hungry individual who would put Mainers directly in harm’s way just to pursue his socialist dreams.”
On April 7, 2026, Representative John Larson, of Connecticut’s first district, introduced 13 articles of impeachment against Trump in the House of Representatives.
While the articles of impeachment are unlikely to pass through the House Judiciary Committee, Larson argued that Trump has “blown past every requirement to be removed from office” by threatening on April 7 that “a whole civilization” in Iran would end unless the Strait of Hormuz was opened. (Trump subsequently agreed to a temporary ceasefire with Iran through the intervention of Pakistan and said in May 2026 that he was negotiating a framework for an end to the war.)
Impeachment calls have come from outside of Washington D.C. as well. Hollywood icons Robert De Niro and Meryl Streep have both publicly demanded legal action against Trump if Democrats win the 2026 midterm elections, while a prominent group of the president’s most previous supporters — including Candace Owens, Alex Jones and Tucker Carlson — have also criticized his conduct of late. (Trump called the trio “stupid people” while firing back via Truth Social on April 9.
Graham Platner Wants to Make Fundamental Changes to the Supreme Court
Platner told NBC News in April 2026 that there is “a compelling case” to pursue impeachment against conservative-leaning Supreme Court judges, Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito. (Impeachment requires a majority vote in the House and two-thirds support in the Senate.)
“[There] are absolutely reasons for removal,” he argued.
The Maine politician wouldn’t rule out supporting efforts to “pack the court,” or change the number of judges on the Supreme Court to achieve a balance in ideologies.
“[I’m] definitely open to doing more, including adding seats on the court,” Platner said.
Graham Platner Paused His Campaign to Pursue IVF with His Wife
Platner announced in January 2026 that he was putting his campaign on pause in order to accompany his wife,Gertner, for in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatments in Norway. (Platner tied the knot with Gertner, a school teacher and paid campaign adviser, in 2024.)
“The expense of this [treatment] in the United States is astronomical, $25,000 for a first attempt,” he explained in a campaign video.
Platner and Gertner clarified that they were seeking treatment in Norway because one round of IVF treatment only costs $5,500 there.
“Graham has great sperm,” Gertner quipped in the video. “The infertility was something that was part of my body.”
The Senate candidate noted that his and Gertner’s experience with IVF costs have inspired him to “build power in order to go get things that working people in this country need, like a universal health care system that provides fertility support.”
Graham Platner Sees Himself as the Heir to Progressive Senator Bernie Sanders
Vermont Bernie Sanders, a progressive stalwart in the Senate, officially endorsed Platner’s Maine campaign in August 2025 and has appeared with him at rallies.
“When you listen to how we talk about organizing, when you certainly look at our theory of politics around wealth inequality, our theory of politics around how the system has been structured to benefit the ultra wealthy at the expense of working people — I very much feel like I do fall in the legacy of Senator Sanders,” Platner told NBC News. “I very much want to see this politics continue into the future. That’s why I’m doing this.”
