(Luis Cornelio, Headline USA) New details have emerged suggesting that Maine Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner may not have been truthful about when he learned that a tattoo on his chest was linked to Nazism.
Platner is now struggling to explain why a former girlfriend appeared to recognize the tattoo’s meaning before he claims to have learned its significance himself.
The controversy resurfaced Thursday after Platner addressed the issue during an interview on MSNBC’s All In with Chris Hayes, the same day The New York Times published a report detailing allegations from three of Platner’s ex-girlfriends.
One of those women is Lindsey Fifield.
She told the Times that Platner is lying when he claims he did not know his tattoo was a Nazi symbol.
He called it “my Totenkopf,” she recalled.
“I would never have known what that was. He would joke about it being a Nazi tattoo,” she added.
She showed the outlet text messages in which she told friends in August 2025 that Platner had a Nazi tattoo. Platner, however, has claimed he did not realize the tattoo was linked to Nazism until October 2025, when reporters pressed him about it.
Asked about the discrepancy and Fifield’s text messages, Platner said, “Well, she certainly didn’t send that text to me.”
He added, “So, whoever she sent it to and was talking to, that’s — I can’t say why, but I will say that I certainly didn’t know. And the text messages she’s sending to friends who may have recognized it, they didn’t tell me that, so.”
Chris Hayes: How is it that your ex-girlfriend was texting people that you had a Nazi tattoo in August but you didn't know until October?
Graham Platner: They didn't tell me that pic.twitter.com/pEHIAZJY0r
— Peter J. Hasson (@peterjhasson) June 5, 2026
The tattoo controversy is one of several allegations raised by at least three women who dated Platner before he emerged as the presumed Democratic nominee for Maine’s U.S. Senate seat.
The women described Platner’s behavior as toxic and aggressive.
At one point, Fifield alleged that Platner left marks on her shoulders after blocking her from leaving a room during their relationship.
Platner and his allies have attacked Fifield for coming forward, accusing her of being politically motivated because of her previous work at the Heritage Foundation. Notably, the attacks against Fifield are at odds with Democrats’ “believe women” mantra.
Platner became the party’s presumptive nominee after Maine Gov. Janet Mills suspended her campaign in April. The general election is set for November.
In addition to the toxic behavior allegations and the tattoo controversy, Platner has faced criticism for crude remarks about public masturbation and prostitution, comments downplaying sexual assault and statements suggesting that an American soldier who narrowly escaped death in Afghanistan did not deserve to survive.
