sidestepped Democratic Maine Senate candidate Graham Platners Nazi-linked tattoo in her glowing endorsement Thursday, despite previously expressing alarm over Department of War Secretary Pete Hegseths Christian tattoos.
Warren, one of the Senates most liberal members who is seeking to recruit progressive candidates, endorsed Platners campaign in a video posted to social media Wednesday, calling him “the real deal.”Â
“Graham Platner has the grit to go against the grain and to fight for what is right,” Warren said. “And the people in Maine are fired up and excited for change.”
The 41-year-old oyster farmer has been widely criticized for having a resembling a Nazi-linked symbol associated with the SS. Platner has since had the tattoo removed and pleaded ignorance, saying he was unaware of the symbols meaning.
When asked about Platners host of controversies, Warren largely brushed it off.
“Look, he has apologized for that, and hes out there talking to the people of Maine every single day,” Warren told Huffpost on Thursday.
Warrens remarks sharply contrasted with her scrutiny of Hegseth for his Christian tattoos. In the lead-up to Hegseths confirmation hearing in early 2025, Warren implied that Hegseth could be a traitor for having certain Christian symbols on his body.
The Massachusetts Democrat specifically referenced a Reuters report detailing Hegseth being removed from National Guard duty during former President Joe Bidens inauguration by a supervisor, who appears to have made a dubious assumption that he could be an “insider threat” over his Christian tattoos.
Hegseth had volunteered for inauguration security as a member of the D.C. National Guard and had been employed by Fox News at the time. A senior National Guard member expressed concern over his tattoos of the Jerusalem Cross and the Latin phrase “Deus Vult,” which translates to “God wills it.”Â
Four years later, Warren used the incident to question Hegseths loyalty to the United States, despite his completing multiple overseas deployments and earning two Bronze Stars.
“We cannot have a whose fellow servicemembers feel concerned enough about to report as a potential insider threat,” Warren wrote in a 33-page letter to Hegseth.Â
Fox News Digital reached out to Warrens office for comment.Â
Hegseth defended his tattoos in an exchange with Sen. Kristen Gillibrand during his confirmation hearing. Gillibrand, who chairs Senate Democrats campaign arm, is notably backing Gov. Janet Mills, Platners opponent in the Senate primary.
Both Mills and Platner are vying for the Democratic nomination to unseat longtime Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine.
The tattoo is spotlighted in a blistering new launched by Mills campaign.
The ad, which the Mills campaign says its spending six figures to run statewide, closes with video of Platner shirtless as the narrator in the spot says, “The closer you look, the worse it gets.”
Controversial comments Platner made over a decade ago on Reddit about rape are also included in the ad.
The Mills campaign’s spot highlights Platner’s comments while an actor â in a voice that resembles the candidate â reads the comment aloud. Among the comments is one from 2013, which Platner later deleted, saying people concerned about rape should not “get so f—ed up they wind up having sex with someone they dont mean to.”
Four women in the Mills ad responded to the comments, calling them, “a horrible thing to say,” “disgusting” and “disqualifying.”
Platner
