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 on 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’s Jewish, told CNN on May 25. “I hope Maine voters agree with me. I feel it will 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.”
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 might impact his Senate bid.
Purported pictures from the account, which were obtained by the Recent 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 an announcement, “I confided deeply personal details about my marriage to someone I considered a friend. Within the months since, I actually have had to look at as she spread malicious gossip to anyone who would take her call. I trusted this person with essentially the most private chapter of our lives – the early days of our marriage before any campaign was on our mind – and I’m deeply hurt by her betrayal and the invasion of our privacy.”
“It is not any secret that Graham and I actually have struggled on our fertility journey. We did the labor that marriage requires. We went to counseling,” she went on. “We were honest with one another in ways in which weren’t easy. And we got here through it, not despite how much we’ve been through, but due to how much we love one another and the life we’ve built. Our marriage today is stronger than ever before.”
“I do know who Graham is. I do know the person I married and the husband he has been to me on the perfect and the worst days of my life. That hasn’t modified, and it won’t.”
Graham Platner Addressed Having an Offensive Tattoo
The oyster farmer is a lifelong resident of Maine, having grown up within the coastal town of Sullivan. He enlisted within the Marine Corps in 2003 and served three combat tours of Iraq throughout his military profession.
He told “The Takeout” podcast” in April 2026 that he got here out of the military in a “hyper-masculine, hyper-violent place.” Platner confirmed that he and other Marines got a skull-and-bones tattoo — often 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 got here out [I] interacted within the civilian world with plenty of different individuals with very different experiences than my very own,” he explained. “A lot of those beliefs and thoughts and even just language modified significantly over time.”
Graham Platner Faced Scrutiny Over His Old Reddit Posts
A lot 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 should live. At the very least his stupidity and fat ass wheezing can be found for all future infantrymen to witness and hold in contempt. Poor marksmanship on the Taliban’s part is the one reason this mouthbreather made it home, he managed to make every possible s*** decision possible relating to small unit combat.”
Collins seized on the controversy in an announcement, insisting she was “offended” as “the daughter of a World War II veteran who earned two Purple Hearts within the Battle of the Bulge.”
Platner responded to the Reddit controversy by telling Fox News, “I did 4 tours within the infantry, any try and say that I disrespect veterans is slanderous and offensive.”
Graham Platner Has Called for an Investigation into President Donald Trump
Chatting with NBC News in April 2025, Platner vowed to dam the Trump administration’s conservative policies should he win Maine’s Senate seat.
“I would like to shut the White House down,” Platner said. “I would like us to, for the subsequent two years, be dragging each person within the White House, each person in all these agencies which were conducting themselves in illegal and unconstitutional ways. They have to be dragged by subpoena in front of Senate committees again and again and another time.”
He accused the administration of “murder” for “dropp[ing] a bunch of bombs on boats within the Caribbean all last fall” as a 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 find themselves involved in putting ICE agents in our streets, murdering Americans, 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’ll say this, though, on that front: If we don’t have the votes within the Senate to convict, I don’t think we should always waste our time with it.”
A Republican National Committee spokesperson responded by telling Us Weekly, “It’s no surprise the very first thing on his agenda can be to attack our government, obstruct the progress this Administration has made, and weaken our justice system. He’s a dangerous, power-hungry individual who would put Mainers directly in harm’s way simply to pursue his socialist dreams.”
On April 7, 2026, Representative John Larson, of Connecticut’s first district, introduced 13 articles of impeachment against Trump within the House of Representatives.
While the articles of impeachment are unlikely to go through the House Judiciary Committee, Larson argued that Trump has “blown past every requirement to be faraway from office” by threatening on April 7 that “an entire civilization” in Iran would end unless the Strait of Hormuz was opened. (Trump subsequently agreed to a brief 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 each publicly demanded legal motion against Trump if Democrats win the 2026 midterm elections, while a distinguished 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 “silly people” while firing back via Truth Social on April 9.
Graham Platner Desires to Make Fundamental Changes to the Supreme Court
Platner told NBC News in April 2026 that there may be “a compelling case” to pursue impeachment against conservative-leaning Supreme Court judges, Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito. (Impeachment requires a majority vote within the House and two-thirds support within 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 variety of judges on the Supreme Court to attain 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 with a purpose to accompany his wife,Gertner, for in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatments in Norway. (Platner tied the knot with Gertner, a college teacher and paid campaign adviser, in 2024.)
“The expense of this [treatment] in the US is astronomical, $25,000 for a primary attempt,” he explained in a campaign video.
Platner and Gertner clarified that they were searching for treatment in Norway because one round of IVF treatment only costs $5,500 there.
“Graham has great sperm,” Gertner quipped within the video. “The infertility was something that was a part of my body.”
The Senate candidate noted that his and Gertner’s experience with IVF costs have inspired him to “construct power with a purpose to go get things that working people on this country need, like a universal health care system that gives fertility support.”
Graham Platner Sees Himself because the Heir to Progressive Senator Bernie Sanders
Vermont Bernie Sanders, a progressive stalwart within the Senate, officially endorsed Platner’s Maine campaign in August 2025 and has appeared with him at rallies.
“While you hearken to how we discuss organizing, while you definitely have a look at our theory of politics around wealth inequality, our theory of politics around how the system has been structured to learn the ultra wealthy on the expense of working people — I very much feel like I do fall within the legacy of Senator Sanders,” Platner told NBC News. “I very much need to see this politics proceed into the longer term. That’s why I’m doing this.”