Sen. Bernie Sanders is doubling down on his support for Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner, saying there might be "one or two more important issues" than the Marine veteran's tattoos.
- "I'm not overly impressed by a squad of media running around saying, 'what do you think about the tattoo on Graham Platner's chest," Sanders tells Axios' Alex Thompson on "The Axios Show."
Why it matters: Platner's campaign has been in turmoil over the past week after reports of years old posts on Reddit that included disparaging comments about rural white people, Black diners, and police officers.
- Photos also emerged of Platner sporting a tattoo on his chest that resembles a Nazi skull and crossbones image sometimes referred to as "Totenkopf."
- Platner has since apologized and said he got another tattoo to cover up the other.
Zoom in: Sanders is openly opposing Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), who is backing Maine Gov. Janet Mills for the Senate seat.
- Democrats have little chance of retaking the Senate majority in the 2026 midterms if they cannot defeat Republican Sen. Susan Collins.
What they're saying: Sanders, who rallied with Platner last month in Maine, said he still thought Platner was the best candidate to win.
- Citing Platner's deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan, Sanders said Platner "went into a dark period in his life. I suspect that Graham Platner is not the only American to have gone through a dark period."
- He added: "What he did was he expressed his darkness on the internet. Probably not a brilliant thing to do, alright? And he said things that are stupid, things that were hurtful. He has apologized for them."
- "I think what we have got to do as a nation is not focus on a tattoo," Sanders said. "We've got to focus on a system which in many ways is collapsing."
The other side: Platner's political director, former state representative Genevieve McDonald, resigned in the aftermath of the recent revelations and said that Platner knew better about the tattoo.
- "He's not an idiot, he's a military history buff. We cannot be this painfully stupid," she wrote on Facebook.
The intrigue: Sanders said he didn't know whether Schumer and his allies were behind the recent batch of stories about Platner.
- Schumer publicly announced his preference for Mills on Tuesday, telling reporters that the 77-year-old governor is the "best candidate to retire Susan Collins."
The bottom line: Sanders told Axios that he still believes Platner is a more compelling candidate.
- "I think at this particular moment in American history, having establishment type candidates doesn't really cut it," he said.
- "People are angry, people are hurting. People want candidates and public officials who are going to stand up and fight for them."
