Schumer Backs Maine Senate Candidate Facing Scrutiny Over Antisemitic Comments and Nazi-Linked Tattoo
Chuck Schumer, the Senate minority leader who has long described himself as a “Shomer Yisroel,” is firmly supporting Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner. Platner previously wore a Nazi-linked tattoo for years, made online comments praising a deadly Hamas raid on Israeli soldiers, and appeared on a podcast run by antisemitic conspiracy theorists.
Speaking to the press this week, Schumer repeatedly sidestepped questions about Platner, instead emphasizing that Democrats will “beat Susan Collins and take back the Senate.” When asked, “Are you satisfied with the explanations he’s given for the controversies his campaign has faced right now? Are you concerned about what you’ve heard?” Schumer responded, “I met with Graham Platner today. We’re going to beat Susan Collins and take back the Senate.”
Platner, an oyster farmer from Maine, wore a chest tattoo of a Totenkopf, a skull emblem associated with Nazi SS units, for years before covering it up after entering the Senate race. He has said he was unaware of its Nazi connection.
In a Reddit post from 2014 that has since been deleted, written in response to a Hamas raid on Israeli soldiers, he said it “looks like an all around well executed and successful small unit raid.” He also wrote, “Pragmatically I have little problem with killing an enemy combatant who you attempt to capture but for whatever reason cannot. From a strictly professional standpoint, this was a d_ fine looking and successful raid against a superior opponent.”
Platner has also accused Israel of committing genocide in Gaza and called for cutting U.S. aid to Israel. He has acknowledged using hateful slurs on Reddit, which he has described as “indefensible.”
The Jewish Democratic Council of America said it will not support his candidacy. CEO Halie Soifer said, “We won’t support a Democrat who doesn’t represent the views and values of the vast majority of American Jews.” The Anti-Defamation League and Maine’s only Jewish federation have also expressed concern about the candidate.
At a JDCA summit, Schumer did not mention the race and declined to take questions from reporters afterward. Soifer said the group may “just stay out of Maine.”
