Jake Auchincloss

The symbol was used in the Holocaust by Adolf Hitler’s SS-Totenkopfverbände, the unit responsible for the Nazi’s concentration camps. Platner has said he did not know the meaning behind the symbol, telling the public that he received the tattoo in his 20s while drinking with his fellow Marines. Platner has said they chose the tattoo because it was “a terrifying looking skull and crossbones” and that he is “not a secret Nazi.”

Auchincloss previously called on Platner to drop his bid in the Senate race last October, weeks after Gov. Janet Mills (D-ME) announced her candidacy in the Democratic primary in the race. However, Mills has now dropped her bid, making Platner the only candidate in the Democratic field and clearing the way for him to take on incumbent Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME).

Some leftist Democrats, such as California congressional candidate Saikat Chakrabarti, are criticizing Auchincloss for weighing in against Platner. Chakrabarti, who is running for retiring Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi’s seat, said Auchincloss “is essentially endorsing Susan Collins in Maine.”

“Absolutely no excuse for a Democrat in the House to back a Republican for Senate in a crucial swing seat. Auchincloss should be primaried. His primary election is September 1 in a safe, D+11 seat,” Chakrabarti wrote on X.

“I think it would 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,” Auchincloss said on CNN.

PLATNER DEMONSTRATES TRUMP-LIKE TEFLON RESPONSE TO SCANDALS IN POLLS

Auchincloss’s decision to weigh in and buck his party’s likely nominee in Maine is noteworthy, given the seat’s unique position in a swing state that went for former Vice President Kamala Harris in 2024 by a 6.9 percentage point margin, but has also elected Collins, a Republican, to the Senate for five consecutive terms.