The shameful embrace of Graham Platner by the American "left"

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By Orthogonian

As Donald Trump’s approval rating plummets and Democrats open up a clearer lead in congressional polling as the 2026 midterm elections draw nearer, it seems increasingly likely that a democratic sweep of House and Senate races is at hand.

Graham Platner, the Democratic Senate nominee for the state of Maine, is likely to benefit from this Blue Wave, much to the jubilation of his increasingly large pool of boosters, particularly on the American “Left”. 

Platner has had a series of well-documented scandals, from his leaked Reddit account with comments spouting rape apologia, to revelations he had a, now covered up, tattoo of the Nazi Totenkopf or “Death’s Head” symbol used by the SS, a (rather banal by today’s standards) cheating scandal and allegations of aggressive behavior from an ex-girlfriend.

However, while these scandals were undoubtedly boosted cynically in vain attempts to stop his Berniecrat campaign, backfiring and likely boosting support for him in the process, that does not mean that Platner’s past conduct is excusable or that he should be embraced by anyone who would seriously consider themselves to be a Leftist or Anti-Imperialist. 

Let’s start with the much talked about tattoo, firstly, Platner flatly denies knowing what the extremely recognizable piece of Nazi iconography was when he got it, describing it as a “terrifying skull and crossbones” he got to honour his time as a machine gunner with the USMC (United States Marine Corps) in the battles of Fallujah and Ramadi during the Iraq War.

This is a stretch, to say the least. Ignoring for a moment the fact that multiple sources have contradicted the claim Platner didn’t know, for anyone with even a small degree of familiarity with 20th century history, military history or Far-Right iconography, the tattoo would likely be recognizable, particularly to someone serving multiple tours in the American Military. The idea that he didn’t know, or if he didn’t know, that no one would have at least pointed this out to him over 20 years, is extremely unlikely.

However, in many ways the debate about whether Platner knew the origins of the tattoo is a red herring, because one can only agree with Graham Platner when he says that he is not a “secret Nazi”, he is, in fact, an open and proud Nazi, at least in the context of the 21st century. 

Platner is extremely proud of his time with the USMC during the Iraq War, where America lied its way into a genocidal war of aggression against the Iraqi people, killing hundreds of thousands. In just the Battle of Fallujah that Platner is so proud of, the US Military used white phosphorus munitions, prevented all men aged 15-50 from fleeing the city, slaughtered civilians with conventional munitions and used such high quantities of depleted uranium rounds that it caused heightened levels of birth defects in the city years on from the battle. 

Platner served multiple terms in the USMC as a machine gunner, alongside his time in combat in the set-piece battles of Fallujah and Ramadi, Platner served as a prison guard at the infamous Abu Ghraib Prison. While the New Yorker article pointing this out goes to great lengths to reassure the reader that this was a couple years after the high-profile torture abuses, this is about the same level as claiming he was a guard at the Terezin Ghetto after it was inspected by the Red Cross in 1944 so surely nothing untoward was happening there anymore. It's fucking absurd.

If Platner had any humanity he would feel intense shame about his direct, voluntary and repeated participation in the slaughter and brutalization of the Iraqi people, but he doesn't. In fact if his Reddit history is anything to go off of, he is proud of the violence he inflicted. In the comments provided in full from the archive of his Reddit account Platner:

• (Comment from 2019) Admits to personally using fixed machine gun systems during the Battle of Ramadi his unit’s command had banned due to the dense civilian population calling it: “Ones (sic) of the things I’m most proud of having been part of [...]”

• (Comment from 2014) When commenting on the prospect of a potential American military intervention in Syria proclaims: “We are going to kill thousands. By the end of it, it may be millions. Our way of life is better, and if that is what it takes to prevail, let’s get this show on the road.” 

• (Comment from 2020) When asked about why he joined the USMC, states, chillingly: “Wanted to have an adventure and kill some people. Joined up in ‘04, did Fallujah and Ramadi and managed both. Hell of an excellent experience.”   

Platner’s past is often hand waved off by his defenders, this can take the form of using the ‘shoot and cry’ defense, like from Senator Bernie Sanders, who stated in defense of Platner’s tattoo and misogynistic Reddit comments scandals that: “This is a guy who will tell you, who has served four tours of duty with the United States military, he was in the middle of some heavy-duty combat. He was a machine gunner, he mowed down people, you know?”

Some of his defenders in the Online Left will even go so far as to make the argument that Platner’s tours in the Iraq War and time with the Blackwater mercenary company are excusable since those are just jobs you can have in America, and to not embrace direct participants in the slaughter of people in the Global South makes you somehow not sympathetic to the “working-class”.

Take a moment to imagine that Graham Platner had served in the IDF? Would these people be making the same arguments? Likely not as the optics of that are simply a bridge too far in progressive politics post-Gaza Genocide (or at least one would hope so). But they will excuse the direct participation of Platner in the Iraq War, something which killed, at the low count, 100,000 civilians. For context, the Gaza Genocide, as of writing, has a consensus death count of around 90,000, including deaths from famine and those likely buried under the rubble left out of the Gaza Health Ministry count. 

Platner’s participation in this genocidal violence is inexcusable, never mind the fact that he has taken no accountability for it. However his sycophants' defense of him is even more appalling when one actually examines the policy platform of this supposed Leftist firebrand. 

While Platner is more than happy to embrace the notion of providing all manner of treats for Americans, such as Medicare for All, expansion of unions, and other standard social-democratic domestic policies, he also joins this with a pledge to rationalize procurement at the Pentagon, and “rebuild American shipbuilding”. Alongside a pledge to “Pay servicemen a fair wage” and “support our veterans”, further incentivizing people to join the American military.

This is not radical politics, it’s Guns and Butter. A candidate who wants to make the US military more efficient or pay it’s soldiers more is not a left wing candidate, at least not to anyone who cares about the 96% of the world that is not American. 

The fact that Platner and those of his ilk have been so widely embraced by the American “Left” is shameful, shows a total lack of imagination and a rank, odious US Supremacism. If there is to be a Left in America or other Western countries, it must be one that seeks to dismantle the systems of global violence our countries inflict on the rest of the world, not strengthen them and definitely not have personally been one of their murderous foot soldiers. 

Orthogonian is the pen name of a writer and observer of US politics based in Toronto