Sen. Chris Van Hollen defended Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner as criticism mounted over the Democrat’s past online posts and a tattoo resembling a Nazi symbol, arguing that voters should weigh his recent actions rather than earlier mistakes.
“Let’s take a couple issues, including the comments he’s made in the past,” Van Hollen said in an interview with Punchbowl News.
“He’s been very clear that he went into combat on behalf of the United States, he went through a really rough period, PTSD-type period.”
The Maryland Democrat said Platner has acknowledged those past statements and taken steps to distance himself from them.
“He himself said there are lots of things he’s done and said that he completely regrets,” Van Hollen added.
“I do believe people should have second chances and that people can learn from their mistakes, and I think he’s been doing that.”
The defense comes as Platner faces backlash tied to a tattoo he initially denied resembled a symbol used by Nazi troops before later agreeing it did and moving to cover it.
He has also attempted to explain a series of past comments posted online, including remarks that drew criticism after resurfacing during the campaign.
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A review of his Reddit history found he used a slur aimed at people with special needs, described himself as a “communist,” called all police officers “bastards,” and wrote that rural White Americans “actually are” racist and stupid.
Platner later said those posts were intended “to get a rise out of people,” and he rejected the views expressed in them.
Speaking on the “Pod Save America” podcast, he told listeners the comments no longer reflect who he is.
“When it comes to those posts, voters will see that this is not at all the person that they have come to know, and come to interact with in reality,” Platner claimed.
He also addressed a separate controversy tied to comments about sexual assault, linking those statements to his struggles after returning from Afghanistan.
Platner said the remarks came during a period when he was dealing with post-traumatic stress and insisted they do not represent his current beliefs.
Despite Van Hollen’s defense, the candidate has drawn criticism from within his own party.
Sen. John Fetterman made clear he is uneasy with Platner emerging as the presumptive Democratic nominee.
“Democrats really, really like Platner in Maine but the Republicans f—ing love him,” Fetterman said about the race.
“It’s a great day,” he jeered. “If Maine wants an a–hole with a Nazi tattoo on his chest, they get him.”
Fetterman said he would not back incumbent Sen. Susan Collins but distanced himself from the Democratic primary fight. “No, I don’t have any — I’m not in it,” he added.
He also pointed to one of Platner’s past online comments as particularly troubling.
In a post about a Hamas raid on Israeli soldiers, Platner wrote, “From a strictly professional standpoint, this was a damn fine looking and successful raid against a superior opponent, I dig it.”
Fetterman referenced the comment in an interview. “You know, like Platner in Maine,” he said. “You know, he said, ‘I dig it,’ in a video where Hamas was beating and torturing Israeli soldiers to death. ‘I dig it.’”
“That’s the kind of what our party’s becoming. It’s been incredibly disappointed,” he added.
The criticism comes as Maine’s Democratic primary shifted following Gov. Janet Mills’s decision to suspend her campaign.
Mills said her bid for the Senate seat could not continue due to a lack of funding, despite her record in statewide office.
“While I have the drive and passion, commitment and experience, and above all else – the fight – to continue on, I very simply do not have the one thing that political campaigns unfortunately require today: the financial resources,” Mills said.
She pointed to her work expanding health care, funding education and protecting abortion access while criticizing Republicans in Washington.
“I have always fought for Maine people,” Mills said. “Yet, these efforts have been undermined by a Republican administration that is blind to science, deaf to the cries of those in need of medical care, and ignorant of the needs of regular families.”
Mills said she entered the race because she believed Maine was not being well represented in Washington.
“[I] believed Maine people were getting a bad deal from Washington and because the President of the United States was threatening our democracy and pushing our nation to the brink of disaster,” she remarked.
Her exit leaves Platner and David Costello as the remaining Democrats on the ballot.
Platner praised Mills after she stepped aside. “[She] has dedicated her career to this beautiful state,” he commented.
He also framed the race as a movement against entrenched political and economic power.
“The race has never been about me or really about one person,” Platner stated. “It’s about a movement of working Mainers who are fed up with being robbed by billionaires and the politicians who own them.”
“We are now taking back our power,” he continued. “We will defeat Susan Collins, we will go to Washington, and we will start tearing down the system that for too long has forgotten and written off the people who make Maine and this country what it is.”
Republican Sen. Susan Collins acknowledged Mills’s decision, calling it a difficult choice.
“I’m sure this was a difficult decision for Governor Mills, and I thank her for her decades of service to the people of Maine,” Collins said.
