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His former political director, Genevieve McDonald, who resigned from his campaign last week, called the tattoo antisemitic. "Maybe he didn't know it when he got it, but he got it years ago and he should have had it covered up because he knows damn well what it means," she said, according to US media reports. The tattoo appears to resemble the Totenkopf - German for "death's head". The skull-and-crossbones symbol was used by Nazi forces during World War Two, according to the Anti-Defamation League. Platner, who is hoping to flip the Maine Senate seat held by Republican Susan Collins, said he got the tattoo in Croatia with his fellow Marines in 2007, and that they picked the image off the parlour wall while drinking. "We chose a terrifying looking skull and crossbones off the wall because we were marines and skulls and crossbones are pretty standard military thing," he said. On Wednesday, Platner told the Associated Press that he got a new tattoo to cover one seen as a Nazi symbol. "Going to a tattoo removal place is going to take a while," he said. "I wanted this thing off my body." The BBC has contacted Platner's campaign for comment. The controversy comes amid renewed scrutiny of his social media history. Several of Platner's posts on Reddit he made years ago resurfaced last week, including remarks he made downplaying sexual assault in the military and describing himself as a communist. Platner, who has emphasised his background as a veteran and small business owner, apologised in a video, saying he made the comments after returning from war and suffering from depression. "It left me feeling very disillusioned, very alienated, and very isolated," he said. "And I think, like a lot of people, I went on the internet to post stupid things and get in fights and find some form of community." Senator Bernie Sanders, one of Platner's most prominent supporters, defended him on Tuesday, saying the tattoo was chosen while he was inebriated. "He's not the only one in America who has gone through a dark period," Sanders said. "People go through that, he has apologized for the stupid remarks, the hurtful remarks that he made, and I'm confident that he's going to run a great campaign and that he's going to win."
