Graham Platner told CBS News he attributes some offensive past behavior and language — including a Nazi-era tattoo and troubling Reddit posts — to a "hyper-masculine" military culture he experienced while serving. He said interacting with diverse civilians after leaving the Army led to a significant change in his views. Republican veterans and lawmakers publicly rejected Platner's explanation, calling it an unfair characterization of the U.S. military. Platner said not all of his past actions can be blamed on service-related culture and emphasized his personal evolution.
Graham Platner Says 'Military Culture' Shaped Past Views, Draws Backlash From GOP Veterans
U.S. senatorial candidate from Maine Graham Platner speaks at a town hall at the Leavitt Theater on Oct. 22, 2025, in Ogunquit, Maine.(Getty Images)
Progressive U.S. Senate candidate Graham Platner told CBS News' "The Takeout" podcast that a "hyper‑masculine, hyper‑violent" military environment influenced some of his earlier views and behavior, including offensive Reddit posts and a Nazi-era tattoo. Platner, who is running in Maine's Democratic Senate primary, said his perspectives changed after he left the Army and began interacting with a broader cross-section of civilians.
"I came out of a hyper-masculine, hyper-violent place. We have a crude sense of humor in the infantry… we certainly have a, I would say, narrow view of a lot of topics. And that colored my opinions and my beliefs," Platner told host Major Garrett.
Platner acknowledged that not everything from his past is explained solely by military service, but he said that exposure to different people and viewpoints after leaving the service helped him discard many earlier attitudes and language.
U.S. Senate candidate Graham Platner, D-Maine, speaks at a town hall at the Franco Center, Oct. 15, in Lewiston, Maine.
GOP Veterans Push Back
Republican lawmakers and veterans publicly rejected Platner's suggestion that those actions reflect broader U.S. military culture. Several GOP officials with service backgrounds said they had not encountered similar behavior and called the characterization unfair.
Rep. Don Bacon (R‑Neb.), a retired Air Force general, wrote on X that he served nearly 30 years and never saw a Nazi tattoo among service members. Sen. Tim Sheehy (R‑Mont.), a former Navy SEAL, criticized Platner's remarks on X, saying he had "missed the day in basic training where they taught us to get Nazi tattoos and say women deserve to be raped." Sen. Todd Young (R‑Ind.), a Marine veteran, dismissed the notion that the Marine Corps taught such attitudes, and Sen. Ted Cruz (R‑Texas) said Platner's language was slanderous to service members.
Platner maintained that while some conduct was tied to the culture he experienced, he did not lay all blame on post-traumatic stress or service alone. "I've never laid the entire fault... at the feet of only post-traumatic stress," he told Garrett, while emphasizing his personal evolution since leaving the military.
Context
The interview comes amid broader scrutiny of Platner's past online posts and past conduct. His explanation — that certain attitudes developed in a particular military environment and later changed — has become a focal point in the competitive Democratic primary and provoked sharp rebukes from Republican veterans and lawmakers.
Help us improve.
