Walz Claimed Musk Gave a Nazi Salute - Now He’s Campaigning With Candidate Who Had SS Tattoo

Tim Walz declared Elon Musk a Nazi sympathizer based on a gesture at a rally. No evidence. No qualifier. Just moral certainty and a demand that everyone accept it.

Now he's heading to Maine to campaign for Graham Platner, a Democratic Senate hopeful who had the Totenkopf, the SS skull and crossbones the ADL links directly to Nazi iconography, tattooed on his chest for nearly 20 years. He only covered it up when reporters came asking

Tim Walz was in meltdown mode likening Elon to a Nazi.

Guy with an actual Nazi death camp tattoo? No problem.

Campaigning with him tomorrow. https://t.co/tfqJU5ciro pic.twitter.com/AQwJOXCaLO
— Western Lensman (@WesternLensman) May 1, 2026

"We knew that the implication and they're throwing so much at us that we're fatigued, you know, we spent three days, you know, debating, having them trying to debate that President Musk gave a Nazi salute. Of course he did."

That's Walz on MSNBC, dismissing any debate over Musk's gesture as "exhausting spin," then booking a flight to Maine to campaign for a man who wore the actual symbol.

A former staffer told Jewish Insider that Platner didn't just wear it; he also referred to the tattoo by its German name. Platner is an oyster farmer and Marine veteran running as a progressive insurgent against the Democratic establishment. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) endorsed him and rallied with him in Maine, calling him a stronger candidate than Governor Janet Mills. That backing held even after the tattoo story broke. Sanders shrugged it off, saying Platner "went through a dark period" and had apologized for his past.

Platner says he got it drunk in Croatia in 2007 and had no idea what it meant. He only covered it up after reporters started asking questions. The cover-up was rushed, done at a local tattoo shop because laser removal wasn't available nearby. He went on local TV, took his shirt off, showed the new design, and moved on.

Old Reddit posts compounded Platner's problems, dismissing military sexual assault, questioning Black patrons' tipping habits, and using homophobic slurs. His former political director quit and publicly said that Platner “knows damn well” what the tattoo means.

None of it knocked him out of the race. Gov. Janet Mills jumped in with Chuck Schumer's backing, framed as the electable alternative, and still couldn't catch him. She suspended her campaign yesterday, citing a lack of funds, without endorsing Platner. The DSCC fell in line anyway, releasing a statement pledging to work with “the presumptive Democratic nominee Graham Platner” to defeat incumbent Susan Collins (R).

Collins is already using the tattoo as a weapon. Responding to attack ads from Schumer-aligned groups:

“Chuck is trying to cover up Democrats' bad ideas by attacking others. You know, when I think about it, his approach is like trying to cover up an outrageous tattoo. You can paint over it, but we all know what's underneath.”

Maine's independents make up 36 percent of the electorate, more than either party. All the damaging material on Platner so far has come from Democrats. Republicans say they haven't started yet.

Tim Walz spent months making Nazi imagery a defining moral issue. He drew a hard line, called it obvious, and dared anyone to disagree. Then he chose Platner's stage. If the standard Walz set for Musk applies anywhere, it applies here. He's decided it doesn't.

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