Sen. Ruben Gallego endorsed a Senate candidate in Maine with a history of socialist and Nazi-related sentiments and affiliations.
Gallego told media outlets that the candidate, Graham Platner, shouldn’t be measured by his past actions and that he was the ideal candidate because of his populist approach.
“[Platner is] the kind of fighter Maine hasn’t seen in a long time, someone who tells you exactly what he thinks, doesn’t owe anything to the special interests, and wakes up every day thinking about working families. He’s a Marine, and reflects the grit and independence that defines Maine, and that’s exactly why I’m proud to endorse him,” said Gallego.
.@grahamformaine is the kind of fighter Maine hasn’t seen in a long time, someone who tells you exactly what he thinks, doesn’t owe anything to the special interests, and wakes up every day thinking about working families. He’s a Marine, and reflects the grit and independence… pic.twitter.com/jXvzjSVmtQ
— Ruben Gallego (@RubenGallego) March 2, 2026
Gallego’s investment in Platner may have less to do with his belief in Platner’s viability as a candidate and more to do with Gallego’s handlers.
Campaign consultants behind Gallego (Rebecca Katz and Eric Stern), and other progressive senators were behind Platner’s launch, in addition to other “working class,” “populist” candidates. The consultants coalesced to form the Fight Agency in January 2025.
Katz, a Democratic strategist for over 20 years and founder of New Deal Strategies, also assisted in the reelection of Sen. John Fetterman, and was behind former Democratic leader Harry Reid’s War Room in the Senate, the White House communications strategy leader for Sonia Sotomayor’s confirmation to the Supreme Court in 2009, and Planned Parenthood’s coordinated attacks on congressional Republican approaches to abortion.
Stern also managed Gallego’s campaign budget. He worked with Katz on Fetterman’s campaign, and before that he assisted in the election of North Carolina Attorney General candidate Josh Stein.
Platner blamed his years leading up to his campaign race launch last fall in which he espoused socialist, communist, and Nazi beliefs on post-service PTSD and depression.
Platner made the controversial Reddit posts under the username “P-Hustle” through 2021, years after leaving the military. Platner served in the Marine Corps from 2003 to 2012.
It was at the middle of his service in 2007 that Platner got a tattoo on his chest of the Totenkopf, a skull and crossbones symbol meaning “death’s head” used by the Nazi troops. Platner kept the tattoo for nearly 20 years until it was exposed in a video podcast interview.
A source close to Platner told Jewish Insider that Platner knew what the tattoo meant, contrary to what Platner has claimed publicly.
🚨NEW: Maine liberal Graham Platner’s Nazi tattoo revealed
This comes less than a week after he was caught:
➡️ Advocating for political violence
➡️ Saying Black people don’t tip
➡️ Calling all police “bastards”
➡️ Calling Maine’s lobstermen “pieces of sh*t”What’s next… pic.twitter.com/o7FMvmVpxo
— Senate Republicans (@NRSC) October 21, 2025
Following the revelation of these online remarks, Platner now claims to not be a socialist or communist.
The Democratic veteran launched his Senate campaign last August using a video produced by the senior adviser for New York City’s socialist mayor, Zohran Mamdani. One of his earliest endorsements came from Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders.
The unearthing of Platner’s controversial online activity prompted a mass exodus from his campaign team. While many left Platner’s side, Gallego stayed.
Some of Platner’s other comments:
“All cops are bastards, in fact.”
“[I am] a vegetable growing, psychedelics taking socialist these days.”
“Living in white rural America, I’m afraid to tell you they actually are,” said Platner in a Reddit thread characterizing white people as racist and stupid.
Platner advocated for gun violence against fascists, a descriptor those on the left generally use to characterize as anyone right-leaning. He described himself as an “antifa supersolider” in another post in 2020.
“Tell them that if they expect to fight fascism without a good semi-automatic rifle, they ought to do some reading of history,” said Platner. “An armed working class is a requirement for economic justice.”
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