Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.) criticized fellow Democrats after a supporter of Maine Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner said she could overlook Platner’s controversial Nazi tattoo but would view an Israeli flag tattoo as disqualifying.
Platner, a Marine veteran and oyster farmer, is seeking the Democratic nomination to challenge Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), who has represented the state in the Senate since 1997. He has come under fire for a skull and crossbones Totenkopf “death’s head” tattoo, associated with Adolf Hitler’s Schutzstaffel (SS), that he got while in the Marines.
He has said that he has since covered the tattoo up, stating that he didn’t know it was a Nazi symbol.
At a campaign event in Portland, Maine, on June 7, a woman identified by the watchdog group StopAntisemitism as Laurie Dobson defended Platner when questioned by a reporter from the New York Sun about the tattoo.
“I think people are making as much of it as they can because they don’t have a lot of substance around anything else, and if they did, we’d hear about it, believe me,” she told the outlet. “They are trolling for dirt.”
When asked whether an Israeli flag tattoo would be a deal-breaker, Dobson replied, “Honestly, yeah. Israeli? Because I don’t support genocide and he doesn’t either, and that would show that he is being inconsistent, and he’s been very consistent about that.”
Dobson previously ran as an independent candidate against Collins in 2008. She also sought a seat in the Maine House of Representatives and served as co-chair of the Cranberry Isles Municipal Advisory Commission.
“Are you kidding me? A tattoo of the Israeli flag is worse than a Nazi symbol?” Gottheimer wrote. “This should not be welcome in the Democratic Party.”
Gottheimer has previously questioned Platner’s explanation for the tattoo controversy and said the issue should be “disqualifying.” Rep. Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.) agreed.
“The level of Jew-hatred is beyond disturbing,” Lawler wrote of Dobson’s comments.
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) also condemned Dobson’s remarks.
“Today’s Democratic Party: Nazi? Great. You’re my guy. Jewish? Hell no,” Cruz wrote. “Utterly tragic.”
Adam Mossoff, a law professor at George Mason University’s Antonin Scalia Law School, stated that Dobson’s comments illustrate a “warning of how antisemitism is normalized and has in fact become institutionalized in the Democratic party.”
Mossoff called Dobson’s statement about the Israeli flag “the political payoff of the woke left’s pro-Hamas propaganda of a ‘genocide.’”
The Republican Jewish Coalition pointed to a recent endorsement of Platner by Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.).
“In Graham Platner support world, an Israeli flag is more offensive than a Nazi SS concentration camp guard tattoo,” the RJC stated. “This is what Chuck Schumer continues to defend. Outrageous.”
Despite the controversy, Platner has remained competitive in the race. A University of Massachusetts Lowell/YouGov poll released on June 4 found him leading Collins, 48% to 43%, with 6% undecided and 2% backing another candidate.
