Graham Platner’s campaign manager steps down after just days on the job as controversies pile up

The campaign manager for Graham Platner, a Democrat and oyster farmer running for Senate in Maine, has resigned just days after taking the job, following multiple controversies around the populist campaign.

In recent weeks, Platner has had to answer for inflammatory past social media comments and a skull-and-bones tattoo on his chest reminiscent of a Nazi “totenkopf” symbol.

Kevin Brown, the campaign official, told Axios he was stepping down for family reasons.

“Graham is a dear friend,” Brown told the outlet, which first reported the news. “I started this campaign Tuesday but found out Friday we have a baby on the way. Graham deserves someone who is 100% in on his race and we want to lean into this new experience as a family, so it was best we step back sooner than later so Graham can get the manager he deserves.”

Platner, a Marine veteran running on an anti-establishment platform, has proved a divisive force within the party as he seeks the Senate seat in Maine, a top priority for Democrats as they target the vulnerable incumbent, moderate Republican Susan Collins.

Progressives including independent Sen. Bernie Sanders have endorsed Platner, while mainstream party leaders such as Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer have thrown their support behind another candidate, Maine Governor Janet Mills.

In recent weeks, more attention has been paid to Platner’s personal life than his platform, which includes endorsing universal healthcare and immigration reform.

He announced last week he got his tattoo covered, claiming he was unaware of the design’s Nazi associations and got the original tattoo during a night on leave with his fellow Marines in Croatia, thinking it was a generic skull symbol popular in military environments.

“I was appalled to learn it closely resembled a Nazi symbol,” he wrote in a statement last week.

Platner also faced a media firestorm after CNN reported he had a Reddit account where described how he “became a communist” and called “all” police officers “bastards.”

The Washington Post then reported that Platner posted on Reddit claiming Black people did not tip at restaurants and urged women to “take some responsibility for themselves and not get so f****d up they wind up having sex with someone they don’t mean to?”

The candidate apologized for the posts and said they were the result of alienation and anger he felt after returning to Maine from military service.

Sanders has continued to endorse Platner.