Hunter Biden jumps to defense of Democrat Graham Platner over Nazi tattoo questions, sexting scandal

Hunter Biden came to the defense of Maine Democratic Senate nominee Graham Platner during a Friday podcast interview, brushing off the Nazi tattoo and sexting controversies surrounding the candidate.

"I'm 99.9% certain that Graham Platner is no Nazi, and I don't think that he's racist in any way," Biden said on the "This is Gavin Newsom" podcast.

Speaking with California Gov. Gavin Newsom, Biden defended Platner over criticism surrounding his chest tattoo and sexually explicit messages, suggesting few politicians would withstand similar scrutiny if their phones were made public.

"I have not heard anything in any way that would say to me that he is [an] abusive, misogynistic or antisemitic or racist person," he added.

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Platner won Maine's Democratic Senate primary on Tuesday and will face Republican Sen. Susan Collins in November. He has faced criticism over allegations involving sexting with multiple women during his marriage and a tattoo that resembles a Nazi symbol.

But Hunter Biden — who also discussed his own experience with public scrutiny over his past crack addiction — defended Platner, arguing there would be few politicians left if they opened their phones to the public.

"I always say to people like, ‘Show me your phone. Give me access to your iCloud. Let's go through it and pull everything that we can that is inappropriate, that is off color,’" Biden said.

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"And if that's the standard by which we are going to judge people, particularly people in elected office, then I don't think we're [going to] have many people in an elected office."

Platner has said he got the tattoo during a night of drinking while on leave in Croatia over a decade ago. The skull-and-crossbones design resembles the "Totenkopf" symbol associated with Hitler's SS paramilitary forces.

In an October 2025 post on X, Platner reiterated that he was unaware of the tattoo's meaning, writing, "Years ago I got a skull and crossbones tattoo with my buddies in the Marine Corps. I was appalled to learn it closely resembled a Nazi symbol."

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"I altered it yesterday, into something that isn't deeply offensive to my core beliefs. I am very sorry to all of you who had to hate over the past 48 hours," he added.

Biden also defended Platner amid reports he exchanged sexually explicit messages with multiple women during his marriage. He downplayed the controversy, noting the messages from Platner were "consensual."

"I think that his relationship with his wife is his relationship his wife. The entirety of that controversy is, you know, it's all about leaked consensual stuff. I mean, stupid," he said.

Fox News Digital reached out to Platner's campaign for comment but did not immediately receive a response.

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Platner's campaign has confirmed the existence of the text exchanges to Politico. He also previously told Fox News Digital in a statement: "Amy and I went through something hard — because of me. We did the work, and I’m grateful for her every hour of every day."

"I’ve learned throughout this campaign is that people don’t care about gossip or headlines, they care that you’re fighting for their hospitals, their paycheck, their kids... Our opponents want politics to be empty of content and empty of actual change — and beating that is exactly what our movement is about," he added.

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Fox News Digital’s Amanda Macias contributed to this report.