Chris Van Hollen backs Graham Platner despite Nazi tattoo controversy

10 articles · Updated · Fox News · May 1

After Maine Governor Janet Mills suspended her Senate primary campaign on Thursday, Platner became the presumptive Democratic challenger to Republican Senator Susan Collins.
Van Hollen said the Army and Marine Corps veteran's past behaviour and online comments may be linked to PTSD from his Afghanistan deployment and argued he deserves a second chance.
Platner has said the chest tattoo resembling a Nazi Totenkopf symbol was covered and that inflammatory Reddit posts were meant to provoke; he has also won Bernie Sanders's endorsement.

Does a candidate's extreme online history reflect their true character or past trauma?

When a symbol has both military and hateful histories, how is its meaning defined?