Ex Biden Staffer Under Fire For Platner Tattoo Comments
Former President Joe Biden’s former chief of staff, Ron Klain, is facing intense criticism online after defending Maine Senate Democratic nominee Graham Platner amid a controversy over a tattoo that critics say…
Former President Joe Biden’s former chief of staff, Ron Klain, is facing intense criticism online after defending Maine Senate Democratic nominee Graham Platner amid a controversy over a tattoo that critics say resembles a Nazi-linked symbol.
The backlash began after Klain responded to an Instagram post from the Republican Jewish Coalition, which condemned Platner and called on Democrats to pull their support. Platner has denied that the tattoo was meant to represent a Nazi symbol. Still, several people familiar with him have described it as an SS skull-and-crossbones design known as the Totenkopf. Platner has since covered the tattoo.
“This is just a partisan attack,” Klain wrote. “The tattoo was a skull and crossbones to remember his fallen comrades from his service in Afghanistan.”
The comment quickly spread beyond Instagram and drew sharp criticism from conservatives and Jewish activists, many of whom accused Klain of minimizing the seriousness of the issue.
“The fact that a Biden WH Chief of Staff Democrat is comfortable downplaying a Nazi tattoo from a different Democrat tells you everything you need to know about today’s Democrats,” PragerU contributor Shabbos Kestenbaum posted.
Klain served as Biden’s chief of staff from 2021 to 2023 and later became Airbnb’s chief legal officer. Biden appointed him to the United States Holocaust Memorial Council in January 2025, though President Donald Trump removed him from the post nearly four months later. The council is the presidentially appointed board that oversees the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum.
The Republican Jewish Coalition also criticized Klain directly on X, noting that he had hosted a fundraiser for Platner the previous week.
“Here’s former Biden WH Chief of Staff, and @Airbnb Chief Legal Officer, Ron Klain whitewashing Graham Platner’s Nazi SS Totenkopf tattoo,” the group wrote. “As a former United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Council @HolocaustMuseum member, Klain absolutely knows better.”
Other critics joined in. Hudson Institute adjunct fellow Josh Block called Klain’s defense “a disgusting lie” and said Airbnb should be concerned about someone in a sensitive role making such a claim.