Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren has endorsed a progressive candidate who until recently sported a tattoo with Nazi connotations, despite previously blasting Pete Hegseth's Christian ink as a threat.

Warren, 76, backed Graham Platner, 41, in the Democratic Senate primary in Maine, where he has come under fire over his ink resembling a symbol of Adolf Hitler's paramilitary Schutzstaffel.

The Democratic lawmaker said Platner, an oyster farmer and military veteran, would 'actually deliver change for working people in the Senate.'

Warren added that she was 'proud' to endorse Platner, though she had previously criticized Secretary of War Hegseth over his own tattoo referencing a Christian motto.

Ahead of Hegseth's confirmation last year, Warren said he had been removed from Joe Biden's 2020 inauguration over 'concerns' he was 'an insider threat.'

Warren wrote that questions had been raised over whether Hegseth's 'Deus vult' tattoo, which translates to God wills it, was a 'Christian expression associated with right–wing extremism.'

Warren was referencing a Reuters report from November 2024, which detailed how a National Guard master sergeant was worried about Hegseth's tattoos.

Hegseth's chest tattoo, which depicts the Jerusalem Cross, was also flagged in the report as part of those concerns.

'We cannot have a defense secretary whose fellow service members feel concerned enough about to report as a potential insider threat,' Warren wrote.

During his confirmation hearing, Hegseth said the Jerusalem Cross was a 'Christian religious symbol.'

'In fact, interestingly, recently I attended briefly the memorial ceremony of former President Jimmy Carter, on the floor of our national cathedral, on the front page of his program was the very same Jerusalem Cross,' Hegseth said.

Warren went after Hegseth's tattoos in her 33–page letter but took a different tone when asked about Platner's past.

'Look, he has apologized for that, and he's out there talking to the people of Maine every single day,' Warren told the HuffPost.

She said she was endorsing Platner because 'we need more people here in Washington who are less about go along to get along, and more about fighting to make the kind of changes that families need.'

Platner is running against Maine Governor Janet Mills, also a Democrat, for the Democratic nomination to take on Republican incumbent Senator Susan Collins.

Collins' seat is crucial in the Democrats' efforts to take back control of the Senate.

On Tuesday, Mills' campaign released an ad referencing Platner's tattoo. The video has been viewed more than 1 million times on X.

'The closer you look, the worse it gets,' the narrator said, as a magnifying glass appeared over a short clip of a shirtless Platner.

Platner claimed he got the tattoo during a night of drinking in Croatia and was unaware of its Nazi association. He covered the tattoo in October with a different design.

The initial ink resembled a specific symbol of Hitler's paramilitary SS during World War II.

The progressive candidate's campaign initially said he would remove the ink, but Platner said he chose to cover it up because of the limited options where he lives in rural Maine.

Mills' ad also took aim at Platner's old controversial social media posts dismissing sexual assault.

A narrator in the ad, whose voice sounds similar to Platner's, said the candidate once wrote on Reddit that women should 'not get so f***ed up they wind up having sex with someone they don't mean to.'

In another old post highlighted, Platner called for potential victims to 'act like an adult for f*cks sake.'

Women in the ad called his comments 'horrible', 'disqualifying' and 'disgusting.'

Platner's past comments also included disparaging remarks towards the military and minorities, according to Politico.

In one post, he wrote: 'I can't tell you how many guys I know get disability of some form who have no need for it, and who will openly admit in closed circles they gamed it for the cash. Oddly enough, same dudes will turn around and b***h about welfare queens who live off the government.'

In another, Platner asked, 'Why don't black people tip? I work as a bartender and it always amazes me how solid this stereotype is.'

'Every now and again a black patron will leave a 15 - 20 percent tip, but usually it's between 0 - 5 percent,' he added. 'There's got to be a reason behind it, what is it?'

He also wrote that the US had 'just spent 12 years inconclusively fighting two prohibitively costly wars against guys whose main method of transport is flip flops.'

Platner apologized for his Reddit posts in October, claiming they were made after he left the Army in 2012 and was struggling with post–traumatic stress disorder and depression.

The progressive candidate said he 'still had the crude humor, the dark, dark feelings, the offensive language that really was a hallmark of the infantry when I was in it.'

The Daily Mail has reached out to Warren's office and Platner's campaign for further comment.