By KIMBERLEE KRUESI and PATRICK WHITTLE, Associated Press

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — His U.S. Senate campaign under fire, Maine Democrat Graham Platner said Wednesday that a tattoo on his chest has been covered to no longer reflect an image widely recognized as a Nazi symbol.

The first-time political candidate said he got the skull and crossbones tattoo in 2007, when he was in his 20s and in the Marine Corps. It happened during a night of drinking while he was on leave in Croatia, he said, adding he was unaware until recently that the image has been associated with Nazi police.

Platner, in an Associated Press interview, said that while his campaign initially said he would remove the tattoo, he chose to cover it up with another tattoo due to the limited options where he lives in rural Maine.

“Going to a tattoo removal place is going to take a while,” he said. “I wanted this thing off my body.”

The initial tattoo image resembled a specific symbol of Hitler’s paramilitary Schutzstaffel, or SS, which was responsible for the systematic murders of millions of Jews and others in Europe during World War II. Platner didn’t offer details about the new tattoo, but offered to send the AP a photo later Wednesday.

The oyster farmer is mounting a progressive campaign against Republican Susan Collins, who has held the Senate seat for 30 years. The crowded Democratic primary field includes two-term Gov. Janet Mills.

Platner said he had never been questioned about the tattoo’s connections to Nazi symbols in the 20 years he has had it. He said it was there when he enlisted in the Army, which requires an examination for tattoos of hate symbols.

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“I also passed a full background check to receive a security clearance to join the Ambassador to Afghanistan’s security detail,” Platner said.

Questions about the tattoo come after the recent discovery of Platner’s now-deleted online statements that included dismissing military sexual assaults, questioning Black patrons’ gratuity habits and criticizing police officers and rural Americans.

Platner has apologized for those comments, saying they were made after he left the Army in 2012, when he was struggling with post-traumatic stress disorder and depression.

He has resisted calls to drop out of the race and has the backing of Sen. Bernie Sanders, a Vermont independent who has described Platner as a stronger candidate for the seat than Mills.

Platner said he was not ashamed to confront his past comments and actions because it reflects the lessons he needed to take to get where he is today.

“I don’t look at this as a liability,” he told the AP. “I look at this as is a life that I have lived, a journey that has been difficult, that has been full of struggle, that has also gotten me to where I am today. And I’m very proud of who I am.”

Platner planned a town hall Wednesday in Ogunquit, Maine.

Kruesi reported from Providence, Rhode Island.

Gophers defensive end Anthony Smith shares the Big Ten Conference lead in sacks, which can serve as a tent pole in both his personal and the program’s overall goal of him being a first- or second-round pick in the NFL draft come April.

If the imposing 6-foot-6, 285-pound edge rusher — who touts seven sacks across seven games — goes that high in the draft, Minnesota will extend its streak of having a player taken in the top 64 picks to seven consecutive years since 2020.

With the college season past its halfway mark, the Pioneer Press asked Gophers head coach P.J. Fleck which players are drawing the most attention from NFL teams.

Minnesota Gophers running back Darius Taylor (1) in the fourth quarter of a NCAA football game against the Nebraska Cornhuskers at Huntington Bank Stadium in Minneapolis on Friday, Oct. 17, 2025. The Gophers beat the Cornhuskers, 24-6. (John Autey / Pioneer Press)

Fleck mentioned Smith, running back Darius Taylor, wide receiver LeMeke Brockington, tight end Jameson Geers and defensive tackles Deven Eastern and Jalen Logan-Redding.

“Those are usually the top six right away,” Fleck said. “But you get into everybody else.”

Smith and Taylor each have one year of eligibility remaining for 2026, but Smith is not expected to use it. It’s to be determined on Taylor, who is coming off his best game of the season last week when he logged 24 carries for 148 yards and a touchdown in the 24-6 win over then-No. 25 Nebraska.

Fleck then mentioned one Gopher who has received a lot more attention from NFL personnel when they visit the U this year: Devon Williams. The fifth-year linebacker from Dublin, Ohio, leads the team with 56 total tackles and is third with 4 1/2 tackles for lost yards.

“They’re way more curious about Devon Williams now than they were last year, because he’s playing at a very high level right now,” Fleck said. “I think that’s only going to help him.”

Williams sports an above-average overall grade (74.1) from Pro Football Focus; it’s the third highest among U starters behind redshirt junior linebacker linebacker Maverick Baranowski (79.4) and redshirt sophomore safety Kerry Brown (76.0).

In the preseason, Baranowski was among nine Gophers named to the Shrine Bowl 1,000 watch list for top draft-eligible college players. That long list also had Smith, Taylor, Eastern and Geers. Junior offensive lineman Greg Johnson also made the group, which included some surprises in offensive lineman Marcellus Marshall, linebacker Jeff Roberson and Jaylen Bowden.

Marshall has not played well this season, while Roberson and Bowden have rarely played at all.

Eastern was the U’s only member of the Senior Bowl’s Top 300, but PFF has given him an average overall grade (61.9) in 249 of the U’s 427 total snaps. Logan-Redding has been below that mark (54.3) in 174 total snaps.

The NFL’s draft-content complex has boomed in recent years, but Fleck said each player’s NFL draft stock still comes down to one thing.

“What people don’t realize is 90 to 95% of where and how you get drafted and if you play in the NFL is all based on college film,” Fleck said. “I think some people think it has to do with the (scouting) combine or ‘if I don’t get hurt’ or ‘if I just get through.’

“That’s why they always say, ‘tape doesn’t lie.’ Ten percent of it gets divided. Maybe 5% is the combine. Two percent is the interview, another 2% your Pro Day. And then another 1% is something else, but that’s it. Ninety percent of what you do and how you do it (is) all based on that film for 12 (games), who you play against and how well you play. I think that a lot of people don’t understand that.”

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By STAN CHOE, Associated Press Business Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks are drifting near their record heights on Wall Street Wednesday, while the price of gold falls again to trim more off its tremendous gain for the year.

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The S&P 500 slipped 0.1% in morning trading and is sitting just underneath its all-time high, which was set earlier this month. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 99 points, or 0.2%, coming off its own record. The Nasdaq composite was 0.3% lower, as of 10:15 a.m. Eastern time.

Bank stocks were holding relatively steady after Capital One Financial, Western Alliance Bancorp and others reported stronger profits for the summer than analysts expected. The report from Western Alliance was particularly welcome after it helped shake confidence in the industry last week. It’s one of several banks that have warned of potentially bad loans on its books, possibly because of fraud.

Intuitive Surgical, which sells robotic-assisted surgical systems, jumped 16.3%, and Boston Scientific climbed 4.2% after they likewise reported better profits for the latest quarter than analysts expected.

It’s usually the case that the majority of companies deliver better profits each quarter than analysts had forecast. But the pressure is higher on companies to do so this time around because of criticism that their stock prices shot too high following a 35% romp for the S&P 500 from a low in April.

Netflix’s stock, for example, came into the day with a jump of 39.3% for the year so far, more than double the S&P 500’s gain. But its stock dropped 8.6% on Wednesday after it delivered weaker results for the latest quarter than expected.

AT&T fell 2.3% after delivering a profit that only matched analysts’ expectations, while Texas Instruments sank 5.1% after its profit fell just short of forecasts.

Beyond Meat, meanwhile, continued its meme-stock run and soared another 85.9% to bring its stunning gain for the week to 942%. Part of Beyond’s rise could be due to a recent announcement that Walmart will increase availability of some of its products at over 2,000 U.S. stores.

The maker of plant-based meat alternatives was also the biggest holding in the Roundhill Meme Stock exchange-traded fund, as of Tuesday. The ETF holds stocks of companies where investors have piled in almost regardless of their financial prospects, simply in hopes of catching a wave.

Momentum was continuing to head the other way for gold, which slipped 0.7% to $4,080.50 per ounce. That’s after Tuesday’s 5.3% slide knocked it off its record high.

Many of the same factors that drew buyers to gold this year are still there. Expectations are still for the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates through next year. Concerns are growing about inflation remaining high. And the worrisome mountains of debt that the U.S. and other governments worldwide have amassed are only rising further.

But no investment’s price goes up forever, and criticism had been growing that gold’s price had gone too far, too fast after it shot up even more than the U.S. stock market. Gold’s price is still up more than 50% for the year so far.

In stock markets abroad, indexes were mixed across Europe and Asia.

London’s FTSE 100 rose 1.1% after a report on U.K. inflation raised hopes for another cut to interest rates next month. South Korea’s Kospi jumped 1.6% for another one of the worlds bigger gains. But indexes fell 0.9% in Hong Kong and 0.4% in Paris.

In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year Treasury edged down to 3.97% from 3.98% late Tuesday.

AP Business Writers Yuri Kageyama and Matt Ott contributed.

Pioneer Press staffers who cover the Vikings take a stab at predicting Sunday’s outcome against the Chargers in L.A.:

DANE MIZUTANI

Chargers 27, Vikings 17: Sometimes analysis doesn’t have to be overly complex. Justin Herbert plays quarterback for the Chargers. Carson Wentz plays quarterback for the Vikings. That will be the difference in a short week.

JACE FREDERICK

Chargers 23, Vikings 20: The Chargers are banged up on the offensive line and reeling. Still, it’s difficult to pick Carson Wentz over Justin Herbert on a short-week game played two time zones away.

JOHN SHIPLEY

Chargers 29, Vikings 20: The running game is a mess, Carson Wentz is often running for his life, and the defense proved distressingly vulnerable to big plays in last weekend’s 28-22 loss to Philadelphia. This team needs another bye, not a short turnaround to Southern California.

CHARLEY WALTERS

Chargers 21, Vikings 17: Too much mediocrity. Sorry to say, Vikings rooters, but this loss, and the remaining schedule, make the playoffs highly unlikely.

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