That’s almost certainly true. And i believe him when he says those tattoos are commonplace, that marines don’t consider the original meaning, and that he knows black & Latino people with them.

But i think, at the very least, not getting it covered up before choosing to run for office demonstrates a staggering lack of political acumen and is a very large indication of a lack of good judgement.

I mean, we don’t give ordinary people a pass if they fly a Confederate flag and say it’s just because they’re from the US South and it’s meaning for them is entirely divorced from slavery. Same thing here, except politicians are supposed to be held to higher standards.

I’d also say that the times the US is finding itself in, with rapidly encroaching fascism, open racism, and the slightly-more-gradual embracing of Nazi symbolism from the current administration, makes it even more important for the left to reject someone with a literal Nazi tattoo - regardless of how they got it and what it may mean to them.